It takes food to tango

Chef’s tables are a high-end trend that’s picking up in the Capital, more so with celebrity chefs like Vivek Singh and Tejas Sovani curating a special course meals which take the cake in originality & evolution, says MEENAKSHI RAO

As modern cookery jargon like reconstruct, deconstruct, foraging and ageing waft into your ears, escorted by the delicate aroma of a nine-course meal that is to follow, a somewhat short but sweet man with a winning smile visits your carefully-curated table.

He sports a winning smile, has many tales to tell both on and off the platter, and, of course, carries a reputation that speaks of big-time British political agendas like Brexit breaking bread at his table in London, more precisely at his celebrated eatery at Westminster Abbey, called The Cinnamon Club.

But for now, celebrity chef Vivek Singh has popped up in the city to lay out a special chef’s table with a five-course lunch or a nine-course dinner option centred on what he calls modern Indian cuisine.

Now, how and why would a boy of all places from Asansol, with a mining background, be into such particularity of food that he would carry jhaal-moori packets all the way from England instead of, well, buying them from Kolkata or even Asansol for that matter, to dress up his dishes?

He sheepishly admits, “ya, it’s kind of funny but I am more comfortable with carrying stuff that I am familiar with and masalas that I’ve been with.” Conceded it may work better, specifically when the humble jhaal-moori has the tough job of perching on a mound of cured salmon draped in grean pea sauce as a wink for wasabi, look good and also be sternly assigned to give the palate the first flavour and crunch of the day.

Perhaps because it is English, it remains stiff on your upper lip, thereby delightfully enhancing the Indian-global jugalbandi that Vivek has attempted by crowning the Scottish salmon with caramelised puffed rice and providing them a bed of sassy sauce.

Well, if Vivek has put the rustic jhaal-moori in the difficult position of keeping up with the celebrity fish, his partner in crime, chef Tejas Sovani, has not spared the poor little desi murgi from being strictly groomed into a wonder dish much against her wishes. Even as this bird’s siblings on lesser tables in lesser restaurants have long ago been cleaned, cooked and thrown into hungry, unconcerned mouths as butter chicken or some such, she has been taught to patiently soak in purely exotic marinates and then agree to be wrapped in activated carbon crust, turn entirely black, be mistaken for a piece of coal, listen to her creator’s constant apology of serving her as what may look like a burnt dish, then sit tight for some moments before appearing on the plate in solitary splendour – and wowing the taste buds of the recipient.

That’s pretty modern. That’s pretty connoisseur. That’s also innovative and well thought-out. Hence, the jhaal-moori salmon and the coal chicken were the top two dishes on this wholesome chef’s table.

Not for nothing, this Fillharmonic Orchestra of food creators and jugalbandi of dishes has been such a draw at Amaranta, the constantly evolving fine dining Indian restaurant at the Oberoi Gurgaon. While Vivek is a known master innovator in firangi confines, the younger, leaner but chubbier-cheeked Tejas, sporting a 1920s upturned pencil moustache over his pink lips, has been inventing his own musical notes in Indian food after learning western food modernities at the ultra famous Noma restaurant in Copenhagen. 

The Scallop on Gilauti, 63 degree poached egg, Goan churris, kurma gravy, the aubergine grill, the marinated watermelon if you are vegetarian and the duck on a scale are the mash-ups that keep your culinary needs engaged over a lazily stretched afternoon lined with the bubbly as you dig deep into the food story of this very special chef’s table.

Leave it to Vivek and you will be amazed how easy it is to enjoy a nine-course meal over meaningful talk around why Italian is such a calorie seducing, compelling world famous cuisine, how the French have all but fallen off the plate, how Indian cuisine has reached the No 2 position in England and why game meat cooking is an art so loved by Vivek.

In between you eat up languid hours and bohemian mushrooms before digging into the sinful toffee pudding which is yet to shed its Christmassy hangover of rum-soaked month out with the dry fruits and the spicy company of clove ice-cream.

Bad news is chef Vivek, an alumnus of the Oberoi School of Excellence, will be flying back with the masalas, the mooris and the tales tomorrow, taking out the chef’s table. But the good news is his and Sovani’s special dishes will be incorporated in the  ‘a la carte menu for some months to come.

For that one last bite with Vivek here, you could rush in for a table reservation for today. It’s just Rs 3500++ (lunch) and Rs 4500++ (dinner). Alternatively, London’s popular “Westminster Canteen” is always there. 

Source: Sunday Pioneer, 22 January, 2017