By Sourish Bhattacharyya
QUICK BYTES
WHAT: New Menu @ Rara Avis
WHERE: M-27, Second Floor, M-Block Market,
Greater Kailash-II
WHEN: 12:30 to 3 P.M.; 7:30 to 11 P.M.
DIAL: (011) 33036648
AVG MEAL FOR TWO (MINUS ALCOHOL): Rs
2,200+++
 |
The Smoked Salmon Salad (above) delights you with its zesty freshness, even as the full-bodied Gazpacho seduces your taste buds to ask for more at Rara Avis |
RARA AVIS (which means 'rare bird', by the way) opened around
two years back, at a time when the city was seeing an unexpected efflorescence
of European cuisine. Tres opened to admiring reviews, thanks to the understated brilliance of the talented duo
Julia Carmen Desa and Jatin Mallick; Chez Nini got the attention of
sophisticates, although no one knew the inventive Nira Kehar before she opened
the restaurant; and Rara Avis started off by getting a buzz going because of
its romantic, wind-swept terrace, before people discovered that Jerome Cousin,
who's the polar opposite of the flamboyant Laurent Guiraud, the second
Frenchman in the troika that runs the restaurant, is a master of home-style,
no-fuss, soul-satisfying French food oozing the gentle warmth of the Provencal sun.
In the last two years, I have got to know Rajiv Aneja, the
third member of the triad, and have admired him for making the brave switch
from being a tyre industry executive and then a marketing consultant to running
a restaurant with the love and the drive of a mother rearing her first child.
In these two years, the M-Block Market, GK-II, which was once the domain of
Diva, China Garden, Hao Shi Niann Niann, China Garden, Not Just Paranthas and
the local hardy perennial, Chungwa, has seen a number of restaurants come up,
starting with Uzuri (another success story scripted by the Heston Blumenthal
acolyte, Rishim Sachdeva) and the unbeatable Mini Mughal, and then, one after
the other, Amalfi, Artusi and Yeti: The Himalayan Kitchen.
Here's a market teeming with options, but I keep going back
to Rara Avis for its French Onion Soup and Chicken Cordon Bleu, and I know
people who swear by its Snails in Garlic Butter (I could never have imagined
Delhi flipping over for d'Escargots!), Salmon Salad (the salmon is neither
stale, nor rubbery, which is how it is served in most other places) and the
rectangular pizza-like Flammenkeuche, an Alsatian speciality that we must thank
Jerome, a third-generation restaurateur, for introducing to the city. The
service is friendly and generally flawless, with the hands-on Guiraud keeping a
close watch, and there's not an evening when Rara Avis isn't busy.
It took another visit to Rara Avis, spurred by a call from
Aneja asking me to check out his new menu, to make me fall in love with the
place all over again. My meal started with a Gazpacho from heaven (full-bodied
and seductive), moved on to the Smoked Salmon Salad, and then moved from one
beauty to the other -- Bechamel and Chicken Croquettes, which I recommend to
anyone who goes to Rara Avis (apart from the classical Duck Breast with Orange
Sauce); the light-as-air Fish Carpaccio marinated with lemon and dill; Grouper
with Beurre Blanc (it was so heartening to have the French mother sauce made
exactly the way it should be!); a reassuring Creme Brulee; and a scoop of
Chocolate Mousse that made me wonder why I ate anything else.
It was Jerome's off day, so his No. 2 -- a smiling young man who
seemed to be from the hills -- was at the kitchen. The restaurant, clearly, does
well even without its head chef. I was a tad disappointed, though, by the Filo
with Prunes and Bacon (it was dripping oil) and the Sea Sole with Mustard Sauce
(too creamy!), but these quibbles apart, the overall experience was one that
made me decide to return soon.
POSTSCRIPT: I was introduced to Laurent many years
back -- it was his first night in the city and he was having dinner at The
Imperial -- by Mark Walford, my wine merchant friend from London. My friend knew Laurent from the days he
owned a Michelin-star restaurant at Pays Basque, south-west France. Over the
years, having seen him at Manre and at Olive, I have been surprised by Laurent's
humility. He has not once bragged about the Michelin star. He lives in the
present and enjoys every bit of it.
This review first appeared in Mail Today on August 1, 2014.
Copyright: Mail Today Newspapers
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