As their apt moniker implies, the Stranded Chefs,  husband and wife duo, Buddhika Marasinghe and Padmini Nagalingam who combine their skills as a baker /chef were all set to return to Australia when the third wave of the pandemic wreaked havoc on their plans. Buddhika, a pastry chef and baker who has worked at Emerald Hill Deli in South Melbourne Market and Padmini who hails from Malaysia, also a dab hand in the kitchen had made Sri Lanka their home for the past two years. However with no sign of relief from the pandemic they had made plans to return to their former home of Australia via Singapore when Singapore stopped taking in transit passengers from Sri Lanka. Well and truly stranded in Sri Lanka with a one-year-old child, the couple decided to don their aprons and put their skills to good use and do what they do best- catering.  Supported by the third member of their team Anita Eger, their social media manager, the Stranded Chefs are getting stuck in and creating some fabulous desserts for their clientele.

How long have you been stranded?
Since beginning of May. We decided to delay our journey home until after our son's 1st birthday. Singapore stopped taking transit passengers from Sri Lanka 5 days before our departure. We have been waiting ever since to get on the flight to head back to Australia. We were initially supposed to leave on April 19th. We rescheduled our flights to 5th May and it got cancelled on 1st May. 

What made you decide to start a catering operation?
We were mentally so ready to go back home and start our life again. We had shipped all our personal belongings except for clothes needed for quarantine. When the flights got cancelled, we were crushed because we knew that this could end up being a long wait. We had to do something to take our mind off the situation and keep ourselves busy. Since we have a commercial kitchen set up near our home, we decided to do a pop-up dessert business. We live in Hanwella and delivering to Colombo as and when people order would be hard. We decided on the concept of taking orders over a few days and delivering on one day of the week. 

What sort of food is on the menu you offer?
We have decided to concentrate on desserts as it’s easier than meals. Plus, Sri Lankans generally have a sweet tooth and love their desserts so it seemed like the perfect thing to do. 

How do you do your deliveries especially during lockdown?
We have a travel pass that allows us to deliver around Colombo during the lockdown. My husband and I handle the deliveries ourselves as we do not trust others to treat our products with love and care. Our customers have paid us and trusted us to deliver a great product and we have to keep to that promise. That being said, driving around Colombo and its suburbs trying to find houses in their many small laneways is so confusing! 

What are some of the challenges you face trying to run your business during lockdown?
The stress of having to get everything right the first time around. We have to make sure we order correctly and make no mistakes in the kitchen because finding replacement ingredients in a jiffy is a problem when everything nearby is shut.  Delivering the goodies can also be a challenge. Last week, we had to deal with flooded roads that meant changing our delivery route a few times and causing us major delays. Thankfully our customers have been very understanding! 

We also have been through this situation before. We ran a bakery for 2 years in Kotahena and last year, we had to shut down during the lockdown. We had to find a way to keep our bakery going in order to keep our staff employed. We launched a choon paan service called “The Choon Paan Man" and mainly did our delivery in our hometown of Hanwella and also supplied some people in Colombo on a special order basis. We even got featured on a BBC Travel article!  We also have an adorable one-year-old that needs lots of attention! Fortunately for us, family has been invaluable in helping care for him on the days that we are busy in the kitchen. 

Where are you based?
Our home and commercial kitchen is currently based in Hanwella.

How can people place their orders with you?
Every Tuesday, we will post up the new menu for the week on our Instagram account “The Stranded Chefs” and we will also message the menu to all of those on our Whatsapp contact list. Orders close on Thursdays to give us sufficient time to plan our ordering, baking and delivery.