✨wandr
Wandr’s brick and mortar location at Jumeirah Lake Towers
It comes as no surprise that within a year of graduating with a master’s degree from the London School of Economics, Anki Ramakrishnan embarked on her journey as a restauranteur. From the time we were children, Anki’s been impressively well versed in gourmet cooking, fine dining and indulgently warm hosting. She’s also had an innately fierce love for wildlife and the planet. At the intersection of these passions is where Anki found her niche.
At the core of her values-based business model, Anki ventures to prove that eating sustainably can be attainable and delicious all at once. By prioritizing local farms, respecting diverse culinary cultures, diminishing plastic and food waste, and embracing seasonal ingredients, Wandr is on a mission to make fast food slow. Or slow food fast. Depends on how you look at it.
Anki at her home in Dubai hosting a brunch party.
One of the things I’ve personally always loved about Anki is that she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty. During the pandemic, Anki spent a whole year in Bali working in a variety of restaurants in a variety of roles. Front of house, back of house, kitchen, stock rooms, wholesale, you name it. Her hands-on experience and eye for design topped with a generous garnish of attention to detail was a recipe for success. Wandr’s playful branding is the antithesis of what you would expect a “healthy” food joint to be (think minimalism and whitish sage at Sweetgreen). That’s because Wandr looks to challenge the conventional clichés associated with healthy eating. “Why can’t fast food be healthy and environmentally conscious and convenient and good for your body and good for your soul?” Anki asks me in a Whatsapp voicenote. A tall order, yes. But a yummy one at Wandr.
After a pilates class one day, Anki drove us to her new brick and mortar location for lunch. We were treated to decadent breakfast sandwiches, gunpowder mac and cheese (!) and Erewhon-esque smoothies. In the 6000-year-old science of Ayurveda, there is a deep-rooted belief that food cooked with love and pure intentions is tastier and more nourishing than their counterparts. If that’s the case (which I totally believe it is), Wandr’s game plan will do wonders.
