A new restaurant in Mosta is the first on the islands to be wholly dedicated to Sri Lankan cuisine, promising those with curious taste buds an authentic offering that will transport them to the South Asian island.

“I like to tell our customers that we will take them to Sri Lanka and back in two hours,” says Carit Desira, the Maltese half of the couple behind the new concept, as she tells WhosWho.mt the story behind the new establishment.

A graduate from the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS), Ms Desira met Mahendra, a Sri Lankan national, while working in London.

After some time there, the couple moved back to Malta, but found it difficult to settle in, eventually deciding to pack their bags and go to Sri Lanka, partly to take care of Mahendra’s aging parents.

During their six years in the South Asian country, Ms Desira worked with an Australian college similar to Malta’s ITS, a role she found “very fulfilling”.

“I always wanted to teach, and hospitality is my passion, so it was a happy marriage of the two.”

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions on travel, which severely impacted Sri Lanka’s tourism sector, however, the country’s public finances collapsed, causing economic and social upheaval.

At the time, Ms Desira was pregnant with the couple’s second child, and the family decided it was time to move back to Malta, this time with a clear dream they would seek to realise.

“Malta has great education and excellent healthcare, so we felt it was the right place to raise our family,” she says.

Carit Desira presenting one of the Sri Lankan dishes available at CADE

Coming back to Malta after so long abroad, they found a very different country, which is now home to thousands of Sri Lankans and other South Asians, who find in CADE a familiar haven.

“Sri Lankans cannot find such a wide range of their traditional dishes anywhere else,” says Ms Desira, “so it has become a place of belonging for the community.”

The feeling of belonging is in fact central to the CADE concept: “We are very family-oriented,” she says, citing her background in animation and her experience as a mother to two young children. The restaurant even welcomes pets.

“We want everyone to feel comfortable here. It’s not just about the food – service is just as important. It is no use having a waiter serving excellent food without even acknowledging you…”

CADE is situated on San Pawl tal-Qliegħa Street, on the outskirts of Mosta. Formerly a popular sports bar known as Extra Time, Ms Desira and her husband first took over the bar as a going concern, introducing a few Sri Lankan dishes and experimenting with the menu and costings.

After 10 months, they felt ready to finally take off the band aid and realise their original concept, revamping the entire menu and redecorating the place.

“We put in a lot of work and installed Sri Lankan traditional décor. Those who had seen the old interior and see it as CADE now find it difficult to believe it is the same place!”

So what does CADE mean?

“Well,” Ms Desira laughs, “it carries a double meaning. My first name is a combination of Carmen and Rita, for my grandparents, and CADE takes the first two letters of my first name and surname and combines them. But it is also the Sri Lankan pronunciation of the Sinhala letter in our logo, stylised like an elephant, and it means ‘shop’ in that language. So whatever your language, you can recognise who and what we are.”

Finally, it is time to ask the big question: What is Sri Lankan cuisine actually like?

“It is a very interesting cuisine,” says Ms Desira, “and quite underrated, in my opinion. We have mildened the curries to suite Maltese tastes, so anyone can eat it, even kids. Of course, if anyone requests it to be as spicy as the original, we are more than happy to comply.”

The hot element of the dishes on offer, she says, is the meat, which is balanced out by vegetables which tone down the heat.

CADE has been getting some rave reviews online, including from food blogger Elsa Andrea Messi, who described it as a place that “flies the flag for proper Sri Lankan grub”.

“Places like this deserve to be known about. Staying true to their roots. Thank you God for immigration!”