PoshVine Blog

The case for small menus

by Priya Bala, Editorial Advisor, PoshVine

I am assisting a restaurateur and management pro who is writing a book on how to start and run your restaurant. He blogs on the subject and it’s widely read. I believe the book will be a success, too. He has some pet theories and they are based on sound research and analysis. One is that single product restaurants are probably more tuned to succeed than those offering an array of not entirely connected products. By single product one doesn’t, of course, mean one item, but a firmly focused range of choices that fall into one category. Obviously, many restaurants don’t buy into this, or we wouldn’t be seeing so many multi-cuisine eateries with 300-plus dishes on their menus.

Still, editing this chapter got me thinking. A small and focused menu achieves excellence more easily than an unwieldy one. For one thing, the inventories can be small and ingredients of a better quality.  The kitchen can be smaller and more efficient, working on select specialities, rather than take a hit or miss approach to an unwieldy menu. I’m often aghast at restaurants that serve Chicken Kolhapuri, kadhai, Jaipuri, Afghani, masala, makhni, Chettinad and more. Do they really think we believe each of these is distinct? Often it’s a one-gravy-fits-all concept, with a garnish here and a swirl of cream there differentiating one from the other.

I would rather eat in a restaurant  that does a few things and does them superbly.  If it doesn’t have a small menu, then at least a restaurant that sticks to one signature style which it perfects. I like how the Biere Club has fine-tuned its finger food menu. And Aloro at Crowne Plaza sticks to a rustic-style Italian menu. This, by the way, is a restaurant you must visit, not complaining about the drive to Electronic City. Szechwan Court, the best Chinese restaurant in town, also has a lean menu, but serves up memorable meals.

I have been travelling recently. And in Oslo, there is Statholdergaarden with a Michelin star to its credit. Here, the chef draws up a daily menu determined by the fresh produce of the season and the day and that is what the diners experience. I do wish Bangalore diners wouldn’t keep making the jaded complaint ‘Not enough choice’ and give restaurants the chance to excel in a chosen specialty.

Shake it up

If you’ve been following trends in food or, more specifically, bartending, bet you’re amazed and a little bit aghast at the goings-on in the heady sphere of cocktails. There’s plenty happening out there, beginning with bars ageing their own alcohol. Gone are the days of throwing a few chillies into a bottle of vodka and peddling infused liquours. Now, the booze goes into a barrel and, so the belief goes, only gets better. Aged tequilas are a particular favourite with the international bartending brigade.

Flavours are going beyond the realm of common imagination, too. There’s cake and marshmallow-flavoured vodka which is making the purists cringe. The reverse is happening, too, with cupcakes tasting like margaritas. But that’s another story.  Meanwhile, the Swedes are happy to drink a new fish-flavoured vodka, it seems.

Bitters are big, too, and no longer something that just comes from a bottle with an ‘angostura’ label on it. Edgy bartenders are making their own. And putting the finishing touches to their cocktails by dusting the rim with smoked paprika and demerera sugar, instead of the more common salt.

The idea of the cocktail as something to sip is also being challenged. So, here comes the boozy slush and the alco-popsicle on a stick. Perfect for a searing summer day, if not the ideal turn-on on your first date.

The molecular gastro-scientists are probably done playing with foams and gels, but carbonated cocktails are ruling the charts in the trendiest bars across the world. All it takes is a carbonator at the bar and plenty of creativity, of course.

In Bangalore, we may not be slurping on a negroni popsicle as yet, but wait for it. Meanwhile, experimental bartenders do plenty to keep cocktail boredom at bay. The best have given up artificial syrups and sweeteners and that is an excellent place to start. Here, our pick of the best places for cocktails in town:

• Hardrock Café
• Geoffrey’s
• Polo Club,  The Oberoi
• Blend, Royal Orchid Suites
• Liquid, Ista
• TGIF
• City Bar
• Couch
• I-Bar and Aqua, The Park
• Oval Bar

Where is the South Indian?

by Priya Bala, Editorial Advisor, PoshVine

I was chatting with Naren Thimmaiah, executive chef of Gateway Hotel who runs Karavalli, the coastal restaurant, with unmistakeable passion. The restaurant is undergoing a long-overdue refurbishing and a menu tweak as well.

As always, over our lunch of Aleppey fish curry and red rice, we spoke about food in the city. Naren told me about the new menu and his plans to introduce a section serving dishes using seasonal ingredients – with basale or the indigenous spinach of Mangalore and a dish of bitter gourd and sugar cane juice. Also, a range of curries cooked on wood fires. Meanwhile, he’s had to stave off crème brulee flavoured with coastal spices.

Here is a South Indian restaurant that is staunchly so. Agreed, Karavalli is not always within reach of the foodie on the street, but it does its bit to preserve an Indian tradition in a city utterly smitten by California pizza, burgers and buffalo wings. So, great job Karavalli.!

In fact, where are the really good South Indian restaurants in Bangalore outside the five-star hotels which, not without reason, aim to please the corporate traveler and give the foreigner a glimpse of Indian food?  There are the darshinis, but they are our version of McDonalds, doing a formulaic QSR take on idli-dosa-kharabhath, they might as well be factory manufactured.

There is South Indies and Bon South and I would like to see them keep the same commitment to classical South Indian cooking after Chef Venkatesh Bhat has moved to other pastures. But what else, save the occasional Mangalorean restaurant such as the excellent Sea Spice by Seven Star at JP Nagar and Anupam’s Coast to Coast.

North Indian restaurants abound here – serving their kebabs (good, bad or indifferent) and dal makhni drowning in cream to dupe the unsuspecting. I could count 20 North Indian restaurants to every South Indian one. We call ourselves foodie capital and gourmet heaven, but all the great food cities I know celebrate their own cuisine with pride. The aroma and flavour of Bangkok is that of Thai food. In Barcelona, the KFC, the Chinese restaurant, and the Indian takeaway lurk apologetically in the shadows while the tapas bars occupy centre-stage. It’s Italian in Florence and French in Rheims – where Champagne accompanies every meal. Hong Kong celebrates its dimsum above all else.

Show me the restaurant in Bangalore serving the subtly flavoured dishes of the Mysore Brahmins, the vast array of Mangalorean cuisine and Udupi classics, the rice rotis and chicken curries of Malnad, the Coorg classics. One pub puts a version of Pandi curry on the menu and we are so thrilled. I cannot fathom why Bangalore is so shy about its local cuisine. You tell me.

The BBQ Bootcamp Experience

Recently, PoshVine organized an Art of grilling Workshop in partnership with Weber Grills and Starvin Marvin. A 5 hour extravaganza featuring workshops, competitions and awesome food, the experience was a huge success. Following is a photo journey of the event. 

Keep following www.poshvine.com for more such curated experiences and awesome culinary trails. 

Why get Fresh

by Priya Bala, Editorial Advisor, PoshVine

A few months ago, I interviewed Chef Alain Passard of the Michelin starred Parisian restaurant, L’Arpege, now famous as a fine showcase for fresh, vegetarian produce. If I was nervous about chef tantrums, I needn’t have worried. Throughout the hour-long interview, Passard was soft-spoken and dreamy – as if he was thinking of his beloved gardens in Chateau du Gros Chesnay where he grows almost all of the produce that goes into his restaurant kitchen.

Now, as much farmer as he is chef, Passard spoke about how the seasonality of the vegetables determines his menu. Whether it’s in-season aubergines, zucchini or melons, they reach L’Arpege by TGV within hours of being harvested. “It’s the fleeting seasons of the fruit and vegetable and their wonderful colours that inspire me to cook these days,” Passard said. “I feel I am painting on the plate with these.”

At a dinner that same night at the Leela Palace, Passard translated to the plate his food philosophy, serving dishes such as a white harlequin of vegetables (radish, turnip, babycorn) in Himalayan honey with candied lemon, pairing it perfectly with the Chateau Margaux Pavillon Blanc 2009. The best and in-season produce needs few adornments is Passard’s belief. The French have, of course, a long tradition of shopping in farmers’ markets and eating in-season, which they still cling to with a certain vehemence.

Across the pond from Europe, Alice Waters of Chez Panisse has been at the forefront of a farm-to-fork movement that has now gained acceptance across the country. Waters has, for years, maintained that the best tasting food is organically grown and harvested in ways that are ecologically sound. As at Passard’s L’Arpege, it is the quest for such ingredients that defines the Chez Panisse menu.

Here, there is awareness, but not enough momentum yet to propel this way of cooking and eating into a movement. The Indian diner is still enamoured of imported meats, cheeses and, most unfortunately, even fruit and vegetables. But there are chefs who are walking a different path. I know Manu Chandra, from the Olive restaurants, for one has spent time and effort building a network of local suppliers who will bring him great fresh produce. Dishes on his new menu such as the watermelon gazpacho use three varieties of local tomatoes to delicious effect; he prefers local sardines and tuna to imported (and therefore, frozen) seafood.

The sensibilities that underline farm-to-fork dining have evolved after years of chefs importing ingredients from all over the world. Now, they feel, is the time to go back to basics and stay local. Why? Because it limits the human impact on the environment by cutting carbon miles and the use of pesticides and preservatives. Local and fresh simply tastes better. It should make you feel good, too. And shouldn’t food nourish the soul as well?

Restaurants that serve fresh, local produce in a way that brings out their intrinsic goodness make a difference, not only to our taste-buds, but also the environment. Of course, there will always be room for culinary wizardry, for we need occasionally to be dazzled by food. But is a tomato turned into a gel, mousse or sphere, made to look like, say, a strawberry, better than a summer tomato served in a way that let its sun-ripened sweetness shine through? You choose.

Coming soon: At Poshvine we are in the process of creating a series of superb farm-to-fork experiences for our members. Food that tastes great and feels good is what it’ll be all about.

Batter is better with beer

The way the weather is, bet you aren’t reaching for the Scotch or even the single malt these days. Beer, Bangalore’s fave drink really is the quaff of the season. Even better if it’s freshly brewed. Proof is the crowds packing the Biere Club and Toit and, more recently, Punjabi by Nature, with their in-house breweries. 

Drink determined, what do you eat? You may nibble on cheese with your Chianti and find that burgh tikka is just the thing with Johnny Walker. But beer? Too many bars misfire, trying to impress with exotica. When it comes to food-and-beer pairings, look no further than that great ale-drinking institution - the English pub. Bangers and mash, fish ‘n’ chips, steak ‘n’ kidney pies are the perfect food for beer, from the palest ale to the darkest stout that packs a punch.

With craft beers gaining popularity there are interesting experiments afoot, attempting to team delicately cooked dishes or unusual ingredients with the brews. But ask devoted beer drinkers – Bangaloreans who go about with their Price-of-Beer index in hand, constantly seeking the best value pint – and they will tell you that when it comes to KF, Corona or craft brews, there’s no beating batter-fried, crumbed and crispy comfort foods. It’s got to be simple, approachable and of the hit-the-spot kind. Who wants to deal with fiddly food while holding a tankard? Take fries, they are easy, as are onion rings, bacon wrapped around anything and fish fingers.

The Biere Club gets it right. The lemon grass beer that’s the flavour of the season is excellent with the cold meat platters and the calamari rings. The potato wedges here are good enough to induce sighs of pleasure. And the beef skewers are a great accompaniment to beer, too. 

Aghast at the thought of all those calories? Well, don’t be - for which beer drinker ever dares look at the weighing scales!

Recipe

To make your own nibbles-for-beer at home…

1. Take a jar of  pitted jumbo olives. Drain, rinse and pat dry.
2. Make up a cheesy filling, mixing cream cheese with a sharp cheese such as cheddar with some herbs.
3. Stuff into the olives, without breaking them.
4. Roll the olives in flour, then dip in beaten egg and roll in breadcrumbs.
5. Deep fry quickly till golden brown.

Girish Karnad reflects on Bangalore

Re-posted from the Daily Beast:

Until a few decades ago, people came to Bangalore essentially for the horse races. Once the racing season was over, the city emptied out. Bangalore had little else to offer.

The population doubled in the 1970s. Only 20 years ago, when my wife and I decided to move to Bangalore from Bombay, we could visit a new suburb, buy a site of our choice, and then sit down with an architect to design the house we wanted. No more. As the demand for housing overran the availability of land, the estate developers took control, eating into the villages surrounding the city, occupying farms and open spaces, razing houses to the ground, and installing multistory apartment buildings in their place, with little regard to the city’s existing infrastructure. The current joke is that the only buildings to remain unscathed by the onslaught may be Vidhana Soudha, the building that houses the legislature, and UB City, a complex that is a hideous combination of the Empire State Building and Internet kitsch, built by a liquor baron.

The emergence in the ’60s of the liquor industry, with its intractable deals and infinitely manipulable accounting, seems an inevitable response to the demands of the new democratic politics. And liquor barons virtually took over the running of the city. They built cinema halls, started newspapers, built schools, opened restaurants, produced films, invested in real estate, and even hosted public parties in honor of politicians. Then in July 1981, tragedy struck. More than 300 died on a single day from drinking illicit liquor, and the aura surrounding alcohol began to pall.

Gosh, look at that Gorgonzola

There was wine and there were cheese platters doing the rounds. Camera men trailing the P3 peeps and a fair smattering of chefs. And remember chefs are celebs, too. It could well have been the opening of a new fashion boutique. What it was though was the launch of the sprawling Food Hall at 1 MG Road, the swanky new downtown mall.

Come to think of it, food is a lot like fashion, isn’t it? Everyone wants to be on top of the trend. If the fashionistas are following whether off-shoulder is in this season and gladiators are still in vogue, the foodie must know if olive trays are still cool and whether Basa is the new John Dory.

Which explains all the excitement over the opening of this Food Hall, the vast space stocking everything from chopped cabbage to kadhai gravy and large wheels of Gouda. Bangalore’s foodies and enthusiastic cooks went into overdrive, buying Spanish olive oil, smoked turkey breast, mangosteens and dark chocolate (70 % cocoa).

“Look at those jumbo prawns!” one person exclaimed. “It’s wonderful to have all these great ingredients under one roof,” said another. If restaurants are mushrooming and the eating out market is expanding, home cooking has taken another twist, too. It’s not enough now to make a decent upma-chutney for breakfast and eat dal-rice-sabzi for lunch. A vast number of households cook pasta, they serve carefully crafted hors d’ouvres – not just chips and dips — at cocktail parties and shop for leeks and avocado.

Hence, the need for stores, such as this Food Hall. There are others in Bangalore – the Gourmet Store, Nature’s Basket by Godrej – with its hugely pricey dark cherries – Brown Tree, Spar, which is always well-stocked with good cuts of meat, seafood, cheeses and fresh produce. One is always being asked – where can you buy scallops here? Is it possible to find nectarines? And, are Jerusalem artichokes available in this town? The answer to the last query, by the way, is no.

Even with the new interest in gourmet products and the opening of new stores stocking these, the ardent cook could well be frustrated when trying to source ingredients here. Looking for enoki mushrooms, muscovado sugar, crème fraiche, anchovies in jars? Forget it.

Which brings us also to the ethical dilemma over using imported foods and those that consume too many carbon miles. Is Chilean sea bass superior to seer fish from Cochin? And isn’t suran every bit as good as celeriac? It is a question that conscientious diners and cooks are asking. We’ll be raising the debate in the coming weeks, running up to a fabulous food experience surrounding this very concept. So, watch this space.

Recipe:

And, meanwhile, if you intend shopping at Food Hall, we recommend, the prawns, the olive oil and the parsley.

1. Shell 500 gms of prawns, keeping the tails. Wash and pat dry.
2. Heat 4 tbsp of good quality olive oil in a heavy pan.
3. Throw in 2 tsps of finely chopped garlic and half a tsp of chilli flakes
4. Toss in the prawns, add coarse sea salt and cook till they just turn pink.
5. Garnish with a tbsp of finely chopped parsley.
6. Eat with crusty bread, mopping up the delicious juices. 

This is a staple at Spanish tapas bars and very good it is, too.

Caribbean Culinary Delights with Susan

Tantalizing aromas of sumptuous food, simple beach embossed frescos, mounted football T-shirts, pictures of West Indian cricketers, foot-tapping Caribbean music, and the informal ‘homely’ ambience. Welcome to Sue’s Kitchen, a one-of-its kind quaint little restaurant with a West Indian countrified setting in Bangalore. The owner Susan R John—better known as Sue—came to India almost 20 years ago. A native of the southern Caribbean archipelagic state of Trinidad and Tobago, Sue married an Indian and came to Bangalore in 1998, and opened Sue’s Food Place—popularly known as Sue’s kitchen.  

Ever since 2002, when one of Sue’s journalist friends recommended the place to Sir Vivian Richards while the West Indies team was playing a practice match at the Chinnaswamy stadium, the restaurant has been a must-visit place for the West Indian players. “The first time they came, the neighbourhood was amused to see a bus with the West Indies team arrive at my restaurant. By the time they were about to leave and we opened the shutters of the restaurant, there was a pool of people waiting to get a glimpse of the players,” reminisces Susan. Other celebrities who have been a regular here include Girish Karnad, Lara Dutta, Rahul Dravid and Meenakshi Seshadri.

As a young girl, Susan learned cooking from her father. But opening a restaurant was far from being a reality. “The idea came from having a lot of parties, trying to make new friends in India and trying to impress them with my food. When everybody started asking me ‘Why don’t you open your own place?’, I pondered and thought, why not?’ Cooking is my passion, meeting new people and giggling with them is my passion, making people eat my food is my passion, so I could do it all together in my restaurant,” says Susan.

Cooking for a group of 10 would be easy, but cooking for around 100 people each day would sure be a daunting task for many. Not for Sue, who starts at 9 am each day and cooks all the food by herself. Sue’s Kitchen offers a variety of beverages, appetisers and the regular ala carte.

The highlight of the place, however, is the weekday and weekend buffets. Some of her signature dishes include crab curry, Jamaican jerk chicken, Trinidad geera pork, crab dumplings, and the vegetable curries. The weekend buffet and weekday buffet cost Rs 350 and Rs 250 respectively.