Our Story
Mitti & Mist didn't begin with a business plan. It began with a kettle, a rented room on 16th Road, and a belief that Bandra deserved a café that felt like it truly belonged here.
The Beginning
Kavya Rao and Sameer Patel met at a specialty coffee cupping event in Bengaluru in 2017. Kavya had spent three years training under a Dutch roaster in Amsterdam. Sameer had left a career in architecture to learn bread-making in Lyon.
When they returned to Mumbai, they found what so many others had: the city's café scene was all aesthetics and no substance. They wanted to fix that — not with ego, but with craft. In October 2019, they signed the lease on a 700 sq ft space on 16th Road, Bandra West.
They painted it themselves. They built the counter. They called it Mitti & Mist — mitti for the earth-rooted honesty they wanted in every ingredient, mist for the quiet, unhurried feeling of a morning before the city woke up.
Our Journey
We opened with 4 tables, 2 bar stools, and a single-group espresso machine. The first day, 22 people walked in. We ran out of croissants by 9am.
We launched our direct-trade relationship with Naandi Foundation's Araku Valley cooperative — our signature pour-over bean. During lockdown, we pivoted to bottled cold brew and meal kits that kept us afloat.
We expanded the kitchen and hired our first pastry chef, Nandita. The cardamom kouign-amann appeared on the menu — and has never left. We were named one of Mumbai's top 5 cafés by Time Out.
We launched the Mitti Kitchen Collective — hosting monthly events for local chefs, farmers, and food writers. Our producer dinners sell out in under an hour.
We've served over 200,000 cups of coffee. Our team of 14 feels like a small family. The kettle is still the same one Kavya brought from Amsterdam. Some things shouldn't change.
What We Stand For
Nothing comes from a pouch, a powder, or last week. Every bean is freshly roasted within 5 days of brewing. Every vegetable arrived this morning.
We pay above-market rates to our farm partners and put their names on our menu. We believe farmers deserve the same recognition as chefs.
We won't hurry you out. We designed Mitti & Mist to be the opposite of a conveyor-belt café. Sit. Stay. Read. The next cup is whenever you want it.
We buy locally, hire locally, and give back locally. A portion of every sale goes toward urban farming initiatives in Dharavi and Kurla.
The People Behind It
Where it comes from
We source from small, independent farms across India — and put their stories on the cup.
Tribal cooperative, shade-grown arabica at 900m altitude. Natural processed. Jasmine, dried fig.
Single-estate washed arabica. Dark stone fruit, clean finish. Our espresso base.
Honey processed robusta-arabica blend. Used for our cold brew. Bold, smooth, low acid.
First and second flush black tea. Seasonal, single-estate, served with reverence.
Come for a cup. Stay for a conversation. Leave knowing you'll be back.