Gerry D’Mello

Daijiworld Media Network - Toronto

Mississauga, Nov 13: ‘Udupi Madras Cafe’ (UMC), the renowned vegetarian restaurant owned by Everest Vijay Dante of Mangaluru origin, has won the prestigious '2020 Mississauga News Readers’ Choice Diamond Award’. It is a proud moment for all South Asians since UMC won the first place. Serving the international community in Mississauga, Canada for 14 years, Udupi Madras Cafe specializes in fresh, wholesome and nutritious South Indian vegetarian food.

“We have a fully vegetarian South Indian menu serving breakfast, lunch and dinner,” says Udupi Madras Cafe owner Everest Vijay Dante. “Our service includes dine-in, take-out, catering, and delivery.” At catered events, guests can experience freshly made dosa, idli, vada and poori/bhatura right in front of them. For catering events, they can book for a minimum of 10 or up to 2,000 guests (in non-COVID times) at a time. It is an excellent option for parties and corporate events. For the past many years, Udupi Madras Cafe has catered to all major events in Toronto via Kannada Sangha, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil and other South Asian Associations. Vijay says that he has had the proud privilege of managing many conventions, catering to at least a few hundred weddings and more than a thousand live dosa parties especially in the backyards of the customers and also at public parks. Catering services range from delivery to complete buffet arrangements to entire event management.

Udupi Madras Cafe (UMC) is best known for its tasty dishes, particularly the Mysore Masala, Chilli Garlic Masala and Mysore Garlic Masala Dosas, Goli baje and Gadbad ice cream is a favourite among guests from the coastal Karnataka region. The weekend breakfast and brunch buffet is also a favourite for new and returning customers. Before physical distancing restrictions were implemented, customers were enjoying the weekend buffet with dosa, poori, idly and vada where they were freshly made. UMC menu consists of more than 100 varieties of dosas to cater to the guests’ palate with various spice levels. Many Mangalurean associations were unable to celebrate this year’s Monthi Fest (a Mangalurean harvest festival) as a usual in a large gathering due to Covid restrictions. To compensate this, Udupi Madras Café offered the Monti Fest thali with more than 23 varieties as dine-in and take-out and served these many items for the first time ever in North America.

At the venue, the customers can expect excellent service with a smile in a relaxed and welcoming environment. “Consistent quality, friendly service, and free underground parking are just a few reasons why customers keep coming back,” says Dante. Vijay says he always believes in “Fresh and honest food on the table.”

Vijay, a philanthropist is a well-focused, dedicated and a family oriented business professional. He is the proud son of the late ‘Sri Danti’ (Francis Dante from Udupi, Karnataka, India), a renowned writer, poet and a religious leader who is also one of the founders of Catholic Sabha, Mangaluru. Vijay is a post-graduate who completed his MSc degree in medical microbiology from Manipal University, Karnataka, India. He worked in Abu Dhabi, UAE for a decade and moved to Canada in 1995. For Dante and his wife Prema, a business professional, who co-manages the restaurant, they have plenty to be proud of when running such a successful establishment.

Udupi Madras Café is always a ‘home away from home’ especially to those who visit Toronto and neighbouring places like the world-famous Niagara Falls and New York. For many politicians, VIPs, Bollywood and South Indian film stars and business personalities, Udupi Madras Café is a must-visit when they visit Toronto. Dr Lucky Lakshmanan, a philanthropist from Canada and a great patron of classical artists from India, always makes it a point to bring artists over for food to Udupi Madras Café.

Vijay remembers when he catered for the Late Abdul J Kalam, former President and scientist of India, and considers it as one of his proudest moments. Dr Lucky Lakshmanan, a close friend of Kalam, proudly says that whenever he met him in Delhi, “Kalam sir fondly recollected his visit and claimed that he was served the best vatha kulambu”. “For me, nothing makes me happier than this”, says Vijay.

Other famous personalities who visited and were catered by UMC

- Hazel McCallion – Former mayor of Mississauga
- Jason Kenney - Premier of Alberta and former Immigration minister
- Bonnie Crombie- Mayor of Mississauga
- Patrick Brown – Mayor of Brampton
- Many federal and provincial ministers, MPs and MPPs

Bollywood and South Indian movie stars and singers

Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghosal, Neha Kakkar, Mika Singh, Aditya Narayan, Kabir Bedi, Shwetha Pandit, Kailash Kher, Sunidhi Chauhan, Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Prakash, walking violinist Dr Aneesh Vidyashanker, Ratna Patak, Pankaj Udhas.

Kannada actors and VIPs

Sreenath, Ramesh Aravind, Rapper Chandan Shetty, Ronald Colaco – Renowned NRI business personality and world’s renowned philanthropist, Walter Nandalike – Daijiworld supremo, Dayan Mukamar – Multi-faceted personality and social activist, B R Chaya – Kannada singer, KS Chitra- South Indian singer, Sangeeth Samraat Henry D’Souza – Konkani singer, yodelling king Melwyn Peris - Konkani singer, Konkan kalashree Claud D’Souza- Konkani singer, Chennaveera Kanavi - Kannada poet, Kadri Gopalanth- Musician and the list goes on.

Other awards and recognitions

A. Globe and Mail
“One of the Ten best places to eat just west of Toronto “

B. Insauga.com (Mississauga's most popular source for daily local breaking news, food, top 5s, events, arts, business, culture and entertainment)
Udupi Madras Café always captured the top five places in the following category that was published by Insauga based in Mississauga Canada from many years. They are:
1. Top 5 under the radar restaurants
2. Top 5 South Indian restaurants
3. Top 5 Indian restaurants
4. Top 5 vegetarian
5. Top 5 neighbourhood for a night out in Mississauga
6. Top 5 hottest restaurants
7. Top 5 dosa place in Mississauga

C. Zomato
Best restaurants in Toronto
The most popular restaurant in town - 2020

D. Trip advisor
Certificate of Excellence-2016

E. FoodPages.ca
People’s choice #1 - 2015.

Vijay on his joyous feeling on winning this coveted award, said, “There is no better joy than to see the same customers and their families coming back. This makes all our hard work worthwhile.” Apart from his philanthropic works, Vijay is also actively involved in Canadian politics.

Vijay and his most beloved and highly supportive wife Prema wish to thank all his patrons for their continuous support for the past 14 years. Vijay also extends thanks to all those who have nominated and voted Udupi Madras Café for the Mississauga News Readers’ Choice Award 2020 in the best vegetarian category.

Vijay fondly remembers his family friend, the late Mohandas Pai, owner of the very famous 'Diana Restaurant' from Udupi, who is his inspiration and role model. Vijay gratefully remembers Pai for allowing his cooks to train at Diana Restaurant before coming to Canada. Vijay also thanks Hubert D’Mello, owner of 'Udupi Palace' in Toronto for standing by him during the initial set up and for giving him a helping hand during the challenging times of Udupi Madras Café.

Udupi Madras Cafe is an excellent option for everyone, whether you are a vegetarian or looking to explore new flavours, there is something delicious for every palate.

For more information, visit udupimadrascafe.ca or call 647 899 7883 / 905 277 0010.