UK-born Mona Nolavalia quickly credits her mother Diva, when asked which
international chefs she is most inspired by. More than her other inspirations,
Singaporean dessert queen Janice Wong or Australia’s punk princess Anna
Polyviou, Nigella Lawson or Jamie Oliver; it was her mother who influenced
her the most. She loved watching her mum make fruit flans and profiteroles at
kitty parties in Kuwait
, where her parents lived at the time. After studying at the renowned Cordon Bleu culinary institute in London, she
got her start at the exclusive restaurant, Mosimann's, at the f of 20. Soon
after, she moved to the leading patisserie Nadell’s, which supplied to the Ritz
Hotel and to the Duchess of Kent. This is where she really got a chunk of her
training, as it was an extremely professional-run environment, churning out products in bulk, but yet everything was made in-house, from scratch. From here, she was employed as a pastry chef at the prestigious Wentworth
Golf Club, where all the PGA tournaments are held. Around this time, she took
specialized courses in chocolate and sugar-pulling, where you craft boiled sugar into specialized designs that look like blown glass. On a break from cooking, Mona met her husband Marco Crisanto teaching
English as a foreign language in Peru. She told him her dream to set up a tea
room lounge, which they brought to reality together. They started introducing
better quality desserts and the concept of high tea, which was a new and
popular idea. However, when her father passed away a few years later, they
moved to Bangalore since they had property to look after there. When they visited Goa, they fell in love with it and ‘Mona’s Pantry’ was born. She takes orders for birthday cakes, kids birthday treats like chocolate lollipops,
mini cupcakes, and mini trifles or other special occasions like anniversary
dinners and weddings. She also enjoys using local ingredients and adapting to local recipes. “I’ve been
making a version of the Goan rum with gulkhand and covering it with a white
truffle chocolate ganache and coconut,” Another interesting fusion is the Coconut and Jaggery Black Rice Crème Brulee with fresh mangoes. Mona’s Pantry also retails at On the Go, with her a quick-service restaurant
in Porvorim run by her husband, Marco.
