Veena Stores founder SD Suryanarayana Hegde passed away at eighty-seven years old.
So, when Veena Stores in Bengaluru’s Malleswaram announced the death of its founder, SD Suryanarayana Hegde, on Instagram earlier this week, Padukone was among those who paid her respects online.
Back then, more than idli, we used to eat chutney,” said Anand Raj, founder of Eat Raja in Malleswaram. The store is the pride of Malleswaram,” he said. Both he and Pradeep, his son, were at it for years,” she said. “Even though they operated in a limited window, they were very efficient,” she said.
BENGALURU: Its fluffy idlis and chutney were favourites with Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone . When the store first opened, coffee, tea, badam milk and condiments were its primary offerings, while idli was almost a sideshow. Over the years, however, the idli — accompanied by generous helpings of chutney doled out from a bucket — became the star. I used to call it thatha’s (grandfather’s) shop. In the 1980s, my friends and I would go there to eat after playing. Their speciality was, and still is, the chutney. The addition of mint to the chutney and its watery texture is what makes it special. Raj remembers Hegde as a quiet man who usually sat at the cash register. “Now we have to buy a token and eat; back then, we would just eat whatever we wanted and go and tell him. He would accordingly tell us how much to pay. I also remember him frying vadas in the kitchen. Its crispy texture would immediately tempt us. Suchitra Deep, founder of Malleswaram Social, describes the store as a landmark. “I’m sure Hegde would not have thought that the small shop he founded would become this institution. Deep remembers visiting the store around two decades ago, when the crowds outside made getting to the counter itself a challenge. “What I will always remember is the hole-in-the-wall outlet and the fact that they had the most amazing vadas and chutney. Nobody made vade like them.”