C'est L'avi

Oh my Godd!

Yes in a true sense, the almighty would have also agreed to this😃

This is a coconut jaggery cheesecake. The dark fudge chocolate colour pyramids you see in the frame is the extract of the coconut sap called sur in Konkani which is reduced to attain this colour and consistency.

Gods is widely used in a lot of things in a Goan kitchen repertoire. It is also considered very healthy as its got a whole lot of minerals and folic acids and a low glycemic index, which makes it a great choice for wait watchers

Serradura reimagined!

Serradura also known as sawdust pudding or Macau pudding, is a well-known Portuguese dessert, popular in both Portugal and Macau (a former Portuguese colony in China) as well as Goa (a former Portuguese colony in India), with a layered appearance alternating between condensed milk, whipped cream and crumbled Marie biscuit.

The name serradura is a Portuguese word for “sawdust”, which refers to the way the biscuits look in the pudding, as they are crushed very fine into crumbs.

We have done a torte or tart with this classic, keeping the essence and soul of the original

The joy of using seasonal and fresh ingredients definitely gives us a high! We don’t need to work hard to get the best out of the dish coz the ingredients do the best in bringing the best out of themselves!

Grilled tenderloin with kohlrabi(naab) butterfly pea purée, konga(sweet potato croquette) tossed akur served with gucchi (morel) au jus

heart global soul

Gratitude to for this piece of work! It really expresses my core and my beliefs

https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-kolkata/food/why-chef-avinash-martins-of-benaulims-cavatina-is-goas-hottest-chef-right-now/cid/1908610

The pumpkin and the farmer

We went to the market with the team! The idea was to get inspired by the produce and the people behind the produce. It was more of building a relationship between the grower and the curator and the exchange of energies between them

When we picked up the pumpkin the lady asked me”baab, what will you make out of this? “
I felt as if a mother was giving away her child and telling me pls take good care.

So we picked up a pumpkin along with pumpkin leaves and flowers!

So here’s what we made

Pumpkin and ricotta bao( bao’s are steamed bread) this one had a soft centre of spiced ricotta and pumpkin and the bao made of pumpkin purée garnished with pumpkin seeds

The flower was a cold preparation, a tangy zesty dressing on the pumpkin flower which cuts through the richness of the bao

Pumpkin and Kafir lime caldo( soup) with a pumpkin tueille

As we taste this dish, it rolls back all the love,time and efforts put by its grower and we sense him smiling as she’d appreciate her labour of love made into something beautiful

If this doesn’t motivate you? Nothing will…

This is Kusth. One of my heros , he comes from the Velip community of Goa. For centuries they have been agrarian by profession and do it in a sustainable manner. They rotate their crop based on seasonality. In the monsoons they cultivate rice and other fruit baring crops such as pineapple & banana.

This morning he visits my house with a basket full of local or gaunty bananas (kelli) as we say in Konkani and some pineapple

I offered him a cup of chai, which he refused and said that he had his nosto ( breakfast) early morning before going into the paddy fields. After which he harvested the fruits from his vaingon ( vegetable & fruit garden) and then he set out to sell the produce door to door by foot. He covers nearly 15 kms from his home to the surrounding areas where he sells his produce

He’s 80 plus and does this day in and day out no matter what season of the year it is! And above all HE DOES IT WITH A SMILE

These everyday heroes motivate me to think different and push harder!

I pray to God ,May your tribe thrive Kusth!God bless you🙏

A mezze platter but with a Goan flavour

Re-imagination has always been our forte, and the best way of doing it is by growing & buying seasonal and fresh. When you get such fresh produce then very little effort is required to make any dish great as Mother Nature does most of the work!

Ending the year on a high note after being featured on and on ’s list of memorable food experiences.

Read the whole piece via the link in bio

When the grasshopper decides to be a part of the table 😀

Colours of the season!

It's difficult to express the joy when mother nature gives from her bounty!

Apart from the vibrant colours, the aromas as just divine. Different notes of sweet, some tangy, so floral and different textures! All these taken from the mountain.

Mussrad mango
Borkoi- jackfruit with a hard texture,sweet
Elchi banana
Fresh kokum
Zaam- love apples
Sapota- chickoo
Papaya
Pera- guavas

Absolute zero carbon footprint!

Nothing gets comforting than a bowl of a Goan inspired Khow suey. All elements are almost the same to it's original Burmese counterpart except we tweak it with some galmo & goan spice blend!

An excellent immune booster with the richness of turmeric, lemon, coconut & in this case richness of the sea!

Thrilled to be featured in the holy grail of travel publications

thank you for this glowing review of the labour of love called C’est L’avi

Featured in the holy grail of travel publications CNTraveler and Eeshan, thank you for this!

In Goa, you can sign up for a socially distanced dining experience in the hills C’est L’avi by chef Avinash Martins offers a unique approach to farm to fork, in the hills of South Goa

For those of you who are new to this handle, I am Avinash Martins. A true blue Goenkar, my food is a tribute to my Indo Portuguese heritage and my Goan roots.

Usually found bustling away at the kitchen in , I serve up a changing menu of Goan inspired continental classics and chef’s tasting table of tapas. At my farmstead C’est L’avi, I offer a farm to table dining experience of soulful hearty rustic cuisine made from seasonal ingredients.

is set in the quiet heart of South Goa, Benaulim and is in an even quieter village called Velim in the hills of South Goa. DM us to make a reservation.

I look forward to welcoming you in either one or both these places 😊

For those of you who are new to this handle, I am Avinash Martins. A true blue Goenkar, my food is a tribute to my Indo Portuguese heritage and my Goan roots.

Usually found bustling away at the kitchen in , I serve up a changing menu of Goan inspired continental classics and chef’s tasting table of tapas. At my farmstead C’est L’avi, I offer a farm to table dining experience of soulful hearty rustic cuisine made from seasonal ingredients.

is set in the quiet heart of South Goa, Benaulim and is in an even quieter village called Velim in the hills of South Goa. DM us to make a reservation.

I look forward to welcoming you in either one or both these places 😊

Food is what I do. 7 days a week. When I’m not dreaming of specific ingredients I am usually combining them on a menu or on a plate. This is me, in the middle of dinner service at

We’ve had a great many of reach out to us to dine at C’est L’avi. However, until we consider having more than one table in the hills, we only accept reservations for groups between 6 to 12 people. What we have done though is adapted some of the earthy cuisine from C’est L’avi to . So, come right over at lunch or dinner for a taste of the farm, in the heart of Benaulim.

Our opening month has been overwhelming. As of now we are only taking reservations for lunch and for groups of people between 6 and 12 in number.

For all those of you who have reached out for dinner reservations for two to five people, please come over to . While it is different from the experience of , the same food philosophy drives both.

Winner of the Times food award for Contemporary cuisine, Cavatina, is tucked away in a little lane in the quite South Goan village of Benaulim. Featuring a Goan tapas menu, a full service bar and a kitchen known for its grills and modern take on restaurant classics, Cavatina is open for lunch and dinner on all days except Monday. So, see you there!

The kitchen at C’est L’avi is nothing like a chef’s kitchen. In fact, if you grew up in a village, it will remind me more of your grandmother’s kitchen. There are wood fires and earthen vessels and walls draped in mud. But if you look carefully, you will also see a quaint li’l bar. Made of repurposed wood and a thatch of woven coconut fronds. This little kitchen is truly the soul of C’est L’avi.

Just a classic oil barrel barbecue under a bamboo roof and country style long table facing autumn coloured fields. But the experience of dining here, is one of a kind

When people do what they love doing, the pictures almost make themselves ☺️ From a very fun and fulfilling afternoon at one of a kind farm to table experience called .

Our table has a ringside view to the theatre of nature. Nestled in the hills and set in the folds of a cashew plantation that’s been in my family for generations C’est L’avi is best experienced by day. This is when afternoon sun filters in via the jute covered bamboo roof and the quiet is punctuated by the gentle trickle of the fresh water spring that flows through the hill and the muffled sounds of music from a faraway church or children playing football in the neighbouring village. It’s a special kind of quiet. One I look forward to sharing with all of you who dine with us.

Nothing says kitchen like a rooster perched somewhere in it. But did you know that the rooster, more specifically, the Rooster of Barcelos is the national animal of Portugal, where it is considered a symbol of faith, good luck and prosperity.

legend tells a story about a pilgrim traveling through Spain who is accused of stealing silver from a landowner, and is sentenced to death by hanging.

To plead his innocence, he begs the judge to reverse his sentence. The judge was about to tuck into a roasted cockerel, when the pilgrim vowed that as proof of his innocence the cockerel will stand up on his plate and crow.

The judge pushed aside his meal and laughed. As the pilgrim was about to be hung, the cockerel miraculously stood up and crowed. Leaving the judge in disbelief, he then hurried to the gallows to free the innocent man.

Many years later, the pilgrim returned to Barcelos to carve a statue of the cockerel, where the legend and symbolism lives on til this day.

These Portuguese good-luck roosters are ideal for displaying in kitchens, or passing on as a gift, where the mystique of Faith, Good Luck and Justice only works when the rooster is received.

While still under Portuguese rule, houses in Goa that belonged to Portuguese families had a rooster on their roof.

Here’s our rooster, sitting proudly atop its brick oven perch in the kitchen at C’est L’avi, a hat tip to my Indo Portuguese heritage.

My food philosophy has always been about seasonal and sumptuous earthy elements that combines unexpected ingredients. So be prepared to see your steak come with a side of ‘tendli’ or cheesecake made with coconut jagggery. Bringing locally grown produce to the table in a meal that’s both hearty and nuanced in the same breath is what I strive for with every dish. Something I hope you will be able to taste in every bite.

Caught in the act

Always uncomfortable in front of a camera but invariably animated in the kitchen. Love this series of pictures that captured me doing what I love the most, in the rustic mud walled kitchen at C’est L’avi.

Hi! I am Avinash Martins. Chef, restauranter and above all an impassioned cook. C’est L’avi is an invitation to step into my world and experience my journey. As a Goan of Indo-Portugese heritage, my earliest memories are of growing up as part of a large family with diverse influences. Velim, the village I grew up in is one of those places were so much has changed and yet so much remains the same. Community continues to remain a big part of our lives even to this day. As does food. Eating and cooking has always been an organic act of togetherness that used to be helmed by my grandmother (whom we all called Avo) and Martins, the lady who brought up the large gaggle of children in our family. I first smelt spices being pounded and ground as their heady smells wound their way around us when we played football in the evenings. I tasted Urack from the first distillation of cashews grown on our farm. In a place where we still don’t have big basket or Swiggy, we have the luxury of cooking with vegetables that come from the fields and seafood that we get straight from the docks. All of these influences come together in my kitchen. Food to me has always been about sumptuous elements coming together to create a balanced plate that stays on your mind long after it has been eaten. As an ex-Oberoi chef with a long tenure abroad I came back to my roots to do what I love the most. The food I serve is the food I eat. And when you dine at C’est L’avi I hope you feel like a guest in my home.