Working Up An ‘Appétit’

By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter

In 2013, Kshama and Ravi Mehra moved to Pacific Palisades with plans to start a family. The young couple knew that life would take a different shape once they were caring for a child, but nothing could have fully prepared them for the lifestyle overhaul that accompanied the arrival of their son Veeren. That big shift spurred a bright idea—one they think can make life just a little bit easier on new parents making the same transition.

Enter Appétit: a six-piece “mealtime tool” that simplifies the trials of feeding young ones. It’s the brainchild of late-night brainstorming sessions by the Mehras from their home in the Alphabet Streets.

They told the Palisadian-Post that young parents spend a tremendous amount of time, energy and money keeping little ones fed—accumulating “ugly, tacky” clutter in the form of child-safe dishware along the way. The Mehras set out to solve that problem, creating a single, versatile dish that reduces the number of items on their shelves (and the number of items to inevitably fall from the high-chair).

Appétit is made up of detachable pieces that parents can configure into different dishes depending on their needs, then cover with lids to use as storage or take meals on the road. The Mehras adorned the pieces with modern, geometric art—in a nod to the pre-parent aesthetics that many young couples (themselves included) aren’t quite ready to leave behind.

The Mehras said they’ve enjoyed working together on the project, with Kshama taking the design lead and Ravi serving as a valuable consultant and business partner. They said designing the product from the Palisades has been ideal, because the “true community” feel of the neighborhood lends itself to the kind of forward-thinking parents who might be interested in their project.

The Mehra duo has a 3-D-printed prototype of Appétit, but need to raise more funds in order to manufacture their first batch. They’re encouraging interested donors to participate in their Kickstarter campaign, which runs through Nov. 3.