DINING OUT: Sunday Brunch Gets A New Twist at Chez Nini

This review first appeared in Mail Today on May 23, 2013.
Copyright: Mail Today Newspapers

QUICK BITES

WHAT: Sunday Brunch @ Chez Nini

WHERE: 79 & 80, Meher Chand Market, Fourth Avenue Road, Lodi Colony

WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

HOW MUCH: Rs 2,500+++ (unlimited cocktails from the menu);

Rs 2,000+++ (without cocktails) per person

CALL: +91- 9650257451

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

Chez Nini's first floor, with its
wall display of ink sketches

of backs of people's heads,

is where the Sunday brunch

is served. (Below) Each

item, like the fish burger,

is cooked a la minute

and served at your table.

Images: Azra Sadr

NOT MANY chefs around the world get invited to serve a meal at James Beard House, New York's gastronomic pilgrimage at the town house that once belonged to the man who defined American Cookery. Nira Singh of Chez Nini just recently earned her entry into that exclusive club and immediately on her return, in an inspired move, unveiled a Sunday brunch that may just re-write the rules of the institution as it has transmogrified in Delhi.

We have gotten used to a brunch design that deifies excess. Just about everything a hotel or a restaurant has to offer is laid out on buffet counters for guests to dig in, with endless accompanying pours of bubbly and martinis, and the dishes keep getting replenished as they get consumed. That's quite industrial, though no one minds, because all of us believe we are getting our money's worth.

By going against the paisa vasool mindset, Chez Nini's Sunday brunch has shown how this institution was supposed to have evolved. Each guest gets to order one dish at a time from the special menu, which in effect means you can have an endless a la carte meal delivered at your table. There's an abundance of sangrias and smoothies, spiked with dates and honey, to keep everyone pleasantly high in between orders, and the pianist, Sahil Vasudeva, despite his Devdas looks and overnight stubble, plays just the kind of tunes that would get you to tap your feet and drum your table.

Your mind blanks out and you wonder why the neighbouring Lodi Colony appears to be in a state of slumber from the window beside your table. Shouldn't the occupants of the World War II-vintage apartments, which house government functionaries of all kinds, wake up and smell the Blue Tokai coffee from Coorg roasted exclusively for Chez Nini?

That's exactly the tantalising aroma that will greet you as you enter the first floor of the restaurant after a rather steep yet rejuvenating climb. The warm and welcoming fragrance of freshly baked breads and tarts will compete with it for your attention.

You can hear your stomach rumbling in anticipation, and as soon as your red wine sangria gives you an early afternoon alcohol rush, ask for the Watermelon Salad, drenched with citrus vinaigrette and loaded with creamy feta and grated hazelnuts to deliver a multi-textured sensation, then move on the French Onion Soup that comes with a blob of Himalayan gouda sitting on a crispy toast, and call for the Soft Poached Eggs served on a bed of sauteed spinach, bay leaf foam and crispy onion. The portions are generous, so share and show you care.

With your hunger temporarily assuaged but not your curiosity, your next step should be to order the Eggs Benedict that come sitting on gluten-free brioche, generously lashed with hollandaise and accompanied by seared slices of pork belly (divine!). Go for the Rosemary Pumpkin Pasta Au Gratin, which is a tribute to the umami powers of parmesan. Have the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Escalope with waffles, peppercorn sauce and buttermilk gravy. Or settle from my favourite: Fish Burger served on a multi-grain sourdough bun with okra fries, tartare sauce and salsa verde. Each offering comes with a twist, on wooden platters that arrive in diverse shapes, cooked a la minute and served at carefully calibrated intervals. I was surprised by the precision with which food was being served to a full house, giving hunger or impatience not even a sneaking chance to get the better of conversations. The sangria, of course, played a part in turning time into a bullet train.

Then comes the cherry on the topping. And the dilemma. Do we have the Caramel Popcorn and Berry Sundae or the Fruit Gazpacho? Order both and share. Don't miss either, and you must not go without your mandatory shot of Blue Tokai espresso. Did someone say Sunday brunch offerings have become predictable? Not at Chez Nini, for sure!

Chez Nini's Nira Singh to Lay Out a Dinner at America's Culinary Capital, James Beard House

By Sourish Bhattacharyya

CHEF-RESTAURATEUR Nira Singh of Chez Nini fame is all set to be the first Indian to prepare a James Beard House dinner. The brownstone townhouse in the heart of Greenwich Village, New York City, where the man who transformed the American table lived and cooked for the TV shows that established his reputation as a tireless educator, typically hosts 200 dinners in a year by accomplished chefs from around the world.

Nira Singh with her favourite wines at Chez Nini,
Mehar Chand Market, Lodi Colony.
Picture by Subhash Arora

The dinners are priced at $130 per head for James Beard Foundation members and $170 for others, and to understand their far-reaching impact, you have only to order a tuna pizza at Korean-American chef Akira Back's signature restaurant at the JW Marriott, New Delhi Aerocity. Back owes his fame, as a brilliant purveyor of Japanese food with a Korean touch, to the big-eye tuna pizza that he had served at the James Beard House in 2008. He has since done dinners in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and is scheduled to lay out another on 8 February 2014, where the tuna pizza will make yet another appearance topped up with micro-shiso and truffles.

Getting to do a meal at James Beard House is not easy. A chef has to clear six tests before making the cut, which is to be expected when the calendar is studded with super chefs such as David Bouley and Marcus Samuelsson (in January) and in February, it has the likes of New York's white-hot new star, Bryce Shuman, and Peter Chang, the elusive genius who became famous after The New Yorker's Calvin Trillin discovered him. A computer engineer born and raised in Montreal, who survived a debilitating accident and relocated to Delhi to become the extraordinary chef whom everyone has an opinion on (increasingly positive!), Nira oozes perfection and passion; even her description of how she makes her Pork Belly Cubes taste like heaven has a sensual tingle to it. And now, she is in exalted  company.

Nira was to do her James Beard House gig in February, but she has postponed it to May because of her India Art Fair catering commitments. At a dinner with a group of friends (food critic par excellence Marryam Reshii, one of Delhi Gourmet Club's most aware members, Lavina Kharkwal, and Indian Food Freak's Pawan Soni), brought together by the encyclopaedic Subhash Arora, President, Delhi Wine Club, I ask Nira what she intended to do at James Beard House, she said she was planning to showcase her Indian adventure on the tables of her hallowed venue.

A firm believer in Indian ingredients (the only exception she makes is for chocolate), Nira surprised me by serving my double espresso (I needed it after that gastronomical tour de force) in a cutting chai glass! I am sure she'll have New York City eating out of her hand. Backing her is Susan Ungaro, the James Beard Foundation president who rescued the organisation from doom after her predecessor was indicted by the US Attorney General's office for fraud. "She has not only been encouraging, but also infused me with the courage to get adventurous," Nira said. Will Nira be able to cook up a storm in the core of the Big Apple? I am confident she will.