Bubble wrapped in Champagne

A moveable feast

Last year was undoubtedly annus horribilis for the hotel industry and fine dining restaurants through the country, especially Mumbai and Goa. Recessionary pressures were already surfacing towards the end of ’08 when the Mumbai attacks occurred, sending the industry into a violent downswing. Just as business was starting to pick up in the latter half of ’09, a 100 per cent increase in the price of raw ingredients cut profit margins to shreds. Restaurateurs are looking at 2010 with a palpable sense of gloom and a desperate optimism. The only segment that has not experienced a significant drop in business last year was the mid-level restaurant, though rising prices have been a concern. 

It’s quite clear that menu prices across the board will be raised early next year by at least 30 per cent. With large restaurants being occupied by servicing bank loans and repaying investors, there are going to be very few big-ticket restaurants opening next year. 

However, we will see the launch of a number of new chains as well as the expansion of established ones into new cities. The most famous of these and the most eagerly anticipated is the world’s largest premium speciality coffee bar, Starbucks. The caffeine king is set to kick open its first outlet by mid-2010 at an upscale mall in central Mumbai. Lamborghini, the guys who make fancy cars, are launching a cafe and a line of high-end branded chocolates in Mumbai, probably at the same mall.

Ice ice baby

Häagen-Dazs, the super-premium ice-cream brand, which recently opened its first outlet in Delhi, will probably also aim at opening in Mumbai. The other chains that have India in their sights don’t have the cache of a Starbucks, but even a small slice of the pie is a substantial serving for them. Dixy Chicken, a UK-based fast-food chain that offers a variety of chicken burgers, burger meals, chicken tortilla wraps, nuggets and peri-peri chicken, is preparing to set up 10-15 restaurants by 2010. The Pizza Company, a Thailand-based pizza and pasta restaurant chain, is preparing to launch dine-in restaurants, take-away outlets and delivery units in India.  

Chain reaction

But international chains aren’t the only ones in expansion mode. Nirula’s, beloved by Delhiwallahs, is hoping that Mumbai will embrace it with the same enthusiasm when they open up next year. The chain also envisions 140 outlets across Goa, western, southern and eastern India. 

Brewberrys, a small Vadodara-based cafe chain, having tasted success in Gujarat and MP, is gearing up to bring its interpretation of a cuppa joe to Maharashtra and Karnataka. On the anvil are at least 10 outlets with an additional 25 in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Cochin, Pune, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and Lucknow. 

Meanwhile Barista Lavazza will take its menu forward in Bangalore and Mumbai by including wine and beer by March 2010. 

With small to medium-sized restaurants being the leitmotif for 2010, no new cuisines are likely to emerge next year. Italian and Japanese will continue to dominate and at best we’ll see newer dishes or products being introduced. Extra virgin olive oils from specific regions in Italy and top-quality dry pastas will become available while menus will start reflecting more seasonal and regional dishes. Though the re-introduction of Mexican is bandied about, there is still scepticism about its viability and one or two small restaurants might see the light of day. More dishes from cuisines like Vietnamese, Korean, Malaysian and Indonesian will be introduced into pan-Asian restaurant menus, but full-fledged restaurants are out.

Supermarkets however are looking at introducing ready to cook and packaged foods from Australia, Turkey and South Africa and extending their offerings of Thai cuisine. Heat and eat Pad Thai noodles, Thai sauces and Thai curry pastes have proved to be popular as has baklava and Turkish Delight. Many European producers have turned their attention to India. Chocolate sticks that can be dissolved into hot milk and pre-prepared cocktail mixes are on the cards. 

Plated Indian food and molecular gastronomy have being doing the rounds but everyone agrees that neither offers much scope to base a restaurant on. At the banquet level, plated Indian meals have found tentative acceptance with corporates. Caterers believe that they might see more orders for plated Indian and Asian meals next year.

Published HT Brunch 27/12/2009

Culinary Extravagance

Exquisite tastes come at a cost. HI LIVING presents the 10 most expensive dishes created by top chefs at Mumbai’s most elegant restaurants. These cuisines extraordinaire prepared with the finest of ingredients are an epicurean’s fantasy

WASABI
When it comes to expensive restaurants in India, Wasabi, at the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai, is in a league by itself. Wasabi by Morimoto, as the restaurant is properly called, is unquestionably the most expensive restaurant in the country, with its only competitor being Wasabi by Morimoto at the Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. Like most Japanese restaurants in the city, Wasabi uses imported ingredients; but unlike the others, it spares no expense in working with ingredients of only the highest quality. A diner can easily differentiate between the fish used for the sushi and sashimi at Wasabi and at any other restaurant. The fish is unquestionably more flavourful and delicately textured than anywhere else and the wasabi is made from freshly grated horseradish and not a commercial paste.
The Sashimi Platter consisting of six nigiri sushi, six sashimi and one tuna roll is priced at Rs 3,945, plus taxes. A Sushi Platter comprising eight nigiri sushi and one sushi roll will set you back by Rs 2,050, plus taxes.
However, the most expensive dish on their menu, and one which leaves all its competitors far behind, is the Wagyu Beef priced at Rs 10,500, plus taxes. Wagyu, a breed of cattle famously reared in Kobe and therefore often called Kobe beef, is the most expensive beef in the world and considered to be the ‘caviar of beef ’. Experts and gourmets consider Wagyu meat to be the most tender, most succulent and tastiest meat in the world. No wonder then that in India it is only available at Wasabi.

I
Sushi Platter Large
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 2,900
The platter of nigiri sushi, made with imported sushi rice, nori (seaweed) and wasabi (horseradish paste) and topped with a variety of the freshest local and imported seafood, includes crab meat, Norwegian salmon, fatty tuna, eel, octopus, sardines, Japanese sweet omelette and asparagus. The sushi is served along with the traditional accompaniments: wasabi, soy sauce and gari.

II
Sashimi Platter Large
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 2,500
One of the first restaurants to start a sushi and sashimi bar, Spices offers a varied sashimi platter. It includes raw cuttlefish, big eye tuna, sweet prawns, mackerel, Norwegian salmon and flying fish eggs and tuna lightly seared on the teppanyaki so the outside is cooked but the inside remains pink. The sashimi is
accompanied with gari and soy sauce.

III
Black Angus Beef Tenderloin with crispy potato cuts, cherry tomatoes, rosemary and jus
Stella, The Leela Kempinski
Price: Rs 1,900
Prized by connoisseurs for its beautifully marbled meat that produces the most tender and juiciest steaks, Black Angus Beef is also amongst the most expensive
grades of beef available. At Stella, the tenderloin, imported from the US, is
cooked first on the grill and then briefly in the oven to the desired doneness. The seasoned steak is then quartered and served with potato wedges and candied tomatoes, along with a sauce made from the steak juices flavoured with rosemary, garlic and cherry tomatoes.

Singaporean King Crab or Black Pepper Crab
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 1,900
Though the restaurant specialises in black pepper sauce, the Singaporean king crab can be cooked in any sauce the guest prefers. The meat is removed from the shelled crab and steamed till it is tender and juicy. It is then filled back into the empty shell which is arranged on a large plate and floated in black pepper sauce. Along with the crab, Chinese steamed Mantao buns are served.

Wok Fried Scallops And Prawns With Asparagus In X.O.
Spices, JW Marriott
Price: Rs 1,900
An elegant, unpretentious Cantonese preparation made from Canadian scallops and three king tiger prawns from Scotland cut into half. The scallops and prawns are simply tossed in X.O. sauce in a hot wok along with juliennes of asparagus till just done and served immediately.

IV
Grilled Lamb Chops – Grilled with garlic and onion juice, originally from Athens
Souk, The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower
Price: Rs 1,825, plus taxes
In this very simple dish, typical of Greek cuisine, imported lamb chops are lightly seasoned, marinated with garlic and onion juice and grilled as per order.

Zafrani Lobster – Spit-roasted saffron and cream steeped lobster
Soma, Grand Hyatt
Price: Rs 1,800
Fresh lobster flown in from Kerala is marinated with soft cheese, fresh cream and saffron stigmas for about three to four hours. A very subtle blend of flavours, the marinade which is quickly absorbed by the fresh lobster ensures that the sweetness of the lobster flesh remains intact while imparting the right flavours. The lobster is then skewered and cooked on a charcoal tandoor, which imparts the right amount of smoky flavours. Once the lobster turns golden brown and the juices start to ooze out slowly, it is removed and served with a mint chutney, tossed Indian salad and yogurt chutney.

VI
Jhinga Dum Nisha
Dum Pukht, ITC Maratha
Price: 1,750
Loosely translated: Night-caught cooked prawns. The shellfish are cleaned with the tails left on. They are then marinated with salt, lemon juice, ginger-garlic paste, yellow chilli powder and whole ajwain for about an hour. After this, a mixture of rubbed cheddar cheese blended with fresh cream mixed with chopped coriander stalks, white pepper powder, green cardamom powder and mace powder is applied, and the prawns are left overnight to absorb the flavours. The prawns are finally grilled in a tandoor, and just before they are ready they are glazed with saffron-infused fish stock, grilled once again and served.

VII
Costolette Di Agnello Australiano,Puree Di Melanzane, Lenticchie Di Castelluccio – Grilled Australian lamb cutlets with morel mushroom risotto and eggplant purée
Stax, Hyatt Regency
Price: Rs 1,680, plus taxes
Before being grilled, the Australian lamb chops are marinated for three hours in extra virgin olive oil, Sicilian sea salt and freshly plucked oregano. Once the flavours have been completely absorbed, three lamb chops are grilled as per order and served on a bed of risotto prepared from Carnaroli super fine rice braised with sliced Kashmiri morels and Col Di Sasso (an Italian dry white wine) and garnished with chervil,chives and parsley. Accompanying the lamb chops are grilled tender courgettes that have been infused in Tuscan olive oil and marjoram for 12 hours. The accompanying smoked eggplant sauce offers a refreshing contrast to the delicate flavours of the risotto.

VIII
Fugu – Lightly grilled globe fish with San-Qi, Four Seasons
Price: Rs 1,600
Fugu, a Japanese delicacy prepared from puffer fish – which, if prepared incorrectly, can be lethal – is prized for its texture and refined flavours. Because of the risks associated with it, fugu chefs have to undergo years of intensive training before they are licensed to prepare the fish. At San-Qi, currently the only restaurant in India serving fugu, Japanese chef Toshikazu Kato is a skilled practitioner licensed to serve it. According to Chef Kato, fugu has a “chewy texture with a sweet flavour that gets sweeter as you chew.” At San-Qi, thin slices of the fish are piled up on a perilla leaf, topped with sprigs of perilla flower and accompanied by spicy grated radish garnished with chopped spring onion greens.

IX
Aragosta Di Kerala Alla Griglia Poi Gratinata Servita Con Puree Di Patate Alla Rucola, Asparagi E Salsa Di Aragosta – Grilled Kerala lobster with rocket mashed potatoes, green asparagus and lobster sauce
Stax, Hyatt Regency
Price: Rs 1,590, plus taxes
Sourced from the Malabar Coast, the lobsters are split in the centre and sprinkled with freshly bruised tarragon leaves. Once the flavours have been infused, the lobster is seasoned and cooked in its own shell on a hot grill. Just before serving, it is glazed with a thin coating of a sauce made from crushed lobster head, carrots, celery, leeks, ripe tomatoes, dry white wine and seafood stock that is strained, thickened with butter and flambéed with cognac. The grilled lobster is placed on a bed of seasoned mashed potatoes blended with a fine paste of Italian wild rocket and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Tender Chinese asparagus tossed with extra virgin olive oil is served as an accompaniment and finally a balsamic reduction is drizzled on the side of the dish before serving.

X
Rosemary Flavoured Lamb Chops Wrapped In Parma Ham With Farm And Mint Stuffed Tomato Celini, Grand Hyatt
Price: Rs 1,500
Lamb chops imported from New Zealand are first seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary and a little bit of olive oil for about three to four hours to bring out the flavours of the meat,delicately tenderising it as well. The lamb chops are then wrapped with Italian Parma ham and pan-seared till golden brown. After they have been seared well on both the sides, the chops are roasted in the oven on low heat to the desired doneness. Once perfectly cooked, they are removed onto a serving plate and each piece is topped with a slice of Fontina cheese immediately which melts over the chops. The chops are accompanied with blanched spinach sautéed with garlic and a mint-stuffed,oven-roasted tomato.

Steamed Sea Bass In Superior Soya Sauce
The Great Wall, The Leela Kempinski
Price: Rs 1,500
Thinly cut filets of Chilean sea bass are seasoned with only shredded ginger, salt and pepper arranged around the sides of a plate and then gently steamed for just about two minutes. Boiled bean sprouts are piled onto the centre of the plate, and both the fish and sprouts are coated with a sauce made from light and dark soy sauces cooked with Thai fish sauce, sugar, coriander stalks, Kikkoman, sesame oil and seasoning. This delicious Cantonese-style seafood dish is finally garnished with coriander, shredded spring onion and shredded red chillies.

PEKING DUCK
Peking Duck, or properly Peking Roast Duck, the national dish of China is an ancient and traditional Chinese delicacy. The dish is prized for its thin, crispy skin for which the bird undergoes a lengthy cooking process that takes up to three days. The specially imported Peking Duck is first flavoured with a hot water and sugar bath for over two days. It is then stuffed with a traditional mixture of Chinese spices, wine and stock and sealed with a cork from one end. The duck is cooked inside a special Peking Duck oven, where it is constantly rotated to get an even amount of roasting from the outside, making the skin crisp and evenly brown on all sides. There is no specific cooking time since each individual duck is unique and holds an amount of fat that differs from each individual portion. Finally, the bird is carved at the table by a chef and can be served in a variety of ways.

Beijing Capital Roast Duck
Pan Asian, ITC Maratha
Price: Rs 2,450
The duck is roasted in a gas-fired oven and served, by the chef at the table, rolled up in pancakes with juliennes of cucumber and scallion, with hoisin, chilli or any other sauce the guest desires.

Peking Duck
Ming Yang, Taj Lands End
Price: Rs 1,875, plus taxes
Roasted in a gas oven, the duck is normally served in the classical three-course format. First, the crispy skin and meat are served with pancakes, topped with scallion along with hoisin and plum sauce. This is followed by the duck soup made by cooking pak choi greens, Chinese mushrooms, hand-shredded white and brown duck meat, and a drop of soy sauce in duck stock. Finally, the meat is served cooked in the guest’s choice of sauce, with steamed rice. Guests also have the option of having the duck only with pancakes and need not follow the classical course.

Old-fashioned Peking Duck
China House, Grand Hyatt
Price: Rs 1,690
The duck is roasted in a wood-fired oven with apricot wood and served with crepes, sugar, garlic and some cucumber. The duck is carved at the table starting with the skin which is crispy and best savoured with some sugar and garlic paste.

Published Hi! LIVING DECEMBER 2009-JANUARY 2010

On The Vinous Trail

Wine production and its attendant tourism is unexpectedly growing in India. HI LIVING does the swirl, sniff and sip ritual at some of the best vineyards in the country.




Surrounded by nine hills and populated by a multitude of small lakes is a district that lies right at the heart of the wine revolution. A grape-producing region since the time of the Marathas, Nashik, the grape capital of India, has in the last decade acquired another moniker. The consistent flow of good quality wines coupled with the concentration of wine grape vineyards and wineries makes it compare favourably with another region across continents that share many of its characteristics. While qualitatively Nashik’s output cannot be compared with the superlative wines pouring out of California’s Napa Valley, its reputation and the tremendous energy flowing out definitely entitles it to be called the Napa Valley of India.

Much of the credit is due to Sula, which pioneered Nashik as the premier wine-producing destination in the country. Even today, Sula with its basket of wines and beautifully landscaped property is setting the standards for other winemakers to follow. Above its winery on a sprawling verandah is its wine bar overlooking the first sauvignon blanc vineyards in the country. While its proximity to neighbouring Nashik city makes it a popular evening destination for the residents, on weekends it attracts a large number of Mumbai’s denizens who like to drive down for a vinous getaway. A few kilometres away, at the base of a hill, surrounded by vineyards with the Gangapur Dam in the distance is Beyond, the deluxe three-bedroom cottage-resort with its private swimming pool that’s perfect for six.

Down the road from Sula, almost on the shores of the dam, is a small winery that holds big promise. Though its wines are currently not easily available in the metros, York produces two whites: a sauvignon and a chenin blanc, a zinfandel rosé and four reds: a regular cabernet sauvignon and shiraz and barrel-aged estate reserves of the same.

The vineyards lie on a gentle slope at the side of the winery which incorporates the gradient into its design.

Most of the wine thus flows from the rushing vats to the fermentation tanks by the gentler force of gravity instead of the harsher pressure of pumps. To ensure better quality, York has separate tank halls for whites and reds, and has invested in an underground cellar for the barrels.

About 40kms north of Nashik lies what many expect to develop into India’s first French-style appellation – a demarcated geographical region used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown. A region which, like

Champagne, will allow only wines produced in that region to carry its name on the label thus also, hopefully, guaranteeing a certain level of quality. Land suitable for growing wine grapes, Dindori, about an hour’s drive from

Nashik city, is the most expensive viticultural real estate in the country.

Sula’s marquee Dindori Shiraz is made from grapes grown in its extensive vineyards in Dindori. Wine, according to traditionalist winemakers, is produced in the vineyards and good wines can only come from good quality grapes, and to get the best grapes you need the right combination of soil structure and great weather. Unlike Nashik where the vineyards are on flat land, with soil containing a significant amount of water-retaining clay content, the vineyards in Dindori are generally on steep or gently sloping land and the nutrient-rich red soil is primarily composed of gravel. Water can be a vine’s greatest enemy, as high water content in the grape leads to diluted flavours in the wines that end up tasting weak and watery. The well-draining soil, moderate rainfall and the near 30 degree difference in day and night temperatures in Dindori helps vines produce wines of greater concentration and freshness.

Perhaps the secret of Château d’Ori’s wines are that its Bordeaux-style winery and vineyards, nestled on the slopes of the Nehra-Ohri hills, are located in such an exceptional zone. The huge circular winery, which sits at the apex of the triangular property, can accommodate 72 large stainless steel tanks for fermentation and storage and is an adaptation of the latest winery designs in Bordeaux. Even the grafts of its six varietals: the red cabernet sauvignon, merlot and syrah and the white sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc and chardonnay were selected and imported from Bordeaux. In fact, Château d’Ori boasts of the largest merlot plantation in India.

Niphad in eastern Nashik, another important wine-producing area, boasts of at least four wineries. Apart from Reveilo, Sailo, the co-operative Vinsura Winery and the MIDC Wine Park are located here. Reveilo, whose reserve range is only available at premium hotels, restaurants and select retail stores, is the most famous and probably has the most impressive operation. Unlike most wineries, where only the production areas are temperature controlled, it is the only producer whose storage areas and trucks are also temperature controlled. Its three new wines from the sangiovese, nero d’avola and grillo grapes will make it the first company to produce wines from Italian grapes. By the time its wines hit the shelves later in the year, its tasting room should also be ready, giving visitors a chance to taste and purchase wines at the winery itself.

On the western edge of Nashik, closer to Mumbai are two new wineries just outside Igatpuri town. Indus Wines, the older of the two, which began operations about two years ago, is the only gravitation flow winery in Asia. At the top of the winery which is built into the hillside, the grapes are received and crushed, the juice flowing downward into the fermentation and storage tanks that are built on successive lower levels towards the base of the hill. Just about a kilometre up the road from them is the spanking new Valle de Vin. The beautifully landscaped facility is set against terraced young vineyards planted with chenin blanc, viognier, shiraz and grenache. Valle de Vin, which is the only winery offering conducted wine tours of its facilities, interestingly offers two spaces for visitors to try out their wines. A large table set up inside their barrel room is perfect for those looking for an atmospheric setting to do a serious tasting and the soon to be launched wine bar in the upstairs lobby area offering a panoramic view is ideal for drinkers who’d like a more relaxed ambience.

Nashik may be the most famous wine producing district, but it was certainly not the first, nor is it the only one in Maharashtra. Narayangaon is a quiet village on the outskirts of Pune from where Château Indage launched its wines and Nandi Hills is the bastion of Grover Vineyards outside Bangalore where modern Indian wines were born.

The stories of both are well known, though in recent years Château Indage has developed a considerably large arsenal of wines. On its sprawling 2,500 hectares of vineyards, spread across various sites in Pune and Nashik, more than 20 varieties of grape are grown, all of which are processed at its winery consisting of three units at Narayangaon. Though a much smaller operation in comparison, Grover is the only company that shuns ordinary table grapes, using exclusive French wine grapes selected from 35 varieties of the Vitis Vinifera species.

However, one of the most expansive recent projects is the winery set up by UB Wines in Baramati about an hour’s drive from Pune. While finishing touches are still being given to the façade and the hospitality spaces, the well planned and designed winery is fully functional. Huge investments have been made to equip the facility with the most modern technology, which in time promises to become one of the largest wine companies in the country. Wine tourism is also clearly on the agenda, with a wine spa, deluxe rooms and suites, a swimming pool, restaurant, tasting room and conference room already planned. It is already the first winery with its own helipad.

As wine consumption continues to grow, many more new wineries are expected to open across the country with larger swathes of agricultural land coming under wine grape cultivation. Bangalore has already seen a new winery open, Big Banyan has started operations in Goa, Sangli and Solapur in Maharashtra, and states like Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are also likely to see the establishment of a new generation of wine entrepreneurs. ¨

Published in Hi! LIVING JULY-AUGUST 2009

Battle Of The Labels

Does the international label on a wine bottle affect our palate? Or are international wines actually much better than the Indian ones? LIVING compares the terroir and tastes of Indian and international wines.

Given a choice between a foreign and an Indian wine, most Indian wine drinkers would opt for the former. If the label read Chateau Blah de Blah or Domaine Hoity Toity, there would be no contest. While it is true that a lot of Indian wines can be quite guiltlessly poured down the drain, there are several that are not just pretty good but are even comparable with international wines.

Naturally, we’re not talking about comparing Indian wines with fine wines like the cru classés of Bordeaux and Burgundy or the big reds of Italy and Australia, but with simpler middle-level wines. It’s important to realise that not all foreign labels are of a high quality; wines, like any other product, are available at different quality levels and in different forms. For instance, cheap wine in Europe is popularly sold in the same type of tetra packs that in India are used to package fruit drinks. Wines for daily consumption or to be sold by the glass at restaurants do not have the complexity or ageing power by which expensive fine wines are characterised. This is a very acceptable standard of wine both in Europe as well as in the New World wine-producing countries outside of Europe.

Like many New World wines, Indian wines are best when consumed within a few years of being bottled. Stylistically, the wines are produced to accentuate fruity and floral aromas and a refreshing acidity on the palate, rather than a subtle balance of fruit flavours and earthy, mineral notes and the mouth-drying tannins that the European Old World favours. One of the most important reasons for choosing this style is that consumers in a young wine drinking country prefer wines that are simple and easy to drink. Considering that Indians are still getting used to the taste of wine and don’t have very seasoned palates, it’s understandable that most of our wines are somewhat obvious and non-challenging. This doesn’t mean they’re bad; it just means that they aren’t living up to their full potential.

Wines that do express the full potential of their varietal usually come from regions where the grape and the terroir are perfectly matched. An all encompassing French term, terroir relates to the complex combination of factors such as soil type, conditions and structure, exposure to sunlight, humidity, altitude and rainfall that affect a particular region. Certain wine regions have limited themselves either by law or voluntarily to producing wines from just a few varieties of grapes: Bordeaux is famous for cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc; Burgundy for pinot noir and chardonnay. Across the border in Italy, Tuscany’s Chianti from sangiovese is highly prized, as are Barolos and Barbarescos made from the Nebbiolo grape in Piedmont. America’s Napa Valley is reputed for chardonnay and zinfandel, Marlborough in New Zealand for sauvignon blanc and pinot noir, Barossa Valley in Australia for shiraz and Mendoza in Argentina for malbec. It is not that other grapes aren’t or cannot be grown, but that these grapes produce the best wine in that specific terroir.

India has not yet discovered which varieties are best suited for its terroir, but the most promising so far have been two whites (chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc) and two reds (cabernet sauvignon and shiraz). There’s much to choose from amongst these wines as every Indian winemaker has at least two or three, if not all of these varietals, in their portfolio.

Chenin blanc has adapted extremely well to Indian conditions, producing generous harvests of fairly good quality grapes. Sula’s straw-coloured chenin blanc intense with stewed apples and lychee on the nose and a pleasant sweetness cut with some sharp acidity makes it amongst the best of the crop. Another great and award-winning chenin blanc with a floral, grassy bouquet with a crisp and balanced acidity on the palate comes from Reveilo. Both Sula and Reveilo produce an excellent intensely honeyed, sweet dessert wine from chenin which can quite easily be substituted for liqueur. The crisp chenin from Indus Wines and the slightly sweet one from ND Wines are also very good.

Credit for first planting sauvignon blanc in India goes to Sula, whose wines while pleasantly fruity and a reliable safe bet are not outstanding. Indus Wines however produce a gem of a sauvignon which easily compares with the ones coming out of New Zealand. Amazingly crisp and refreshing on the palate, it has a wonderfully expressive bouquet that offers heady aromas of guava and cut grass on the nose. Additionally, by integrating the alcohol, fruit and acidity rather well, it has turned out to be a beautifully balanced wine, quite rare to find in India. York, a relatively young winery, will be releasing a nice sauvignon this year that has very balanced vegetal and fruit aromas and a nice palate cleansing freshness. Château d’Ori produces a very nice smoky, Bordeaux-style sauvignon blanc.

Some winemakers have been able to produce great white wines from other international grapes as well. The ones that stand out are Reveilo’s Chardonnay Reserve, Grover’s Viognier Clairette, UB Wines’ Viognier and Sula’s Riesling.

Cabernet sauvignon and shiraz (or syrah) are producing some great red wines in India that seem to be quite well-suited for the Indian climate. The varietals are often blended together, as which for the longest time was considered India’s best wine. While it still continues to be amongst the top, the best wines coming out from Reveilo are the Cabernet Reserve and Shiraz Reserve which are widely acknowledged as India’s best wines. They undergo about 11 months in French oak barrels, resulting in wines that are smooth and velvety, rich and deep, and have soft tannins that linger languorously on the palate and then elegantly fade away. Both wines are also very well balanced and they express the indisputable characters of the cabernet sauvignon and shiraz in a distinct yet subtle way that is a hallmark of any fine wine.

Despite cabernet sauvignon tending to be a bit dominated by aromas and flavours of capsicum, the list of good cabernet sauvignon and shiraz is quite substantial. The ones that stand out are Château d’Ori’s Cabernet Shiraz, the Sula Dindori Reserve Shiraz, the Ivy Shiraz from Château Indage, Indus Wines’ Cabernet Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon and the Aryaa Shiraz from Mercury. York and UB Wines will be releasing their barrel-aged reserve cabernet sauvignon and shiraz later this year, and both are extremely promising. Though winemakers have produced red wines from other grapes and are experimenting with different varieties, none have produced anything noteworthy. The sole exception being Château d’Ori’s elegant cabernet-merlot that has a deep, rich, inky texture, and in which hints of oak can be discerned.

Despite producing some great wines, India is a relatively young wine producing country, and there are still many challenges that need to be overcome and many lessons that are yet being learnt. One of the most important disadvantages we face is the relative youth of the wines, which still have a long way to go before they reach their full potential. The shortcomings have been compensated by adjusting viticultural practices, importing world class equipment and consulting experienced professionals.

Internationally reputed winemakers like Bordeaux-based Michel Rolland at Grover, his protégé Athanase Fakorellis at Château d’Ori, American Kerry Damskey at Sula, Italian Andrea Valentinuzzi at Reveilo and Australian John Worontschak at Indus are making sure that Indian wines are keeping up to the international standards.
India is taking giant leaps forward, and it is only a matter of time before it is respected as a wine power house

Published in Hi! LIVING JULY-AUGUST 2009

Kitchen confidential

A new generation of restaurant equipment is helping city establishments cut costs and increase taste, reports Antoine Lewis.

Fifteen years ago, the only difference between domestic kitchen appliances and restaurant equipment was one of scale. At home, food was prepared for between four and six people; at a restaurant for a couple of hundred. Of course, some specialised pieces of equipment, like pasta rollers, deep-fat fryers or high-pressure burners remained exclusively in the domain of commercial establishments, but these were not owned by more than a handful.

Over the last few years, highly specialised equipment has invaded the kitchens of fine-dining restaurants, high-end caterers and confectioners. These machines help restaurants meet the demands of a new generation of knowledgeable customers. But establishments have been driven to use the new gear primarily to cut labour costs, reduce preparation and delivery time, and maximize precious real estate. “Kitchens are becoming more and more sophisticated, but trained labour is becoming more difficult and expensive to find,” said Paul Kinny, the business development head of Impressario Entertainment & Hospitality. “At the same time, real estate pressures mean that we can’t afford to allocate 30 per cent of the restaurant to a kitchen and so kitchens are becoming smaller.”

While much of the equipment is so complex and expensive that it is out of reach of mid-priced restaurants, some of the more commonly used tools are fairly cheap. For instance, chefs use squeezee bottles instead of spoons to paint artistic garnishes on plates, or syringes to create perfectly shaped dots and multihued designs. The culinary blow torch has now become an indispensable tool. Its turbo flame, which reaches temperatures of up to 1,300 degrees Celsius quickly, caramelises sugar on a crème caramel, crème brûlée, tarts or cheesecake, without the filling heating up.

Where home cooks still spend time buttering parchment paper and dusting it with flour before lining biscuit and cake tins, pastry chefs have moved on to more efficient silicone mats. “They are absolutely indispensable, especially for biscuits,” said Mehernosh Khajotia, who runs Celebrations Fine Confections. “I just have to place the batter on the sheet and pop it into the oven. When the biscuit is done, it just slides off and the mat can be washed and reused.”

However it’s the combi-oven, a combination of steamer and convection oven, that professionals are spending all their dough on in Mumbai. Almost ubiquitous in high-end restaurants, combi-ovens, unlike convection ovens that use only dry heat, combine dry and moist cooking. Farrokh Khambatta of Joss is a big fan of this new medium of cooking, which is perfect for roasting chicken or meat. “The steam does the cooking and the convection does the browning, so the meat cooks evenly and stays moist,” he said.
“Where the convection process extracted juices from the meat, the steaming induces juices in the meat.” Since the combi-oven is digital, the cooking process can be completely pre-programmed in different combinations taking into account the kind of meat, the size of the piece and how well it needs to be done.

Kinny is looking at the next generation of combi-ovens – the combi-wave smoker – for new projects. Where the combi-oven was dual function, the combi-wave smoker encompasses four functions. Based on microwave technology, it allows for the use of metal utensils and incorporates a device to smoke foods as well.

Induction burners are perhaps the coolest new invention as far as heating technology goes. Even when turned on, the digitally controlled burner is completely cool to touch and only when an induction pan is placed on its surface does the pan heat up. The moment the pan is taken off, the burner goes cold again. The absence of an open flame has made induction burners the perfect solution for cooking in restricted areas, making them indispensable tools for live stations at banquet functions. Since the induction burner can be programmed to a fixed temperature that it can maintain indefinitely, it has made life immeasurably easier at coffee shops that serve buffet meals.

Recessed burners give the buffet table a cleaner look, the specially designed glass covers allow guests to look into the dish and staff don’t have to waste time checking to see if the paraffin has been exhausted and needs to be replenished.

One of the most advanced timespacing devices that banquet operations will benefit from is the mobile regeneration trolley or the roll-in insulated heating cabinet. Chefs can pre-plate the main course for up to 2,000 people a few hours before the meal, place the plate in the trolley and wheel it into a chiller. At a preprogrammed time, the heat is turned on to warm up the food and some regeneration trolleys have the facility to inject bursts of steam to keep food moist. The food can be prepared and plated in the morning, the afternoon or a day before. While this is not available in Mumbai as yet, Kinny predicts that new technologies like these will arrive shortly.

While professionals find that the new devices have certainly increased efficiency and, to some degree, lowered costs, they are wary of relying too much on these processes. All the chefs we interviewed agreed that merely having the best technology will not translate into a better meal. It is only the judicious use of equipment with a discerning eye and an experienced hand that produces a great gastronomic experience. Jaydeep Mukherjee, Executive Chef at Indigo Deli, believes that the human touch is the most important element in a kitchen. Mukherjee points out that technology doesn’t always give the best results. “For instance, a ravioli-making machine may make the pasta sheet and fill the ravioli with the right quantity of stuffing, [but] when done by hand the detailing is far greater,” he said. “The chef will look at the finer nuances: whether the sheet has dried out and needs more moisture, whether each stuffing has got a piece of garlic or bit of herb that will make it more flavourful and tasty to bite into. A machine can’t do that for you.”

Published in Time Out Mumbai June 13 2008

Professor Plonk

The low-down on the high spirits by Antoine Lewis.

If I shut my eyes, will I be able to tell whether I’m drinking a red or white wine?

As a matter of fact you could quite easily, and not only if you’re a sommelier or a very experienced wine maker. As a test of their knowledge, sommeliers have to identify wine that has been poured into a black glass, using only their sense of smell and taste. The casual wine drinker might not be able to uncover as much as a professional, but making a distinction between the two kinds of wine is not too difficult.

The difference between the two kinds of wine is a result of what grapes are used and how they are processed. Though red wines are made from red grapes and white wines from green grapes, it is possible to make white wine from red grapes. But it isn’t possible to make red wine from green grapes.

If you peel a red grape, you’ll notice that your fingertips get stained. That’s because the colour in red wine comes from the skin of the grape and the longer the unfermented grape juice stays in contact with the skin, the stronger the colour. To get white wine from red grapes, the skins are separated immediately after crushing.

While the colour is just skin deep, one of the crucial differences arises from the stems and seeds being retained in the production of red wines. Not only do these woody bits contribute to the richer, deeper and more complex flavours of reds, they are also responsible for the higher levels of tannin in red wines. Tannin, a substance found also in tea, produces an astringent, bitter and dry feeling in the mouth. It helps wine age and gives it a heavier body. Tannin is like the backbone supporting the diverse flavours of the wine. White wines are almost devoid of tannin and are dependent on higher levels of acidity to enhance their delicate flavours and provide them with a crisp, refreshing character.

Although the difference between a rich, tannic red and a fresh, crisp white is easily noticeable, it can get a little difficult when red wines are made to be drunk young and light. In this case, the aromas and taste of the wine can give vital clues regarding the type of grape used. Each grape, whether red or white by itself or when blended, will create a particular bouquet of smells. In general, white wines tend to have floral, citrusy aromas of green and tropical fruit such as muskmelon, lime, grapefruit, banana, apple and sometimes the petrol-like fumes of tar and plastic. Red wines have deeper, richer smells of earth and wood; of dark, stone fruits such as blackcurrant, blueberry or cherry; and spices such as cinnamon and clove.

Published in Time Out Mumbai November 14 2008

Food bank

A new breed of restaurant investors is putting their money where their mouths are, reports Antoine Lewis.

Agnelorajesh Athaide, the chairman and managing director St Agnelo’s Computers Ltd, runs a network that provides computer education and services across 40 centres in Mumbai and Pune. For the last six years, he’s been smelling a growing field of opportunity right under his nose in Malad, where his company has its headquarters. The neighbourhood has been filling up with young people employed by call centres, the relatively cheap real estate is drawing young professional couples to the Malad-Borivali stretch and the InOrbit mall is proving to be a magnet for customers between Bandra and Bhayander. So he got together with two friends, one of who runs a finance company and the other who is a property developer, to open a restaurant.

Rouge, their multi-cuisine restaurant with a lounge bar, opened in February. Of course, there was no question of Athaide and his friends getting involved in the restaurant’s day-to-day operations because their other businesses demand their complete attention. Besides, with no background in the hospitality industry, they felt it was better to have a professional to run the place. So they gave South Mumbai restaurateur Henry Tham the contract to manage Rouge. “The property and licences are ours, but the concept and design is Tham’s,” explained Athaide, who confesses that it feels good to eat at your own restaurant.

Athaide and other affluent people with a stash of spare cash are among a new breed of investors driving the city’s restaurant boom. Attracted by profits that average between 25 per cent and 30 per cent, they are attempting to cash in on the seemingly insatiable appetite for eating out that the city has developed over the last few years.

The takings have become so tempting that even corporate houses, private equity players and venture capitalists are waking up to get a sip of the coffee. The whiff of caffeine wafting out of Mocha seemed so enticing that Beacon India Advisors, a $200 million venture fund, has invested Rs 75 crore in Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality, Mocha’ mother company.

The limitation of these large players: they aren’t interested in projects under Rs 10 crore. That, said Riyaaz Amlani of Impresario, is because “the due diligence required for a project worth Rs 1 crore and Rs 10 crore is the same. [Private equity firms and venture capitalists] are only interested in brands where the model can be translated into a profitable, sustainable, scalable business”. Earlier this year, SAIF Partners, a growth capital fund, paid Rs 90 crore for a 20 per cent stake in Anjan Chatterjee’s Speciality Restaurants, which owns Only Fish, Machaan, Sigree, Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta.

For the most, though, the people who invest in Mumbai’s restaurants and who have fuelled the restaurant boom over the past decade are smaller players, by no means as flush as the private equity funds. They include people like stock broker Himanshu Dani, who has invested money in Pot Pourri’s Inorbit outlet in Malad which opened two months ago. Dani has known chef owner Nitin Tandon since they were college students in 1982. “Though I’ve known Nitin for a long time, what attracted me finally to investing with him and his partner Kishore is that they have the pulse of the market, of the different brands they run and the different cuisines they do,” said Dani. “I also wanted to be associated with someone who has a passion for food.” Pot Pourri in turn benefited from Dani’s active involvement in the business through the financial discipline, controls and management systems that he put in place.

Recent investors also include Kushal Shetty, Kunal Jhaveri and Haresh Senjalia, who decided to put their money down on a franchise in Malad after enjoying their experience as regular customers at Little Italy in Juhu. While Shetty’s family runs an Udipi in Crawford Market, the other partners are diamond traders. Instead of opening another Udipi, Shetty and his friends approached Little Italy owner Umesh Mehta for permission to open a branch of his fine dining restaurant in Malad and more recently Lower Parel. “Customers have now cultivated tastes for something different, people are experimenting with different kind of food, they have developed a taste for wine,” said Shetty. “They’re not content with eating at an Udipi anymore.” To ensure quality and consistency, Mehta makes signature foods and ingredients exclusively for the Little Italy chain, and supplies trained staff. “Not only are the returns high but we often have celebrities eating at our restaurant.”

Restaurant investors like Shetty and his friends didn’t exist before the 1990s. Until then, most standalone eateries were run by families. But economic liberalisation gave birth to a breed of restaurateur-entrepreneurs with a desire to carve a niche for themselves with high-quality or concept-driven eateries. They had sniffed out the market and discovered that the moment was ripe to woo customers away from the monopoly of jaded five-stars. Wealth had begun to trickle down to middle-class consumers. At the same time, the city began to undergo a demographic transition. As yuppies moved into Bandra from the entertainment and cultural hub of South Mumbai, the shopping and restaurants followed.

However, since the people running these establishments were mostly young professionals, often from middle-class backgrounds, they still relied on their personal finances or on loans from friends to open up their first outlets. Some like Joy Kapur of the Copper Chimney group and Sanjiv Chona of the Cream Centre had inherited small businesses but lacked the wherewithal to expand. Others like Rahul Akerkar, who decided to stay in Colaba and start Indigo, needed outside finance to surmount the high real estate prices and other set-up costs. With banks refusing to lend money merely on the basis of impressive ideas, restaurateurs had to look for strategic investors.

“Do you know how much it costs to set up a restaurant nowadays?” asks HA Mishra, a restaurant consultant who specialises in analysing the efficiency of a restaurant’s operations. “To set up a restaurant along the lines of Mainland China will cost nothing less than Rs 3.5 crore, a more sophisticated place will cost at least Rs 5 crore.”

The enthusiasm of investors could soon have an effect far beyond city limits. With so much money available, city restaurateurs have begun to develop business models that can easily be adapted to national and international scales. Ashit Patel who started the Garcia’s pizza chain and more recently Mr Chow’s, a Chinese delivery service, believes that if a restaurant is professionally run, “then it is possible to not only get private equity to fund the next 40 outlets but in the long run to even launch an IPO”. Patel is contemplating taking Mr Chow’s international since he believes that no one is catering to the Indian diaspora’s appetite for Indian-Chinese food. Buying out a small international chain with 30-40 outlets is also not out of the question. “After all, if we can buy out Jaguar, then why not a restaurant chain?” asked Patel.

Cross-continental cuisine
Expanding nationally is passé for Mumbai’s restaurateurs – the big bazaar lies in the international market where customers are willing to pay top dollar for quality. You can already stuff yourself on a thali prepared by the Rajdhani group in Sydney, Dubai, and Vietnam, and soon in London and New York. Dubai diners clearly enjoy Sanjeev Kapoor’s khana at Khazana, which he’s preparing to open in Qatar, London and New York. Riyaaz Amlani’s hoping that conversations at his first international Mocha will be punctuated with, “Nice coffee lah!” once his Singapore outlet opens. Anjan Chatterjee’s planning to take his restaurants Only Fish, Machaan, Sigree, Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta to London, New York, Chicago and Shanghai. Ashit Patel believes there’s a captive audience for Indian-Chinese in the West and he’s looking at opening a Mr. Chow’s in London and any US city with a large Indian population. After his success at Joss, Farrokh Khambatta is looking at US properties to open his next restaurant.

Published in Time Out Mumbai, September 5 2008

Rosés aren’t red

Pink is the colour of the season for the Indian wine market, says Antoine Lewis.

By the end of the month, wine racks will be filled with a fresh bouquet of rosés. Riding the pink wave are three new Indian still wines, a sparkling rosé and an imported pink champagne. By introducing so many wines in a category that’s barely known (and rarely appreciated), producers seem to be signalling that they’re expecting a rosy future.

The immediate impetus for these launches is the start of the festive and party season. But the long-term potential of rosés is also very promising, said Abhay Kewadkar, the business head at Four Seasons Wines, which is planning to release a rosé over the next few weeks. His optimism stems from the fact that rosés account for about ten to 15 per cent of the total global wine market, but only account for five per cent of the Indian market. Considering that Indians drank approximately 12 lakh cases last year, the market for rosés is potentially 1.8 lakh cases a year, not accounting for the 30 per cent annual growth the industry has been witnessing.

Rosé fans say that their choice of tipple incorporates aspects of both red and white, but has a discernible character of its own. Rosés offer a balance between the delicacy of white wine and a touch of the astringency and tannins of a red. However, wine snobs look down upon rosés, claiming that they are a compromise that offers none of the best qualities of either.

The distinctive pink colour of rosés is the result of a production process in which red-skinned grapes are crushed but the skins are allowed to remain in contact with the juice for only two or three days. The grapes are then pressed and the skins are discarded. If the skins were left in contact with the juice throughout the fermentation period, the wine would grow more intensely red. Depending on the amount of this contact, the colour of a rosé could range from a pale salmon to a deep magenta.

In the saignée (or bleeding) method, rosé is a byproduct of red wine. This method involves the winemaker removing some pink juice from the unfermented juice of a red wine at an early stage. This concentrates the tannins and colour. The pink extract is used to make rosé wine. A third method of blending of red wine with white to impart colour, though once popular in the Champagne region, is not as common anymore.

In Europe, rosés have the reputation of being summer wines. The refreshing crispness and lightness that characterises them is the result of the lower presence of tannins and the higher acidity. In tropical countries like India where summer stretches on for much of the year, rosés are particularly well-suited especially for brunches and afternoons.

While pink champagne is made exclusively from the pinot noir grape, rosés can be made from a variety of red grapes. From the new crop of rosés that will hit the market, the Four Seasons rosé will be made from Shiraz and zinfandel, while Château d’Ori’s uses syrah. The newly released Tiger Hill sparkling rosé is also made from pinot noir but has a taste akin to flat soda. It lacks fruit flavours and has an abrupt finish. In contrast, Indus’ soon-to-be released rosé, a blend of cabernet and Shiraz, is crisp and light with aromas of peach and fleshy fruits, although the flavours don’t linger terribly long on the palate.

While the acidity of rosé wines brings crispness, the light tannins make it a particularly suitable accompaniment for thalis, which feature both light and heavy foods, says Kewadkar. Kailash Dhuru, the winemaker of Chateau d’Ori, believes that rosé can go very well with Chinese cuisine (but not Szechwan whose spiciness is difficult to match).

The introduction of a variety of wine with a limited audience indicates that the Indian wine market is maturing, and has prompted winemakers to vary their portfolios. But this increasing sophistication isn’t the only reason the Indian wine market has now got more diverse. Indians are still highly price conscious when purchasing wine. Unlike sparkling wine, which also has a niche clientele, but is more difficult to make and sell cheaply, rosé is easy to produce and could be more affordably priced.

Published in Time Out Mumbai Friday, October 17, 2008

Server down

Finding good waiters is an increasingly tall order, restaurateurs tell Antoine Lewis.

The tables have turned on the restaurant business. Faced with an economic slowdown and rising costs of ingredients, power and fuel, it isn’t just customers that hotels and restaurants are desperately trying to attract to their tables. They’re looking just as hard for waiters.

With attrition rates running at approximately 30 per cent a month, restaurateurs say that they can’t afford to be picky about the waiters they hire and are wary of firing non-performing staff. As a result they’re spending more time and resources on training employees, even though they know that a competent waiter is likely to leave in a few months.

As management gurus would put it, the number of hungry mouths has increasedeven though the size of the pie has stayed the same. The massive growth in BPO industries and in the retail sector has increased the demand for employees adept in face-to-face customer interaction – skills that waitstaff already have. These sectors have raided restaurants and offered waiters much higher salaries.

A captain – as waiters with five years’ experience are known as – starts on a monthly salary of between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000; tips add up to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000. In comparison, the starting salary for a BPO employee or a retail-chain employee is Rs 14,000 to Rs 16,000. Some retail firms have even been willing to double salaries offered to waiters, said Nitin Tandon, a partner in Water Blue, which runs Pot Pourri, Lemon Grass and banqueting services. He recently lost a newly hired assistant banquet manager to a supermarket chain.

Concerned about persistent staff losses, Tandon approached a hospitality consulting firm to find a solution. They told him that the hospitality sector was going to haemorrhage staff to the BPOs, malls, supermarkets and telecom sectors for at least three years because though the service sector is growing, there are no new training institutes to equip students with the necessary skills. That’s why, students from catering colleges and restaurant staff have become easy choices.

City restaurants are even having a difficult time finding new recruits. While many English speakers have been absorbed into the telecom industry and call centres handling international clients, potential non-English speaking recruits have been hired by courier companies and domestic call centres.
Dominic Costabir, director of the Hospitality Training Institute, which conducts training programmes for the hospitality and allied industries, notes that working conditions in retail can be easier than the gruelling physicality of a restaurant. “A person who would’ve worked as a waiter now prefers working in a shop because they don’t have to work long hours, they don’t have to work shifts,” he said. “It’s a nine-to-five job that doesn’t involve any heavy work.”

However, older restaurants like Paradise in Colaba or Gypsy Chinese near Shivaji Park have not been affected by the crisis. Rahul Limaye, the owner of Gypsy Chinese, said that nearly 70 per cent of his staff has been with him from the time that he opened 25 years ago. The reason his staff have remained isn’t the money, he said. “My staff is not very highly paid and yet I have never had a problem,” he said. “That’s because I’m always accessible to everyone, right from the sweeper to the manager.” The relationship between owners and employees underwent a change in the late eighties due to union pressures. Many restaurateurs refused to make their staff permanent, preferring to give them a break every three months. This saved owners the cost of paying statutory dues such as gratuity, provident fund, medical and leave travel allowance. However, Limaye makes sure that everyone gets their proper dues, and when necessary, even advances soft loans for weddings or other personal expenses.

At Paradise, Mehru Kadkhodai treats her staff like family. “My husband and I didn’t want to take on a partner, so we treat our staff as partners,” she said. Most of her waiters who started with her when the restaurant opened in 1952 stayed on until they retired or passed away. Among the loyalists are Pudanik Naik and Boju Poojari, who have been with Paradise for 30 years.

Unlike New York, where heavy investments are made in training and constantly ensuring high service standards, few restaurants in Mumbai pay quite as much attention to their waiters. New York restaurateurs like Floyd Cardoz at Tabla encourage their waiters to eat at other high-end restaurants, so that they get a sense of their competitors’ standards.

Costabir believes that the restaurant industry shares blame for the shortfall. Instead of a concerted sector-wide effort to develop training programmes and courses that will produce large numbers of staff, individual organisations prefer to give employees on-the-job training. None of the restaurant bodies like the Association of Restaurants and Hotels or the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India are interested in putting together waiter-training programmes.

Tandon is one of the few restaurateurs who trained his staff before opening his fine dining Asian restaurant Seijo and the Soul Dish in 2004. “We’d have management mentoring programmes at the shop- floor level every day. We had people from other hotels, other leading restaurants coming to talk to them,” he said. “ For three months, they’d have management training for three hours and service training for three hours during which period they received a full salary, but no tips.” Despite this, three of his staff members left to join a new five-star hotel when they learnt that his restaurant’s opening was slightly delayed.

The pressing issue at the moment is not about finding new people, but about retaining trained staff, said Tandon and Limaye. Earlier generations of waiters, being mostly illiterate, had few job options, but workers today can choose from a variety of service-related opportunities. Waiters’ salaries are steadily increasing, but standalone restaurants like Lemon Grass and Mocha believe it is important to have Human Resources teams that chart out growth opportunities and regular training programmes. Even though Tandon believes that the retail bubble will soon burst and salaries will be rationalised, low wages and long working hours for waiters will also become a thing of the past.

Published in Time Out Mumbai November 28 2008

Future repasts

Eating out in 2009, in ten easy bites by Antoine Lewis. 
 
Cheaper food, easy meals, goat’s milk cheese and more Japanese – Mumbai is not going to eat out less this year, only more selectively. Appetites haven’t shrunk with the recession, but diners have started tightening their belts and carrying smaller wallets. Restaurateurs are reining in their ambitions for the coming year, and concentrating on keeping their businesses profitable and afloat.
But even as the boom quietens down into a whisper for the next six months, restaurants will continue to open. Restaurateurs may be hesitant to try something radical, but will continue to innovate. New flavours and ingredients will emerge and popular cuisines will be subtly made over. Here are some of the biggest trends.
 
Comfort food
When life gets tough, food gets friendly. Simple, accessible dishes without complex flavours and textures will rule next year. Instead of steak topped with camembert, caramelised yam and wasabi, it’s going to be steak with a simple pepper or mustard sauce and roast or mashed potatoes. The big difference from the earlier versions of steak and potatoes is that this time the best cuts and the freshest ingredients will be used. 
 
Hispania por flavour 
Mumbai’s only Spanish restaurant Caliente has quietly faded from memory, but with a new Spanish restaurant on the cards, the cuisine might make a comeback in 2009. Spanish dishes should appear on Olive’s new menus as owner AD Singh has signed on a Spanish chef. Also in line is Mexican, though the Taj Mahal Hotel’s plan for converting Starboard into a speciality Mexican restaurant has probably taken a backseat in light of the terrorist attacks. Indian computer professionals working in the Silicon Valley turned to Mexican and Tex-Mex whenever they felt homesick. Now back home in Mumbai, they miss the comforting flavours of the substitute and have been wailing about the absence of a good Mexican restaurant. Ever since chef Nobu Matsuhisa, a Peruvian of Japanese descent, became one of the greatest exponents of modern Japanese cuisine with his restaurants across three continents, western chefs have looked closely at Peruvian and Latin American ingredients and flavours. Expat Indian chefs are finally introducing these ideas into Mumbai, which will find expression in restaurants offering modern European cuisine. 
 
A little yen
Japanese, particularly sushi, will finally make the transition from five-star hotels and expensive fine dining restaurants to more modestly-priced affordable outlets. Supermarket sushi, already available at Nature’s Basket, promises to become a citywide phenomenon. By the end of the year, it should be possible to throw a sushi and sake house party at a reasonable cost. At weddings and banquet functions, live Japanese counters will be the next big thing. Demand is expected to be so substantial that freelance Japanese chefs have already started making a beeline for the city. 
 
In praise of prosciutto
The fan following for Italian continues and when things return to normal by 2010, fine-dining standalones should take off. Meanwhile, Italian speciality restaurants in five-star hotels will undergo subtle changes. Instead of generic menus, the diner can look forward to regional menus that also promise to be in tune with seasonal Italian produce. A winter menu, for example, will feature cheeses from Piedmont, which are noted for their quality at that time of the year. A spring menu might focus on dishes from Modena in Emilia-Romagna, which is famous for its vibrant flavours during this season. 
 
More pasta lanes 
With pasta becoming quite quotidian, people have switched from local brands to popular Italian brands to expensive Italian brands and finally to handmade, artisanal pasta. Shapes like chitarra (string-like spaghetti, but square instead of round), penne rigate, fusilli, farfalle, capellini (thinner than spaghetti but thicker than angel hair) and linguini (a narrower fettuccine) hold no surprises. The prediction for 2009: retail stores offering packed gourmet fresh pasta like tortellini stuffed with ricotta or Parma ham; spinach, ricotta and walnut ravioli or chitarra in a squid ink sauce.
 
Go green
Vegetarians will have a great year as restaurants roll out the green carpet for diners with dietary restrictions. Hotel restaurants are planning to offer 100 per cent vegetarian menus alongside their regular menu and are even ready to cater to those with more specific dietary requirements, like vegans. 
 
Tough nut
As diners become more conscious of what they eat, allergen-sensitive menus and allergen-sensitive packaged foods will be a big boon for those who have to follow restrictions. Low-fat, low-calorie and low-sugar options have already been made available. Restaurants are starting to prepare fresh whole-wheat pasta and pizza on request. From 2009, they’ll also be offering sugar-free, gluten-free, nut-free and dairy-free foods on their menus. 
 
Table for one
Hotels have realised that business travellers, Indian and foreign, often travel alone. Guests who dine at a hotel’s Indian restaurant find that they cannot sample a variety of dishes as the portion sizes are too large for a single person. In response, hotels have decided to offer mini meals that are perfect for one. The meal will ideally comprise of a combination of signature vegetarian and/or non-vegetarian dishes along with dal and Indian breads. 
 
Fresh ’n’ fruity
Fresh, exotic fruits are becoming easily accessible and, with the accent on light fresh fare, they are set to become an important part of the diet. Restaurants are planning to offer open cooking stations where fruit juices either singly or in combination will be freshly squeezed. Chocolate, which will continue to reign supreme, will however have to make some elbow room for fruit-based desserts. Syrup-based flavoured cocktails will make way for fruit juice or fruit pulp-based cocktails.
 
Chuffing down chèvre
Indians love cheese but the cold favourite for 2009 is goat’s milk cheese. The popularity of goat’s milk cheese has been growing steadily over the years and is all set to explode in both restaurants and retail stores. Which ones are best-liked? Almost all the varieties including stinky goat’s milk version of Roquefort and gorgonzola. What’s particularly interesting is the demand for these varieties – which are generally thought to be an acquired taste – is not just from South Mumbai. Supermarkets and delicatessens in the western suburbs and New Bombay are picking up small, but significant, quantities on a regular basis.


Published in Time Out Mumbai ISSUE 9 Friday, December 26, 2008