Manjit Gill Flags Off Top Chef Awards Voting; Nominees List Out; Good News From Elle & Vire

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

MANJIT GILL, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels, and President, Federation of Indian Culinary Associations, green-flagged the online voting for the Delhi Gourmet Club's Top Chef Awards 2014 on July 18 with the stirring declarations that chefs are "the custodians of the nation's nutrition".

Chef Manjit Gill (with red turban), flanked by
David Hopcroft, General Manager, Pullman
Gurgaon Central Park (to Gill's right) and yours
truly, with Delhi Gourmet Club founder-members
Rocky Mohan (far left of the picture) and Atul
Sikand at the hospitality trade media briefing
on the Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR 2014. 

Gill had chaired the nine-member jury that shortlisted the names of the 48 nominees in 14 categories who will vie for the vote of the Delhi Gourmet Club's 5,500-strong Facebook community of food aficionados. "Chefs are no longer responsible for your indigestion," Gill said on a lighter note at the briefing and then added: "They not only safeguard your digestion, but also ensure the absorption of the nutrients in the food they cook. Awards such as these will only make them more committed to their profession and encourage them to deliver their best."

Puneet Sharma, Dean, School of Hospitality,
G.D. Goenka University, which has partnered
Le Cordon Bleu to provide hospitality
education in India, also spoke at the
hospitality trade media briefing on July 18.

DGC's founder-members -- Rocky Mohan, Atul Sikand and yours truly -- released the list of nominees to the hospitality industry media at a briefing held at La Riviera, the much-awarded European restaurant of the Pullman Gurgaon Central Park. Members of the Club will cast their online votes till July 22, 12 midnight, by logging on to www.topchefawards.com.

The invitees and the speakers gather around the
Moltini, the Rolls Royce of show kitchens,
at La Riviera, the award-winning European
restaurant at Pullman Gurgaon Central
Park, which was the venue of the
hospitality trade media briefing,

The results of the vote will be declared at a gala event, expected to be attended by Parvez Dewan, Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, and the leading luminaries of the hospitality industry, at the Pullman Gurgaon Central Park on July 27. DGC will also honour the chefs who have been nominated by the jury (these awards are not up for voting) for the Best Young Chef, Chef Leader of the Year and Lifetime Achievement awards.

On the eve of the announcement, there was good news for the winners of the awards for the Pastry/Bakery Chef of the Year (Five-Star and Independent) from Elle & Vire, the brand of butter and cream preferred by professional chefs across the world. A co-sponsor of the event, Elle & Vire has said it will gift to each of the two winners an all-expenses-paid trip to Bangkok to attend a three-day bakery programme led by the world-renowned Eric Perez at the Macaron Pastry Training Centre on September 18-20.

An illustrious chef from Toulouse, France, Perez has represented the U.S. and won medals at the Pastry World Cup in Lyon, work with the Ritz-Carlton and the upper-crust pastry shop, La Maison, in Shanghai, launched his own chain under the brand name Visage, where he lifted pastry art to a level not seen before, and then opened the Macaron Pastry Training Centre (www.macaronbkk.com) on Soi Sukhumvit 63, Bangkok, to share his vast knowledge with "young and old, professional and enthusiast".

The media briefing was also addressed by David Hopcroft, General Manager, Pullman Gurgaon Central Park, who lauded DGC for "doing the right things" and pledged his hotel's wholehearted support for the first-of-its-kind initiative. Pullman Gurgaon Central Park is the co-presenter of the event. Puneet Sharma, Dean of the School of Hospitality, G.D. Goenka University, which has joined hands with Le Cordon Bleu's famed hospitality management and culinary arts programmes, also spoke at the media briefing. He said the Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR 2014 was the first industry-focused activity of Le Cordon Bleu-G.D. Goenka University and he expressed the hope that this would be the beginning of many more such collaborations.

Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR 2014: An Overview

For the first time in the country, the Delhi Gourmet Club is organising an awards evening dedicated exclusively to chefs who have quietly contributed to the success of Delhi-NCR's celebrated restaurants. At the Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR 2014 on July 27, the Delhi Gourmet Club, in association with the Pullman Gurgaon Central Park, is giving these chefs the limelight they deserve at a gala event where the chief guest will be the Secretary, Tourism, Government of India, Shri Parvez Dewan, and leaders of the hospitality industry will be in attendance.

Giving DGC support for this first-of-its-kind consumer initiative to honour Delhi-NCR's top chefs are some of world's finest brands. The event is being powered by hospitality education leader Le Cordon Bleu and its Indian partner, G.D. Goenka University. Its lead co-sponsors are leading food and beverage brands Elle & Vire (French; dairy products), Delverde (Italian; pasta), Torani (American; juices, mixers and smoothies) and Granini (German; fruit juices). The other co-sponsor is Nestle Professional, a global network of 10,000-plus professionals providing top-drawer culinary and beverage solutions to businesses around the world.

Massive Restaurants Pvt. Ltd., the banner behind the ground-breaking Masala Library, Made in Punjab and Farzi Cafe restaurants; FnS, the brand behind a new generation of cutlery; and Foodhall, the Future Group's premium multi-city food destination, are the award sponsors. Beam Global is the beverage partner, offering Teacher's Single Malt, Teacher's Original, Jim Beam bourbon and Sauza tequila.

And the nominees are...

Award for Excellence in North Indian Cuisine (Five Star)

*Gaurav Tandon, Masala Art (Taj Palace)

*Ghulam Qureishi, Dum Pukht (ITC Maurya)

*Karan Singh, Dhaba (The Claridges)

*Shams Parvez, Made In India (Radisson MBD, Noida)

Award for Excellence in North Indian Cuisine (Standalone)

*Bernard Mondal, Kwality

*Chiquita Gulati, Gulati's Spice Market

*Gurpreet Singh Gehdu, Punjab Grill

*Pradeep Khullar, Chor Bizarre

Award for Excellence in South Indian/Coastal Cuisine (Five Star)

*Ravi Vatsyayan, Amaranta (The Oberoi Gurgaon)

*Velu Murugan, Dakshin (Sheraton New Delhi)

Award for Excellence in South Indian/Coastal Cuisine (Standalone)

*Arun Kumar TR, Zambar

*Pawan Jumbagi, Carnatic Cafe

Jiggs Kalra Award for Excellence in Modern Indian Cuisine

*Anshuman Adhikari, Diya (The Leela Gurgaon)

*Harangad Singh, Varq (The Taj Mahal Hotel)

*Shantanu Mehrotra, Indian Accent

Award for Excellence in Best Regional Cuisine (Standalone)

*Cris Fernandez, Bernardo's

*Bhaskar Dasgupta, Oh Calcutta

*Shekhar Bhujel, Yeti: The Himalayan Kitchen

Award for Excellence in Asian Cuisine (Five Star)

*Nilesh Dey, Wasabi (The Taj Mahal Hotel)

*Yutaka Saito, Megu (The Leela Palace New Delhi)

*Zhang Hongsheng, China Kitchen (Hyatt Regency New Delhi)

Award for Excellence in Asian Cuisine (Standalone)

* Khoo Thiam Huat, Royal China

*Kim Suk Hee, Gung The Palace

*Lok Prasad Subba, Yum Yum Tree

Award for Excellence in European Cuisine (Five Star)

*D.N. Sharma, Orient Express (Taj Palace)

*Federico Pucci, Le Cirque (The Leela Palace New Delhi)

*Rajeev Sinha, Sevilla (The Claridges)

Award for Excellence in European Cuisine (Standalone)

*Jerome Cousins, Rara Avis

*Nira Kehar, Chez Nini

*Shamsul Wahid, Smoke House Deli

*Sujan Sarkar, Olive Bar & Kitchen

*Suman Sharma, Tonino

Pastry/Bakery Chef of the Year (Five Star)

*Devendra Bungla, Hyatt Regency

*Vikas Vibhuti, The Oberoi New Delhi

*Anil Kumar, Pullman Gurgaon Central Park

Pastry/Bakery Chef of the Year (Independent)

*Avanti Mathur

*Jaya Kochhar

*Kishi Arora

Best New Entrant of the Year

*Anahita Dhondy, Soda Bottle Opener Wala

*John Oh and Kurt Michael, Akira Back

*Rahul Dua, Cafe Lota

*Vikram Khatri, Guppy by Ai

*Yenjai Suthiwaja, Neung Roi

Best Restaurant Manager of the Year

*Sarabjeet Singh Bhalla, K3 (JW Marriott, New Delhi Aerocity)

*Deepak Rawat, Megu (The Leela Palace New Delhi)

*Shipra Pradhan, Le Cirque (The Leela Palace New Delhi)

*Malvika Sahay, Wasabi (The Taj Mahal Hotel)

*Deepak Shettigar, threesixtydegrees (The Oberoi New Delhi)

Groupon India CEO Bets Big on F&B and Sees Internet on Mobile as the Top Story of 2014

Ankur Warikoo shares the spectacular success story of Group India, which in three years has extended to 12 cities, signed up 6,500-plus unique merchants (including 56 per cent repeats), and almost every major hotel and restaurant in the country

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

WHEN Groupon India teamed up with Delhi Gourmet Club last year to launch Delhicious Week, the challenge to Citibank's three-city Restaurant Week India, which is entering its fourth year this March, few gave it much of a chance. It was a one-city affair and five restaurants signed up for it. By the end of Delhicious Week, the turnout, as well as the exposure they got on the Delhi Gourmet Club's Facebook community page, took the participating restaurants by surprise. Instantly, the word spread in the industry that Delhicious Week was here to stay -- and grow into serious competition for Restaurant Week India.

Sure enough, Delhicious Week returned this year with a bigger footprint. Eleven restaurants, an equal mix of five-star and stand-alone addresses, signed up. Between February 1 and February 6, the Delhicious Week days, more than twice the number of diners, compared with the turnout for the inaugural round of the event last year, showed up at the participating restaurants. The restaurants had been hand-picked by the Delhi Gourmet Club because of their reputation, and each offered a three-course special menu plus signature soft beverage at prices starting from Rs 999, depending on the meal time and day of the week.

For Ankur Warikoo, the Asia-Pacific Head of Groupon, the deal-of-the-day Chicago-based website that has grown into a $1.84 billion business globally in six years, ideas such as Delhicious Week keep powering his e-commerce company's growing business presence in the Indian market. They create excitement for his customers, who are looking for deals that are more than just discounts.

Ankur Warikoo has established
Groupon India as a significant
player in the country's growing
e-commerce economy. Here
he explains why the website
is continually gaining traction.

In the case of the Delhicious Week, the difference was the menu that each restaurant especially offered to the guests who arrived with Groupon coupons. One of the participating restaurants, K3 at the JW Marriott, New Delhi Aerocity, even went to the extent of offering its entire buffet at the steeply discounted price of a Delhicious Week coupon. Of course, Groupon India's biggest gamble was to sell a kilo of onions for Rs 9, which was a tenth of the market price, at the peak of the controversy over the skyrocketing price of the tuber. Within 44 minutes, 3,000 kilos were sold, and the by the time the deal was closed, more than 8,000 kilos had flown off Groupon's virtual shelves. Ideas such as these drive Groupon's business.

Warikoo, who's also the CEO (or "chief customer care executive") of Groupon India,  calls the website's model "the last mile of advertising". Groupon not only allows a business to showcase itself, but also goes a step further by converting the intent to buy created by the advert into an actual purchase. In doing so, Groupon has created a new e-commerce category of buying local services online. And as its name suggests (it is a portmanteau of the words "group coupon"), the website leverages the concept of "group buying" to drive new customers to businesses at a fraction of the cost of conventional advertising, even as it gives its online users a platform for securing discounts on items as varied as restaurant meals and spa outings.

"We only run limited-period promotions so as not to make any brand appear cheap," says Warikoo, who's an alumnus of Hindu College, Michigan State University (East Lansing) and the Indian School of Business (Hyderabad). What Groupon does, explains Warikoo, is get each participating business a minimum number of customers and the discount it offers is actually "the cost of acquiring new customers". There are no charges upfront, so the business pays "only when the money is in".

Unsurprisingly, Groupon India, which has expanded to 12 cities, has signed up 6,500-plus "unique merchants" across the country and 56 per cent of them are repeats. "All premium five-star hotels, barring those of the ITC, have worked with us or continue to do so," Warikoo adds triumphantly. The demographic behind Groupon India's success is the 25-38 age group, which, Warikoo says, is more likely to eat out or hang out at malls with friends. That may explain why 48 per cent of Groupon India's revenues come from food and beverage, and another 30 per cent from the wellness segment.

Groupon customers, says Warikoo, who's the only Kashmiri Pandit I know who's a vegetarian, scout for the most valuable experiences from the best brands. So, when the site offered the Nirula's classic, Hot Chocolate Fudge, for Rs 79, instead of its regular price of Rs 120, as many as 6,000 got sold in a week. And when the chholey-bhature of Kanha Sweets of Jaipur was made available for Rs 19, instead of Rs 49, the clicks on the 'Buy' button wouldn't stop -- 500 portions got sold in just two hours. So, how is Groupon India different from, say, a Snapdeal? Snapdeal, Warikoo says, pointing to a critical differentiator, is about products; Groupon is about services.

2014, according to Warikoo, will see internet on mobile becoming the game changer by enabling a website like Groupon to serve customers real-time. Sixteen per cent of all Groupon India transactions, in fact, are already taking place on this route. Warikoo expects this business segment to grow. "With 80 million units, India is the world's third largest smartphone market," he points out. "And by adding 8 million units each month, India looks set to overtake the US market, which has 140 million smartphones."

Groupon's India story started with the acquisition of a Kolkata-based deals website called Sosasta.com in April 2011. The name didn't convey the right value proposition, so the site was re-launched as Crazeal.com in October 2011, before legal issues led to it being re-christened Groupon India. It's been less than three years and the numbers look good for Warikoo and his team. And he's not exaggerating when he says, "The Groupon India story looks very positive."

TWO LESSER-KNOWN FACTOIDS ABOUT ANKUR WARIKOO

* Before taking charge of scripting Groupon's India story in 2011, Warikoo joined two other Indian School of Business graduates to launch a website incubation company called Accentium ("the word means nothing!" he says). They were running six websites, including the phenomenally successful SecondShaadi.com and Gaadi.com, the car purchase and sale site, which the company sold to Ibibo.

* Warikoo and his team work out of an three-storied, open-plan office in Saket, and when they go to Goa for their annual get-together, even the janitors and parking attendants aren't left behind. Who each of them gets to share a room with is decided by a draw of lots. Last year, Warikoo had the parking attendant as his roommate. Here's a real aam aadmi CEO, who lives by the principles he espouses.

Turning Point Wines Get A Capital Welcome as Delhi Gourmet Club Serves Paradise on a Plate

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

IT WAS only appropriate that the wines being showcased at the Delhi Gourmet Club's 68th event are called Turning Point. DGC's first-ever al fresco wazwan lunch on Saturday, January 25, was indeed a turning point for the club, which is now, despite being a 'Secret Group', a 5,000-strong Facebook community.

Delhi Gourmet Club's founder-member Rocky
Mohan (left) with Shafi Waza, one of the four
brothers who are carrying forward the great
gastronomical legacy of Khan Abdul Ahad
Waza. Picture: Shalini Chauhan

It was the first time that the club had invited a well-known catering company, none other than the inimitable Ahad Sons, which is carrying forward the legacy of Khan Abdul Ahad Waza, to present a traditional 16-course wazwan lunch. A celebratory wazwan meal can accommodate up to 32 courses, but the club's three founder-members (Rocky 'Mr Old Monk' Mohan, Atul 'The Guru of Sikandalous Cuisine' Sikand and yours truly) decided that 16 would be more than enough! And believe me, they were.

Of course, with Rocky, whose book Wazwan: Traditional Kashmiri Cuisine is the most insightful on the subject, to guide us, with the suave Shafi Waza, the third of the four brothers who are now the custodians of Ahad Waza's legacy, personally supervising the proceedings, and with Mohit 'Chowder Singh' Balachandran orchestrating the service with club member Nikhil Alung, we could expect the lunch to be a memorable affair, even though the weather wasn't.

Turning Point wines, which have just been launched
in Delhi and Gurgaon, share the limelight with
the invincible Old Monk, Ketel One and Bacardi.
Picture: Ajay Gautam

It was a cold and gloomy day (we joked that we had brought Srinagar's weather to Delhi), and the ever-hospitable Rocky, at whose sprawling Vasant Kunj farmhouse the lunch had been laid out, was worried that the chairs would be wet. The weather made no difference to the elevated spirits on the ground, for there was enough warmth to be had from the wood fires, the lavish spread of delectable wazwan dishes, and Turning Point wines, which have just been launched in Delhi and Gurgaon after a fairly good run in Mumbai and Pune.

Turning Point is the brainchild of Ashwin Deo, whom many of you'll remember as the man who steered Moet Hennessy India very successfully in the company's early days. A product of Nashik's wine lands, Turning Point is India's first wine label that addresses young people, the  country's largest population segment that hasn't evinced much interest in wine.

I suspect it is because wine has been presented in a manner that it comes across as some 'serious' drink that only 'connoisseurs' can appreciate. The truth is, wine, like any other alcoholic beverage, is meant to be savoured in the company of friends, with good food to accompany it, and not intellectualised upon. Turning Point wines draw you in with their bottle design -- it's sassy, youthful, vibrant. You just have to keep a bottle on your table to get people talking about the wine. It's a great ice-breaker.

But Turning Point wines have more to offer than their sleek bottles and meaningful conversations. The wines are made from grapes sourced with great care from contract farmers in Nashik, and matured and bottled at Ravi and Kailash Gurnani's York winery with expert advice from the roving biochemist-turned-oenologist from Bordeaux, Marc Dworkin. I had the Turning Point Rosé, made from Zinfandel grapes, and I was surprised by its lively freshness. It was not overly sweet; instead, it balanced crisp acidity with a hint of fruitiness.

I thought I would stick with the Rosé, but I changed my mind after I had the Cabernet Shiraz. It was young, flavourful and delicately balanced. The vines from where the grapes are sourced for the Turning Point Cabernet Shiraz are 10-15 years old, yet there's no rawness in the wine, which made it a perfect match for the food that was served piping hot from silver containers by by Shafi's men, all clad in white kurta, pyjama and skull cap.

And what a feast it was, from the nadru (lotus stem) fritters and mutton lahabi kebabs circulated as appetisers during the meet-and-greet hour, to the pounded mutton kofta with an apricot at the centre, the ruwangan chaman (my most favourite paneer dish), the unbeatable Hind roghan josh and its polar opposite, the aab gosht (mutton cooked in a milk curry), the unputdownable haak (Kashmiri spinach) and monje (turnips), the spongy gushtaba bearing the unmistakable Ahad Waza stamp, and the sooji halwa, phirni and kahwa (Kashmiri tea) at the end. It was a meal I won't forget in a long time.

For DGC, it was without doubt a landmark event -- a brilliant showcase of a regional cuisine rooted in tradition and a new wine label that has set out to re-write the old, cobwebbed rules of wine drinking.

Delhi Gourmet Club Rates Masala Art's Dal Makhni Above Dal Bukhara; Moti Mahal Delux at No. 15

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

THE world of Dal Makhni won't be the same again. An 11-member Delhi Gourmet Club (DGC) tasting panel led by 'Mr Old Monk' and author of critically acclaimed cookbooks, Rocky Mohan, voted the Dal Makhni served at Masala Art, Taj Palace, as Delhi's Best.

The judgment should send ripples of shock along the corridors of neighbouring ITC Maurya because its famed Dal Bukhara has been unseated from its perch at the top by the judges who conducted a blind tasting of 24 Dal Makhni samples in three batches of eight across three days.

The last lot of Dal Makhni samples that were tasted
by the Delhi Gourmet Club panel led by its
founder-member, Rocky Mohan.
Photo by Rajeev Gulati

Just one point separates the weighted average of Masala Art's Dal Makhni and that of the venerable Dal Bukhara (70.44 vs 69.44), though, if I had my way, my vote would have gone to the Langarwali Dal at Taj Palace! Bukhara is separated by a whisker from (surprises don't cease!) Jamawar at The Leela Palace New Delhi (69.11) and Baluchi at The Lalit (68.44). So, just two points separate No. 1 and No. 4. It must be the closest contest ever. Spice Art at Crowne Plaza, Rohini (No. 19; 36.89) and Dhaba at The Claridges (No. 20; 30.67) are at the bottom of the heap.

The results must have taken the jury by surprise, which may explain why its members decided unanimously to honour Dal Bukhara with the Hall of Fame Award. It is indeed the benchmark, although Monish Gujral of Moti Mahal Delux (MMD) insists that it was his grandfather, the legendary Kundan Lal Gujral, who invented Dal Makhni, along with Butter Chicken. The jury had a shock in store for MMD.

It has been a real comedown for the self-declared inventor of this post-Partition Punjabi restaurant dish, which the rest of the country regards as an insult to our favourite urad dal (acclaimed columnist Vir Sanghvi calls Dal Makhni a "dairy product"). MMD's Dal Makhni is at No. 15 with 49.56 points! If the recipe given by Monish Gujral in his book, Moti Mahal's Tandoori Trail (Roli Books), is anything to go by, you might as well have lots of milk, butter and cream and start imagining that you've had dal!

Here's the list of ingredients used by Moti Mahal Delux (and it's pretty much true for all Dal Makhni variants, including Dal Bukhara, except that it uses only urad dal, or black gram): Urad Dal, whole, 3-1/3 cups or 500gm; Kidney Beans (Rajma), 1-3/4 cups or 250gm; Bengal Grams (Chana Dal), 1-3/4 cups or 250gm; Milk, 5 cups or 1 litre; Tomato Puree, 5 cups or 1 litre; Red Chilli Powder, 25gm; Cumin (Jeera) powder, 25gm; Garam Masala, 25gm; Butter, 1 kg; Cream, 2-1/2 cups or 500ml; Salt to taste. Did someone say this is dal?!

A Punjabi grandma would have an nervous breakdown if she were told this is a Punjabi dish. Sanghvi blames this on post-Partition Punjabi migrant restaurateurs from Peshawar, whose idea of making a dish shahi (blue-blooded) was to pump it up with butter, cream and tomatoes, and he extensively quotes ITC's hotelier-at-large Gautam Anand, who's also a brilliant blogger, to back his view.

Having said all this, I have to point out that Dal Makhni, like Butter Chicken, has a dedicated following, including the 11 brave men and women on the jury who went through the tasting exercise with dedication and passion. The jury represent the average anonymous consumer who keeps restaurants in business--just one of them is a hospitality industry consultant. And as with the previous Delhi Gourmet Club panels, which judged Delhi/NCR's best butter chicken, hamburgers, seekh kebabs (which, incidentally, was won by Bukhara), pizzas, dosas and now Dal Makhni, it is the voice of the average anonymous consumer that gets expressed in these results.

The rest of the list makes for interesting reading because of the fractional differences between the various contenders. Is this because of the fundamental uniformity in the Dal Makhni recipes across restaurants? Dal Bukhara is made with bottled water, others are not, but that doesn't seem to have helped its cause! Some may be using full-fat cream, others may not. Some may be using salted butter, others may not. The results show that there's no real product differentiation in Dal Makhni offerings across restaurants.

Before I wrap up, here are the rankings of the rest of the restaurants, other than the ones already mentioned, that made it to the First 20:

4. HAVEMORE @ PANDARA ROAD (63.89)

5. SET'Z @ DLF EMPORIO, VASANT KUNJ (62.89)

6. MINAR @ CONNAUGHT PLACE, OUTER CIRCLE (60.89)

7. INVITATION @ ASHOK VIHAR (56.44)

8. KWALITY @ PARLIAMENT STREET, CONNAUGHT PLACE (56.11)

9. MOET @ DEFENCE COLONY (56.00)

10. MADE IN PUNJAB @ DLF CYBER HUB, GURGAON (55.78)

11. THE GREAT KEBAB FACTORY @ RADISSON BLU PLAZA, MAHIPALPUR (53.89)

12. GULATI @ PANDARA ROAD (53.44)

13. EMBASSY @ CONNAUGHT PLACE (50.89)

14. KASBAH @ N-BLOCK MARKET, GK-I (50.67)

15. MOTI MAHAL @ M-BLOCK MARKET, GK-I (49.56)

16. MUGHAL BBQ (49.22)

17. UNITED COFFEE HOUSE @ CONNAUGHT PLACE (45.33)

18. MUGHAL MAHAL @ M-BLOCK MARKET, GK-II (40.78)

(This blogger is a founder-member of the Delhi Gourmet Club, but the views expressed in this post are entirely personal.)

Olive Bar & Kitchen Tops Delhi Gourmet Club's Best Pizza of Delhi/NCR Ranking

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

The Olive Bar & Kitchen team posing for a photo-op with
the Best Pizza Trophy being handed over by Rocky Mohan
and other members of the Delhi Gourmet Club jury

AFTER enjoying a long Diwali weekend, I am back with a bucketful of news, starting with the announcement of the Delhi Gourmet Club's Pizza Hunt results. When I look back at the evolution of the pizza in our city, I remember the days when the Nirula's Keema Do Pyaza Pizza used to be my post-examination treat from my father. The pizza crust used to be like toast, with shredded Amul processed cheese filling in for mozzarella, the 'tomato puree' suspiciously seeming to be straight out of a ketchup bottle, and the keema do pyaza was unevenly spread on top, with the serving getting thinner as the pizza got popular. Of course, there was also the pepperoni pizza, which was hugely popular (with good reason!), but I discovered it much later.

I am speaking of the early 1980s, when a pizza was a treat that few middle-class families could afford. That was when Taxila, the city's only respectable Continental restaurant on the Maurya rooftop, was struggling to survive, and so was Valentino at the fledgling Hyatt Regency, which made way for the juggernaut named La Piazza. It was La Piazza, together (a little later) with Italian electrical engineer-turned-restaurateur Tarsillo Natalone's Flavors, which ended Delhi's pizza virginity. In fact, the opening chef of La Piazza, who was an Austrian, was so pernickety about the restaurant's Neapolitan pizzas that he banned the waiters from dousing them with Tabasco sauce or chilli flakes. The waiters, as a result, had to smuggle bottles of both in their jacket pockets to serve their contents on the sly.

Since those early days, we have seen Ritu Dalmia introduce Delhi to the wonders of the wood-fired oven at Diva. We have had Bill Marchetti inaugurate one with great fanfare at Pavilion, the all-day restaurant at the ITC Maurya, but the restaurant never became famous for pizzas. We have watched Olive Bar & Kitchen turn pizza slices, freshly out of the wood-fired oven, into popular party snacks in the days when the trio of Anirban Sarkar, Mohit Balachandran and Sabyasachi 'Saby' Gorai had made the restaurant a force to reckon with. And Mist at The Park, in the days of Bakshish Dean (the golden age of the Connaught Place hotel's culinary journey), rolled out such novelties of the time as the smoked salmon and quattro formaggi pizzas.

Of course, we had our share of PR gimmicks as well, such as the pizza priced at Rs 9,999 (its toppings included a generous helping of beluga and lobster), with which The Qube opened its doors at The Leela Palace Chanakyapuri. It was the creation of the hotel's then executive chef, the affable American, Glenn Eastman, who formerly presided over the kitchen at the personal yacht of the world's richest man, Mexican telecoms tsar Carlos Slim Helu. Talking about Americans and pizzas, India is well on its way to becoming one of the top five market for Domino's, which straddles across 55 per cent of the country's Rs 1,300-1,400-crore organised pizza market. Pizza Hut is hot in pursuit, followed at a respectable distance by players such as Papa John's and Sbarro, and now, JSM Hospitality, the company behind Shiro and Hard Rock Cafe, is ready to roll out California Pizza Kitchen in Delhi/NCR after a successful run in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.

With Delhi's pizza offerings getting more diverse than ever, it has become important for food connoisseurs to get a sense of where they can get the best pizzas in the city and its upscale suburbs. True to its record of becoming the final arbiter of taste in the city, the Delhi Gourmet Club, led by 'Mr Old Monk' and author of four well-received cookbooks, Rocky Mohan, went on a whirlwind hunt for the best pizza, covering 15 restaurants a record three weeks.

The jury consisted of a mixed group of well-travelled people united by a passion for food but representing the universe of Delhi restaurants--a couple of home-makers, a social media marketer, a management consultant, a well-known restaurateur, and even a professor of human rights at a reputed law school. Each of them spent Rs 5,000, tasting a basic margherita pizza followed by a gourmet pizza at each of the 15 restaurants, over five nights to arrive at a ranking that is refreshingly honest, though some of the big names in the business may not agree with their relegation to the lower end of the list.

My big complaint against the jury is that it left out Flavors and Cilantro at The Trident, Gurgaon, which, I maintain, has been consistent with the superior quality of its pizzas. I wholeheartedly endorse the No. 1 position going to Olive Bar & Kitchen, but I was left wondering how threesixtydegrees at The Oberoi managed to be No. 2 -- I have never known of anyone going there to ask for a pizza. Fat Lulu, in my opinion, should have been No. 2, not No. 3. But the shocker was Diva ending at the bottom of the heap, at No. 15. The news made me lapse into a state of violent disbelief followed by shock. Has Ritu Dalmia allowed her restaurant to slip to such an extent or was it a bad dough day? Anyway, without more quibbles, let me share the ranking with you:

Olive  Bar & Kitchen, Mehrauli, 79.33; threesixtydegrees, The Oberoi New Delhi, 74.50; Fat Lulu, Gurgaon, 70.50; San Gimignano, The Imperial, 68.50; La Piazza, Hyatt Regency, 68.44; Sen5es, Pullman Gurgaon, 66.25; Sartoria, Vasant Vihar, 62.93; Mistral, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, 62.20; Prego, The Westin, Gurgaon, 60.57; La Tagliatella, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, 58.47; The Qube, The Leela Palace Chanakyapuri, 53.35; Amici, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, 50.36; Tonino, Andheria More, Mehrauli, 48.57; Mist, The Park, Parliament Street, 43.22; Diva, M-Block, Greater Kailash-II, 42.88.

So, how do you rate a pizza? Did the jury follow certain guidelines? Rocky shared them with the Delhi Gourmet Club before posting the results. Though Rocky did not mention this fact, you'll find the pointers in the blog 'A Gravy Train with Biscuit Wheels'. Anyway, here they are:

Is the crust worth eating on its own? Or is it simply a load-bearing device to hold up massive quantities of toppings (not necessarily a bad thing, but not usually seen in the best pizzerias)?

Is the bread dense or airy?

Do the individual toppings taste good on their own? Would you eat them if they were served on an appetiser plate alone? Or do they need cheese, bread and tomato sauce to work.

What types of cheeses are being used? Would the cheese(s) also taste okay on its own?

Is there a lot of sauce, a sauce drought, or is it in-between? Is the sauce delicious on its own?

Does it rely on salt or sugar for a strong taste?

Does the pizza remain tasty and interesting from start to finish? Or does the pizza have a great first bite, but then become an uninteresting trudge to finish eating. Over-salted pizzas can definitely fall into this trap. If you wish to check out the original, go to http://cincinnatimalavita.blogspot.in/2012/12/how-to-judge-great-pizza.html. 

Interesting pointers! Keep these in mind the next time when you to have a gourmet pizza experience.

Saravana Bhavan Tops Table in Delhi Gourmet Club's 'Dosa Dance' Led by Facebook Phenom Atul Sikand

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

WITH THE migrant population from the south finding employment in growing numbers at government institutions, a band of enterprising Udipi dosawallahs moved to Delhi to make their fortunes by serving them from the back of bicycle-drawn carts. They served the office-going crowds, took over canteens at such
bastions of the Capital's southern population as the Press Trust of India, which for years has been jocularly called the Palghat Trust of India, and got migrant Punjabis addicted to the lightly spicy potato-packed crepe that everyone knows as the masala dosa.
This is one vegetarian preparation (along with the accompanying sambhar and chutneys) whose mass appeal cuts across linguistic and economic barriers. The masala dosa is ubiquitous, and has held its ground even after the onslaught of fast food and Barbeque Nation, in the Republic of Butter Chicken. What the southern superstar Rajnikanth couldn't do, the humble masala dosa has achieved--it has invaded Delhi. The credit for making the dosa a sought-after speciality must go to a runaway boy from Udipi who started his life as a dishwasher in a canteen before going on to establish the Sagar-Swagath restaurant empire. The hero of this rags-to-riches story is Jayaram Banan. He was the one who made the Punjabi gentry of Defence Colony discover dosas in the days when he used to make them himself on his bicycle cart at a tree-shaded spot right opposite the location of the original Sagar Ratna, which Banan opened in the neighbourhood market in 1986.
As his business empire grew (the majority stake of the chain, valued at Rs 200 crore, was picked up by the New York-based portfolio management firm, Indian Equity Partners, in 2011), the quality of his dosas became uneven. I blame it on rapid expansion and indifferent franchisees, and now the media is agog with reports of differences erupting between Banan, who's still chairman of Sagar Ratna Restaurants, and Indian Equity Partners.
With so much happening in the world of dosas, it was to be expected of the Delhi Gourmet Club (DGC) to set off on a 'Dosa Dance' across the city to zero in on the best. The jury consisted of well-travelled DGC members from different walks of life--a travel industry professional, for instance, who used to run a cooking

The Delhi Gourmet Club's jury rated the Saravana Bhavan's
dosas as the best in the city. It scored 39.33/50, 0.33 points
ahead of Tamil Nadu Bhawan, which was at No. 2.
Image: Courtesy of www.tripadvisor.in

school in France, an international lawyer, a senior Times of India executive, an editor with Bloomberg, and a management consultant with strong views on the provenance and authenticity of dosas.
The leader of the jury was Atul Sikand, who has become a Facebook phenomenon--his global recipe-sharing page, Sikandalous Cuisine, now has 10,000 (and counting) followers. With a leader like Sikand, it was to be expected of the jury to be tough with its assessments.
Sure enough, none of the 10 restaurants shortlisted for the Dosa Dance scored above 39.33/50. I wish, though, that they had more on the list, such as the United News of India canteen behind the Planning Commission building; Kausstubh at DLF Place, Saket; Southy on Aurobindo Marg (near Adhchini); and the mithai shops Anupam Sweets (Greater Kailash, Part II) and Evergreen (Green Park). It would have given us an idea of the variety available across the Capital. Also missing were restaurants from Karol Bagh and Mayur Vihar, which have major concentrations of migrant populations from the south.
The jury clearly wasn't impressed by the credentials of the shortlisted restaurants. Upsets naturally were to be expected.
Sagar Ratna, the original and not some franchisee outlet, finished a lowly seventh in a field where a minuscule 0.33 points separated the winner (Saravana Bhavan, Janpath) and the first runner-up (Tamil Nadu Bhavan, Chanakyapuri, which was clearly the surprise of the pack). Carnatic Cafe, which is at the back of the New Friends Colony Market, came third, although everyone just loves it (and it is Rahul Gandhi's favourite haunt, when he's not visiting Smoke House Deli, Khan Market). Saravana got top billing because of both the consistency of its offerings and the care that went into the accompaniments (sambhar and chutneys).
It is followed by another long-time favourite, Delhi Karnataka Sangha on Rao Tula Ram Marg, which beat Chidambaram, Khanna Market, Lodi Colony, an icon for Delhi's Tamilian population, by just 0.63 points. Chidambaram apparently lost out because of its unsatisfactory paper dosa!
The top five were followed by five established names in the business: Sri Gururaj Udipi at Munirka; Sagar Ratna at Defence Colony; Naivedyam at Hauz Khas Village; Bhaja Govindam, next to Delite cinema, on Asaf Ali Road; and Ananda Bhawan at the Main Market, Green Park. Their lowly rankings made me wonder whether they had become victims of the complacence that their early success brought upon them. Or have the got trapped in a time bubble and are unable to do anything about the writing that is loud and clear on the wall?
The jury, which covered two outlets in a week without letting the restaurants know what they were up to, tasted three dosas--masala, paper and rawa onion--per establishment. In each case, they asked for the masala dosa filling to be served separately so that they could taste it as it is. Each dosa was judged by its crust (crisp outside, soft within), fillings, accompaniments (sambhar, gunpowder and chutneys) and, most important, overall taste. The points given by each judge present were added up and the weighted average became the score that the restaurant got. Apparently, as you'd expect from a qualified jury, the variations in scores were minimal.
With their effort, the 'Dosa Dance' jury has given foodies in Delhi and visitors to the city a list to refer to when they are overcome by dosa cravings, which is not an uncommon happening. The Delhi Gourmet Club now has four such well-researched lists--butter chicken, classic hamburger, seekh kebabs and dosa--to offer to foodies who wish to discover the city's best-kept secrets. Another one--this time on pizzas--is being released soon. Watch out for my report on it.

GOURMET’S MAURITIUS: Island Nation Beckons with Treats for All Tastes & Pockets

This is the first of a series of 25 articles on eating out in Mauritius, an island nation that is so close to us culturally and has so much to offer to the traveller. This, I hope, will also be the first of a series of food guides, drawing on the wisdom of frequent travellers and chefs, offering in-depth information on savouring the culinary secrets of some of our most favourite destinations around the world.

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

MAURITIUS is a culinary melting pot that is yet to be explored fully by high-spending Indian travellers who visit the island nation for reasons as varied as hosting a big fat Indian wedding to attending an incentive powwow for a company’s sale staff. From authentic dim sum (some say the best outside Hong Kong and Guangzhou) to African, Creole, English and French specialities, to street Indian, to gourmet Indian a la Michelin-starred Vineet Bhatia, Mauritius has something to tantalise every taste bud and, contrary to what people believe, every pocket.

From tandoori to Creole cuisine, Mauritius is a gastronomic
showcase of the best foods its diverse culture has to offer

The country’s kitchen reflects the diverse culinary influences and histories that the ancestors of its citizens brought with them at various points of time. The grand views that the restaurants command and the legendary friendliness of the Mauritians combine to double the dining pleasure in that idyllic country.

To dig deeper into the Mauritius dining scene, I posted a request for information on the landing page of the Delhi Gourmet Club (DGC), a Facebook community of over 4,500 people who live to eat, and I was impressed by the steady trickle of nuggets that came my way. Anand Kapoor, who works for a UK-based design house and also runs the non-profit Creative Services Support Group (CSSG), drew my attention to a guide to good eating in Mauritius published by a leading U.K. newpaper, The Telegraph. Kapoor, who has just published a lavishly illustrated cookbook titled Taste with seven Michelin-starred and celebrity chefs, is well-travelled and knows his food well.

I will start my series with the opening advice of The Telegraph guide’s author, Nicki Grihault, daughter of Alan Grihault, the acclaimed authority on the dodo. “Lunch,” writes Nicki, who knows Mauritius as intimately as her father knows the dodo, “tends to be a more popular, and less expensive, time to eat out, as Grand Baie is the only area with a happening evening dining scene and to a lesser extent, Port Louis.” Grand Baie is an ocean-kissed village in the north of the island and Port Louis is the national capital.

Keeping that advice at the back of our mind, let us set out for Mauritius with this list of the ten favourite restaurants of another DGC member, Siddharth Mohan, a senior executive with a leading management consultancy and a regular visitor to Mauritius. Mohan’s Top Ten are:

1. Domaine Anna for delicious butter garlic freshwater prawns in the middle of sugarcane fields. (That must be an amazing view! The restaurant is on the island’s longest beach, Flic en Flac, or Black River.)

2. Le Chamarel, which is perched high on the Black River mountains, for its outstanding vistas while you tuck into Smoked Marlin Carpaccio. (The restaurant should not be confused with the Air Mauritius Airbus A340-313X named Le Chamarel.)

3. Varangue Sur Morne, a rustic gamekeeper’s lodge also in Chamarel, for fine Creole cooking and stunning surroundings (these two words will keep appearing in most descriptions).

4.  L’Aventure du Sucre for unpretentious Mauritian French cuisine steeped in the history of an Old Sugar Mill, where you can find out all you need to know about the history of the island, its sugar industry and the many types of sugar it produces.

5.  The dhaba-style Dewa on Rose Hill for a taste of the dholl puri (maida rotis staffed with chana and served in pairs with a bean curry, ‘achard’, or pickles, and chutney) and the local galette, which is a deep-fried cake made with mashed cassava and cream.

6.  The chic Le Pescatore at Trou aux Biches on the island’s north-west coast for fish so fresh you can smell the aroma of the sea water while eating away … it’s pricey, though.

7. For tea-time crepes, chicken sandwiches and the best Pina Colada to enjoy the sunset, head for the beach-side restaurant at La Pirogue Resort set in 14 hectares of tropical plantations.

8. Chateau Mon Desir overlooking the historic ruins of Balaclava, River Citron and Turtle Bay for the most fabulous charm of its old-world dining experience.

9.  Ocean Basket, an outlet of the famous South African chain, for the oh-so-many prawns in a dish at the upmarket Bagatelle, Mall of Mauritius.

10. “And if you are very, very lucky,” concludes Mohan, “home-style grilled lamb chops at an 18th-century French mansion surrounded by exquisite gardens. Entry by invitation only.” This is the mystery entry in this Top Ten. To find out, keep following the posts that follow in this series.

Here’s the link to Nicki Grihault’s most informative thumbnail guide…

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/mauritius/56532/Mauritius-restaurants.html

Aurelio Montes & Brindo to Unveil Chile’s Priciest Wine at Orient Express Dinner

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

TAITA, Chile’s most expensive wine from the South American country’s iconic producer, Montes, will be unveiled in New Delhi at a dinner at the Orient Express on October 3, sending out the message loud and clear to the wine world that the Indian market is still not a lost cause. The dinner is being co-presented by the wine’s importer, Brindco International, and the Taj Palace, and will be attended by the Delhi Gourmet Club.

The Chilean wine company’s co-owner and chief winemaker Aurelio Montes had described Taita as a “super icon” during its release in June this year at Vinexpo Bordeaux. Priced around $300 in the U.S. market, it is one of North America’s most expensive wines. Taita, incidentally, is a word commonly used in South America to denote ‘wisdom’ or ‘father’. Its tagline, expectedly, is ‘Wisdom in Wine’ and its elegantly crafted bottle has a pewter figurine of Montes’s signature winged angel holding a goblet in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other.

At Vinexpo, the wine world’s most prestigious trade show held alternately in Bordeaux and Hong Kong (and also in Tokyo and Beijing), Montes launched Taita’s inaugural vintage, 2007, of which all of 3,000 bottles have been produced. In the coming years, only the ones that Montes and the wine’s co-creator, Pedro Parra, consider to be exceptional, will see subsequent editions of this collector’s wine. Those attending the October 3 dinner therefore will be in a privileged minority to taste a wine that’s got rave reviews everywhere.

Montes is held in high esteem for its benchmark red wine, Montes Alpha M (Cabernet Sauvignon, 80%; Merlot, 10%; Cabernet Franc, 5%; Petit Verdot, 5%). Its wine portfolio, which was being imported into India by Mumbai-based Sonarys Co Brands, has now moved into the hands of Brindco International, India’s most successful wine import company created by its founder-CEO Aman Dhall. Taita, according to Montes, has been made primarily for the Asian market.

Reporting the wine's launch at Vinexpo, The Drinks Business (http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/06/montes-releases-super-icon-wine/) had noted that the grapes for the 15.7% abv (alcohol by volume) wine are grown at a six-hectare plot within a 700-hectare farm at the Marchigue vineyards of the Colchagua Valley (Central Chile) and spends two years in 100% new French oak and a further three in barrel. (In the exceptionally high alcohol content you can see the fallout of global warming!) The grapes were dry farmed because Montes, as he explained to The Drinks Business, wanted to “touch hell” and see how far he could push things without resorting to irrigation to produce a luscious full-bodied wine. Well, it seems a full-bodied treat awaits a fortunate few on October 3.