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With Mercury soaring and tempers flaring what everyone yearns for is a cool, refreshing
sip. Ice creams are ok, the cola drinks are just fizz and no substance, but a fresh fruit
drink is what the doctor recommends for a healthy life.
 Scouting the city, we found a select few fresh fruit shops (forget
the roadside wallahs in their unhygenic kiosks, ugh!) which concoct their own yummy
recipes and keep you asking for more.
First, the pioneer – the Fruit Shop on
Greames Road – 4 years old and going strong, going by their branches in other areas
in the city. A whopping 105 fruit juices and shakes are listed on their menu. Harris, one
of the partners, informs that 85-90% are exclusive recipes. No, not all our persuasive
powers and earthshaking charm (?!!!) yielded one for this article! So if you dying to
check them out, then its onward ho, straight to the place.
The hot-selling stuff ones, according to
the shop assistant, are Pink Panther, Carbuncle and Four Seasons. Then there are other
interesting combos – Flosbury Flop, Two to Tango, Ban the Banana, Walnut Twist,
Ether’s Choice, Old Boy, Roy’s Folly, Caramel Custard Pudding and…Sheikh
Shake.
 They also sell fruits – strawberry with cream and mangoes right
through the year. During the season, Kiwis are available.
Adding to their stature is their service.
Fruits like Passion fruit, Twin tomato, Kabul Pomogranate and Kiwi fruit (from New
Zealand) which are not from the city are procured specially from other places like Kerala.
Though the regulars come from their own estates.
It’s a nice place to round off a date
after a movie or to catch up with a long-time-no-see friend. You don’t need an excuse
to try their great sips, especially when its sweltering and you are dying for a drink.
They have an outlet at Besant Nagar and another is coming up at Kilpauk.
Another day we checked out Fresh Club on
Radhakrishnan Salai, bang opposite Woodlands Hotel. Done up nicely in a casual style with
stained glass with fruit designs, this place is hardly a year old. They have 3 categories
– 15 Mocktails, which are combos of 2 or more fruit juices with names like Adam n
Eve, Farmers Bloom, Purple Fantasy, Laughing Waters, Stream Thru, Pie Passion, Pussy Foot
and Golden Pie.
 On The Rocks is for the teenyboppers – thick juices with
crushed ice (so they can hang out there and linger on) you can choose from Eve’s
Crush, Chillout, Le Tangy and Megrade.
Then they have the Floats – juices
with Vanilla ice cream, called Sex Appeal, Soft Punch, Deep Red, Spritzer and Tango Tangy.
What else? Milk shakes, cut fruits and
listen to this – vegetable juices, sandwiches, plain juices, chaats and ice cream
(Walls). Sorry no cola drinks, no tea or coffee. There’s nothing to beat natural
food! Hygiene is their watchword – so they have a see-through kitchen, water
dispenser, ice cube machine and glass washing machine. Only mineral water is used. No
artificial sherbets or chemicals additives are used.
These cosy little places seem to be a
bridge between hi-profile 5-star hotels & posh restaurants and the lower segment pottikadais.
Next time when you are passing by,
don’t think, just drink!
Here are two recipes from Fresh Club for
the I-would-like-to-try-it-out-myself types:
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Starina – Kiwi 2 fruits, Apple 1, Milk 50 ml, Ice
50 ml, Sugar to taste. Put everything in the mixer and strain it and serve cool.
By Padma Subiah
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