Cooking for Community

Vira Chudasma fosters food, wine & fellowship in Temple

By Janna Zepp | Photos by Justin Borja and courtesy of Vira Chudasma

Walk into any of Vira Chudasma’s three restaurants on West Adams Avenue and you will notice a completely unpretentious and warm ambiance regardless of the separate atmospheres and interior decor. La Riv Kitchen & Bar is sophisticated yet casual with a menu that is predominantly Tuscan Italian. Sona Wine Bar & Small Plates offers informal, upscale intimacy with a broad selection of wines. The sports bar, 3 West Alehouse & Grill where, quite literally, everybody knows your name and if they do not, they will soon, is relaxed but still classy.

Manager Kara Cooper makes everyone feel welcome and cared for. Assistant Chef Tony Strauss helps make all of Vira’s cuisine top notch and often comes out to make sure you love what you’re eating. All three menus are updated regularly. And all three venues are definitely neighborhood hang outs known for great food and service.

You’ll need to follow Vira’s restaurants and bars on their social media pages and accounts to stay current with the many events and live music each hosts. And soon, there will be a fourth restaurant to enjoy after it opens during the spring of 2021: Bombay Central. That one will feature a traditional Indian street food menu, craft cocktails and a Scotch and Bourbon bar with access to Sona for wine.

“Bombay Central will offer the kind of food I grew up with in India,” says Vira. “It is a kind of comfort food, and I absolutely love comfort food.”

She came up with the idea for the new place after she began serving some of her traditional Indian favorites curbside from La Riv during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

“I run out of Chicken Tikka Masala first, every time. I figured it was time to open an Indian restaurant,” she adds.

Speaking of the pandemic, that was what changed Vira’s business model and she says she found her calling in the midst of the chaos.

“Everything was shut down. People lost jobs. They went hungry. That’s not right. Everyone should be able to eat. Feed your people first, then help them find jobs. If they’re well-fed, they can overcome anything,” she says. And that is when she began offering curbside free pasta and sauce to those who could not afford to pay.

“I had food on the shelves that would go bad if we didn’t use it. It was not like I was rolling in cash at the time, but I felt a moral responsibility make sure it did not go to waste and people had something to eat during that dark time. Before I knew it, my regular customers began donating extra money to cover the service. Central Texas turned out many anonymous donors to our cause,” says Vira, deep compassion evident in her voice.

She and her kitchen crew have been featured several times in local media for their dedication to keeping Central Texans fed during the pandemic and then again during the terrible winter storm in February 2021. She said she did not know how she could afford to keep her businesses going, but she credits God and her community for the love and support, and she’s not only kept her doors open, she’s seeing a return on her investment in others. Since the pandemic, business has begun to take off. Weekends, you’ll need reservations to dine at La Riv because tables fill up fast now.

“When I first opened La Riv in 2014, West Temple was pretty much open fields and a few new subdivisions. I’ve watched the community grow and I feel like we grew together,” Vira says. “West Temple is my home now.”

Vira believes in respecting the food by using the freshest produce and using all the animal products so nothing is wasted. She also says that the right attitude, ideas and a strong desire to succeed make all the difference in her work. She has university degrees in mechanical engineering and finance, but cooking is her true calling; one she found while backpacking through Europe in her youth which led her to study culinary arts in the Tuscany region of Italy. She hopes one day to start a food charity that ensures no one goes hungry.

“Food, wine and community are inextricably intertwined,” she says. “It’s a core of our society. We should preserve that by being our brothers’ keepers and feeding our neighbors.”

You can find out more at larivkitchen.com, on Facebook and other social media accounts and by calling 254-231-3661.