Breakfast and Gossip @ Church Street Social (Church Street, Bangalore)

I hate having to get up at unearthly hours on a weekend (10 AM of course) to catch breakfast at a decent joint. Church Street Social serves Breakfast throughout the day. That’s reason enough for me to like them. I also like their industrial design, quirky prints, funky trays and fun drinks, but we’re not focusing on that today. We are paying homage to bacon and sausages and pancakes and eggs and French toast and sugar and spice and everything nice. Just like God intended. Word.  

The FPD Festival: Poush - Kashmiri Pundit Cuisine @ Cubbon Pavillion (Residency Road, Bangalore)

You would be hard pressed to find Kashmiri Food in a restaurant in Bangalore. The last time I relished Kashmiri Food was at a special Wazwan arranged by Bangalore Foodies Group and that was well over a year ago. A wazwan is a great way to experience the cuisine of Kashmiri Muslims – it constitutes a royal banquet of over 30-40 dishes shared family style between groups of people.  Most Kashmiri Food Festivals dish out the Wazwan style meal and the Gushtaba (velvety meatballs in a yogurt gravy) is its crowning glory. But the Cubbon Pavilion decided to showcase the less populist but equally exquisite cuisine of the Kashmiri Pundits. While both the cuisines share a lot of similarities (same ingredients and style of cooking) – the Kashmiri Pundit cuisine is unique in the fact that they do not use onion and garlic in their dishes. The tomato is also an oddity here and they resort to yoghurt based dishes to provide the same tangy taste. The most interesting aspect for me was that even though pundits in the rest of India eschew meat eating, Kashmiri pundits eat mutton and fish. Chicken and eggs however remains a taboo in the more orthodox families, but the younger generation has taken to including the same in their meals. 

The festival called ‘Poush’ (Flower) is spearheaded by Masterchef Suman Kaul who is a Kashmiri Pundit and is passionate about the food of her ‘Gul Poush Vaadie of Kashmir’. A home chef who honed her skills in the kitchens of her grandmother found a patron in the ITC group who invited her to come onboard as a Food Consultant in 2006. Eight years of hosting Kashmiri Pundit Food Festivals across ITC hotels in the country have just made this affable lady more passionate about bringing a cuisine as old as time, to us mere mortals. (The Rig-Veda talks about the eating habits of Kashmiris – so as old as time is a good analogy no? :P)

Candlelight and Surprises - Grasshopper (Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore)

I really wanted to hate this place. I wanted to turn up, eat there and then call peoples bluff on it. Give people fancy, mastercheffy, pretentious food and they all go gaga over it, just to avoid being called pedestrian. After eating out in *insert any five star restaurant* the squiggle of reduced Modena balsamic vinegar on that white plate or the lego-like placement of grilled meat over asparagus spears over celeriac mash, was frankly getting boring. And here I was, heading to a place that exalted in doing just that. Why? Because I am a seeker of truth. (Yes, the profoundness of it all boggles my mind as well!)

The FPD Buzz: Citibank Chef's Table Week - Jul 14-20, 2014

Citi Chef’s Table Week will run across Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai from July 14^th to July 20th. This one-week culinary event is now open to all credit / debit card-members giving diners a unique opportunity to experience a six-course customized chef’s tasting menu as well as interact with the Head Chef of some of the finest restaurants in Bangalore. 

Customers can enjoy exceptional signature dishes as well as off-menu specials as part of a six-course Chef’s Tasting Menu experience. These bespoke menus are priced across restaurants at INR 2,000 in Bangalore, (taxes and service charge extra). GH Mumm Champagne and Jacob Creek Reserve wines, will be available by the glass or per bottle at half the restaurant’s wine list rate. 

Here's a list of participating restaurants: 

Alba ( JW Mariott Hotel Bengaluru)

Blue Ginger (Taj West End)

Dum Pukht Jolly Nabobs (ITC Windsor)

Edo (ITC Gardenia)

OKO (The Lalit Ashok)

Ottimo (ITC Gardenia)

Rim Naam (The Oberoi)

Riwaz (The Ritz-Carlton Bangalore)

Yauatcha (MG Road)

Zen (The Leela Palace Banaglore)

Blue Ginger and Edo are on my wishlist this time :) 

 

Citi card-members will have the exclusive privilege of making reservations starting July 7, 2014, through the Chef’s Table Week website (click here), while general reservations will commence online from July 9, 2014.

Geek is the New Cool @ Aloft Bengaluru Cessna Business Park (Sarjapur, Bangalore)

Somebody finally decided to design a place where Bengaluru’s techie community can feel right at home. The Aloft Hotel (part of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc) at Cessna Business Park mixes technology, architecture, art and music to create a cool new space that appeals to the social, tech-savy global-traveler. It literally takes geek and makes it cool! Conveniently located in the emerging IT hub of Sarjapur, bang in the middle of a tech park, it already spells business. But who said business needs to be boring? 

The FPD Product: Pure Indulgence with Royce Chocolates (Bengaluru Baking Company, Bangalore)

 At the mention of luxury chocolate, the first thing that comes to mind is a Swiss or Belgian brand. So it was natural that I let out a faint sign of disbelief when JW Mariott, told me that Royce Chocolates (which was due to launch on the 20^th of June at the Bengaluru Baking Company) was actually a product of Japan! Like most laymen, my association of Japan was with Sushi and Sony (yes I’m a bumpkin like that!). The team explained that the chocolate is produced in the Hokkaido region of Japan which is a doppelganger for the Swiss Alps with its green pastures, snow covered mountains and dairy farms!  Somehow, the world seemed less crazy now.

Royce (pronounced like Rolls-‘royce’, but having no connection to it), has been around since 1983 and is a pretty familiar name to the well-traveled in Asia. The most popular of their offerings (and in my opinion the one with most fanfare) is their Nama range of chocolates. We tried the Ghana Bitters (48% Cocoa) and the Mild Cacoa flavors. I was instantly taken in by the Ghana bitters. Delicate, creamy (courtesy – cream from the Hokkaido cows), melt-in-the-mouth with just the right edge of bitterness. Nama means pure in Japanese and the product stays true to the name by being hand rolled, using raw cocoa, and having no preservatives. This also means that it has a short shelf life and you need to consume it soon. (No problem with that!).      

Mixology with Shatbhi Basu @ Harry's (Indiranagar, Bangalore)

Indiaranagar’s bars have one more watering hole to compete with – Harry’s! The famous Singapore bar choose this location in Bangalore to open its fourth outlet, hot on the heels of the Mumbai one. Most bars these days are moving from glass and chrome finishes, to more casual and warm interiors. Harry’s adopts a mahogany and exposed brick look that is reminiscent of a speakeasy, albeit a modern one. With the days of our prohibition (11 PM deadlines :P ) coming to an end, I’m sure Harry’s is going to ride on the wave of general elation in the months to come. 

We were invited for a mixology session by the godmother of bartending in India – Shatbhi Basu. For anyone who’s watched her show on NDTV Good Times, you already know the level of celebrity she is. But what you probably don’t know is that her joie de verve is all natural and not just for the TV show. We got to witness her finesse in churning out creative cocktails and keeping her audience glued to her charming stories at the same time. Her hands seemed to have a life of their own when she was mixing our cocktails and before we knew it, she dished out one perfectly balanced drink after another.

The FPD Festival: mmmBurger @ Smoke House Deli (Bangalore)

Grills, Burgers, Cold Beers and other tidings of summer always make a Bangalorean happy. Not that we have too much to complain, considering our weather is more equitable than most cities in India and we indulge our summer fancies right through the year! The pub capital of India seems to have a soft spot for burgers (including veggie ones) and I can bet my bottom dollar that every pub has burgers listed on their menu. Why, even coffee shops and breakfast joints can’t stay away from listing meat sandwiched between a bun as their runaway hit. Smoke House Deli went a step further and had a whole festival dedicated to burgers. They call the mmmBurger Festival an ode to all things meaty as well as a little gift to all their patrons. “Each burger promises a distinct charred, smoky and flame licked flavor”, they say. We went on a balmy Wednesday evening to unwind over a couple of cocktails and sample their wares.

The FPD Festival: Hot Rock Grills @ Dublin (ITC Windsor, Bangalore)

There’s something about the sizzle of a grill that brings out the caveman/ cave women in us. The thrill to see something cooking on a hot rock versus a modern day oven is a primitive urge I can’t explain. There are umpteen theories about why this style of cooking results in the most luscious grills. The ones that makes the most sense to me are A. the ability of the stone to retain and distribute heat evenly and B. the retention of moisture and flavor in the food while preventing flare-ups caused in regular grills. Now, not all of us have the privilege of owning hot stones (generally made of volcanic rock) but Dublin at the ITC Windsor brings the excitement of cooking on a hot stone right to our plate, with the Hot Rock Grills festival. The Irish pub comes alive with a variety of sizzlers crafted by Executive Chef Uchit Vohra giving diners an option of healthy, oil free cuisine made from a selection of meats and seafood. Presented on preheated “Rocks” served with an array of rubs and sauces, it’s a festival designed to delight your inner grill monster. 

We tried their offering this Saturday and (I’ll say it even before I finish the post) came away absolutely delighted. There are many restaurants these days that focus on the frills and thrills rather than the food and eventually lose their regular patrons. Dublin need not worry – their commitment to make food the hero, will always hold them in good stead. 

Terrariums and other Surprises @ Ottimo (ITC Gardenia, Bangalore)

It looks like every five star hotel worth its salt, needs to have an Italian restaurant to cater to our new found love of Italian cuisine. You can’t blame them after all, the Indians have taken with gusto to pasta as if it were dal chawal! Ottimo (which means excellent in Italian) has steered away from the carb-heavy renditions of Italian cuisine and bravely presented a lighter fare with emphasis on nutrition and fresh ingredients. Chef Vittorio Grecco has also indulged his love for molecular gastronomy here and his experience in Michelin starred restaurants across Italy has helped him nudge us towards trying something which looks unfamiliar, but in the end is an excellent tribute to the flavors of Italy. 

Ottimo stands in place of the erstwhile West View Grill and has an air of relaxed luxury. The restaurant itself wraps around the main kitchen which displays a row of terrariums (Micro gardens within their own eco-system, sitting pretty within glass containers). While I am not personally a fan of velvet sofas (this one has a coat of arms of essential herbs!), I loved the beautiful pictures of plants and herbs shot by Magda Indigo that hung above it. The red tinted glasses offer a beautiful shot of color in the otherwise subdued theme. However, after sampling the dishes on offer, I was tempted to suggest that the restaurant needed to present a more light and airy atmosphere to go with Chef Greco’s beautifully plated dishes.