Restaurant Review: Otto Infinito, BKC

Back on the blog after a real long time! I don't know if it was writer's block or self-created work pressures or general dont-feel-like-writing-though-there's-so-much-to-write, but its true that I haven't been blogging as regularly as I should. Or, at all.

But am back! And it was a leisurely late Saturday lunch at Otto Infinito with old friends Oilboy (ex-Biscuit Man) and The Regulator that set the writer's ink flowing again. Hope it never dries up again.

Otto Infinito is bang in the heart of BKC's banking corridor (glittering chrome-and-glass headquarters of 8-10 major Indian banks flank both sides of the road). The restaurant is roomy and spacious, the effect emphasised by with the ample natural light filtering in from the signature glass wall. There's  both table and booth seating inside, and a more casual deck-like sitting area outside. When we were there, there was foot-tapping Middle-eastern music playing - that, amid the chic setting, made me feel I was at Dubai or Istanbul. Very global. :)

It was late, and The Regulator had "just half an hour" for a quick lunch so we bypassed the soup and starters and directly ordered the mains. Its another thing that we loitered over lunch for over 2 hours!

The Regulator asked me to choose for him, so I asked for the Turkish Kebab for him, and the Baked Basa in Harissa for moi. Oilboy had eyes only for the Hand-cut Herbed Linguini with Chicken Bolognaise. All in all, a nice diverse set of dishes for us to explore!

The food appeared in record time, in outsized white plates that seem to be the darling of fine dining restaurants. But in all fairness, the portions were fair-sized too. Not overly generous, but decent - not like the microscopic portions nouvelle cuisine seems to favour! Dots of vivid sauces and exquisitely-plated nano servings in cavernous bowls make me prickly. :)

The Regulator's kebabs were glorious - four hand-crafted cylindrical kebabs glistening with juiciness and with tell-tale char marks from the grill.

The yellow-hued ones were chicken and the brown ones were lamb. The accompaniments included 4 triangles of toasted pita, a small tub of spiced mayonnaise, fries and julienned (maybe pickled, I didnt taste 'em) vegetables (carrots, capsicum) The chicken kebabs were  gloriously tender, while the lamb ones had more bite to them but were amazingly fragrant with spices, particularly cumin.

Oilboy's pasta was nice - quite tasty and substantial. Nothing more, nothing less. But perhaps its just me - I seem to have lost my yen for hearty carbs. :(

Given this change-of-taste, my main was perfect - 4 healthy-sized chunks of steamed Basa (its difficult to believe Basa is available only frozen) in a tomato-based clear broth atop a base of wilted spinach. The broth was tasty without being spicy and livened with tiny cherry tomatoes and whole cloves of garlic.






For dessert, the guys forced me to order the 'Cafe Gourmand' - a chef's selection of three sweets with cookies and 2 cups of coffee. The guys chose latte and cappuccino as their coffees and shushed me when I asked the waiter to enquire what the Chef's selection was. "Let us be surprised!" was their refrain. Oh well, I said in resignation and waited to be let down by some fancy new-fangled dessert concoction.

But luckily, I was proven wrong. The oversized dessert tasting plate was a very nice way to end the meal - 2 cookies (one soft and crumbly cinnamon-spiced one (scrumptious!) and the other a crisp chocolate chip one), 2 coffees and 3 desserts - a slice of orange cake (garnished with an absolutely yummy wheel of candied orange), a rum ball and a wedge of hazelnut cheesecake. Surprisingly (most surprising to myself!) I found myself turning away from the creamy cheesecake and rich rum ball and preferring the cinnamon cookie instead. Wonders will never cease.

The total damage for our well-made and well-executed lunch was INR 2200 (excluding the tip), which is acceptable for a fine dining restaurant located in the city's priciest business district. To sum up, Otto Infinito is a good choice for a meal in BKC - whether it is a power lunch or a celebration dinner or just a relaxed weekend  catch-up with friends.


Otto Infinito
G Block, Raheja Tower,
Bandra Kurla Complex
022 26567777
http://www.ottoinfinito.com

Kitchen Experiments: Chorizo-Smoked Cheese Omelette

After years of year-ning (aah, pun!) for chorizo, I finally got my hands on one. Rather, two - a packet of a pair of plump, pink, paprika-laden chorizo. After seeing the luscious Nigella Lawson using chorizo as a short-cut ingredient to add oomph and chutzpah to several dishes, I was crazy keen to get started with the ones I had.



Chorizo is essentially a dried/smoked/cured spicy sausage of Spanish and Portuguese origin, that can be used in a double role as both a type of meat and a flavouring agent. With colonialism, the chorizo travelled with the Spaniards and the Portuguese and now there exist regional variants of the chorizo like
Mexican, Goan, South American, Filipino etc. Chorizo slices when heated in pan, give off a vivid red paprika-flavoured oil that can be used to cook the rest of the dish.



Continuing with the trend of giving old-fashioned breakfast dishes a sizzling makeover, I whipped up chorizo-and-smoked-cheese omelettes for breakfast last Sunday. In one word, they were - yum!

Ingredients :
Chorizo - 1 sausage
Smoked cheese - 1 thick slice (I used smoked Gouda, but you can use whichever cheese you like - it need not be a smoked one)
2 eggs
Chilli flakes
Salt, to taste
A splash of milk
Oil

Method:
Slice the chorizo into medium-thin slices, and cut the cheese in small cubes.
 
Heat a pan (don't add oil!) and layer the slices in it.



While the chorizo heats through, whisk the eggs with milk, chilli flakes and salt.


Once the chorizo slices start giving off oil with a gentle crackling sound,  turn them over and let them heat through on the other side as well.
In a minute, the sausage slices will start hissing and spitting in the pan. At this stage add the egg mixture. Lower the heat and let the omelette cook for 30 seconds.

Sprinkle half the cheese cubes evenly over the top, and let the omelette cook further till the sides start looking dry.




Add a drizzle of oil around the sides and let it further cook for 30 seconds or so.

Free the omelette from the pan by inserting the spatula around the sides. The omelette should easily move in the pan without sticking to the bottom or sides. If it sticks, let it cook a bit more.

Once the omelette has cooked through on one side, gently flip it over on the other and after 5 seconds take the pan of the gas - the omelette can cook in the pan's residual heat.



Do NOT cook it for long (max 15 seconds) else the cheese will stick to the pan and burn. You want the cheese to be just-molten. Flip the omelette back on the original side.
 

Serve hot with buttered toast and coffee, and sit back and enjoy a sumptuous Sunday breakfast!

Kitchen Experiments: Pesto French Toast

French Toast is one of those super-flexible recipes, a culinary chameleon, if you may - it can take on the colour and flavour of whichever cuisine you may choose to dunk it in. So here's presenting an Italian twist on the good ole breakfast table classic : Pesto French Toast

Ingredients:
Eggs (1 per person)
Stale bread (2 regular slices / 1 hefty slice) per person - I used an artisan bread from a fancy bakery, but you can use any bread you can get - though try and avoid the standard-issue mass-produced white maida bread. Its texture doesn't allow it to ABSORB the egg mixture, which is the whole point of French Toast
1 tablespoon pesto
1 tablespoon milk
Grated Parmesan cheese / garlic -herb seasoning (optional)
Salt to taste
Butter/oil

Method:
Lightly whisk the eggs with milk, pesto, cheese/garlic-herb seasoning in a shallow bowl. Add salt, if required.

Cut each slice of bread into two pieces if the slice is huge. Stand the bread in the egg mixture for about 1-2 minutes and then flip the slices over so that the other side soaks the egg mixture as well.

 Heat the butter/oil in a frying pan, and fry the bread slices on both sides till a lovely golden brown.




 
Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

Variations can include schezwan sauce/chutney or Sriracha sauce or tomato chutney instead of the pesto. For a sweet version replace the pesto and salt with Nutella and sugar. :) Enjoy!

Cookery School: Pumpkin Soup

I had first sampled pumpkin soup at Le Plaisir, the cosy little cafe on Pune's Bhandarkar Road. It was so yummy, that I resolved making my own version some day.

I got all the ingredients (that I had thought would go into the soup) the day before I was to leave for Pune (for a good long break from work) thinking I'd try my hand at some culinary experimentation while at Pune.

As luck would have it, I had lunch at Le Plaisir the first day of my Pune sojourn, and ended up getting the recipe from the chef himself. So I was saved from having to figure out the recipe and possibly from having to gulp down failure!

So here is Siddharth's recipe for pumpkin soup:

Ingredients:
Pumpkin (nice red/orange one)
Olive oil
Cream
Fresh (not dried!) oregano leaves
Cumin seeds
Garlic
Salt and pepper
(There aren't any measures, because they can all be varied according to taste!)

Method: 
Peel and dice the pumpkin in 1-2 inch dice.

Lay them out on a baking tray (in a single layer), drizzle on some oil and scatter with oregano leaves, cumin seeds and garlic. (I skipped the garlic because I didnt have any at hand, and added fresh basil leaves (torn) because I DID have them) Smoosh everything together by hand till its all mixed well.

Roast in an oven for 20-30 minutes, till the pumpkin is almost cooked.

In a saucepan/wok/kadhai, heat the cream (I didn't have the guts to use cream or even half-cream-half-milk, so I went with whole milk with a touch of cream added). There should be enough liquid to cover the pumpkin pieces. Once the milk comes to the boil, add the pumpkin (with the herbs, garlic etc)



Let the mixture come simmer on the lowest heat till the pumpkin is fully cooked (a spoon should easily slide through the pumpkin piece). Take the saucepan off the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.

Whiz it through the blender till really fine and smooth.

Put it back in the sauce pan, and put it on low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste, and milk to adjust the consistency (if you think its too thick)



You can use garlic salt instead of plain salt (especially if you skipped the garlic earlier as I did). Another little deviation that I made from Siddharth's recipe was to add half a cube of Maggi seasoning (use less salt if you use seasoning since that is very salty itself) to the soup as it simmered.

Serve in a large bowl, garnished with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and fresh oregano leaves. Enjoy with warm crusty, toasted bread.

Restaurant Review: The Bagel Shop, Off Carter Road, Bandra West

There's no better way to begin the weekend than a leisurely lunch at a picturesque little cafe, with an amazing book for company. I could actually feel the worries and cares of the hectic week slip away as I entered the cosy, sun-dappled outdoor seating area of The Bagel Shop, with its profusion of hanging plants and comfortable wicker-and-cushion furniture.
 


If the outside is summery and fresh, inside, the cafe is dark and cosy. There's just enough room for a low banquette along one wall with 2 coffee tables, and a bar-like seating area with 4 high chairs along the other. The dark wooden beams crossing the ceiling and a single dark-green wall give a dark and cosy feel. A chiller stores muffins, cheesecake, cakes and the like, while the blackboard behind the chiller lists a few chosen items from the menu. The music is lovely- reminiscent of blues-  that further adds to the sombre-yet-cozy feel of the cafe.

The staff is attentive and friendly, and the menu is long and very comprehensive. Apart from the plain bagels (herb, roast garlic, sesame, poppy seed, multigrain, cinnamon-and -raisin, and sunflower seed) there's a whole lot of vegetarian and non vegetarian bagel sandwiches, pastas, salads, smoothies, shakes (soya and milk), teas and coffees, and desserts. I ordered the turkey and ham bagel, but to my disappointment, they were out of turkey, so I went along with my  friendly server's recommendation of the Goan Chorizo Bagel. 

The Goan Chorizo Bagel - chorizo, lettuce, tomato, cream cheese (Rs. 299)

The bagel sandwich arrived in record time,  2 glossy brown arcs like half-moons, stuffed with a dark red salsa-like curry made of chunks of chorizo, tomatoes, caramelised onion and spices. Squiggles of cream cheese, lettuce and tomato slices completed the sandwich. Gloriously tasty, and completely messy! A big mug of perfectly-sweetened hot chocolate to wash down the sandwich, and I was in late-lunch heaven. :)

Hot Chocolate (Rs 99)

Purely for the sake of research (and I mean it - the sandwich was filling enough!), I ordered the Elvis bagel for dessert- bagel topped with peanut butter, sliced banana and Nutella. This behemoth of a bagel arrived as 4 open quarters topped with all the aforementioned stuff of dieters' nightmares, and I just couldn't eat more than one, and had to pack the rest for later.

The Elvis Bagel - peanut butter, banana, Nutella (Rs. 149)

Wanting to take something home for Ma and Baba, I asked the guy at the counter for recommendations. Helpfully enough, The Bagel Shop packs all ingredients of any bagel sandwich separately, so that you can assemble the sandwich at home, with no danger of the sandwich going soggy. Nice! They even sell cream cheese (plain or or in a range of flavours) in little 100-gm tubs so that you can have plain bagel-and-cheese at home for a lazy breakfast. So I skipped taking home a deconstructed sandwich and instead stuck to the basics - roast garlic and sesame seed bagels, with basil-garlic-chilli cream cheese. The folks are yet to sample them, though, so no verdict on that as yet. :)
All in all, The Bagel Shop is a lovely, cosy eatery with delicious food that is not usually found on restaurant menus. For me, that is good enough to justify the slightly high prices - the very good service, and free wifi are just a bonus. So go there and check it out for yourself!

The Bagel Shop
Pali Mala Road,
Off Carter Road (Take the lane after the Asst. Commissioner of Police's office)
Bandra West
022-26050178 

Restaurant review: Le Plaisir, Bhandarkar Road, Pune

 

You know a restaurant is good when you find yourself planning what you'll have the NEXT time you visit. I had trundled into Le Plaisir just as they were opening their shutter at 9:30 AM sharp, and after placing an order for the soup of the day (roasted pumpkin with fresh oregano and cumin) - Le Plaisir doesn't do a breakfast menu - I found myself mentally reviewing the handful of options of sandwiches and hot beverages and dessert to decide what I would have on my next trip here. Round one to Le Plaisir!

Le Plaisir is a tiny (cosy) cafe/bistro/patisserie on Pune's Bhandarkar Road. A labour of love of its young and enthusiastic chef/owner Siddharth Mahadik, it combines simplicity and charm in its ambience - a simple wooden  bench running along one wall, 4 small tables, a painting of a true-blue Parisien bistro up on one of the plain white walls - and chillers filled with fresh-baked bread, cakes and macarons in a rainbow of colours. A blackboard lists the short-and-sweet menu - a few choices of beverages (coffees, hot chocolate and iced tea), 4 types of sandwiches (these change every few days) and a soup. Siddharth is a trained chef from Le Cordon Bleu at Sydney, and brings with him the Australian passion for freshness, preferring a short menu that is chock-full of fresh seasonal produce as against an elaborate menu that requires stock-keeping and inventory.

Siddharth's passion for cookery and food is seen in the effort he takes to personally serve and explain each dish to the customer, and his eagerness to take feedback. My soup (pictured above)  had a drizzle of some oil on the top and my inquiring if it was truffle oil led to a long conversation about truffle oil, its scent, its usage, and  the impact of using it on the price of the food. Talking of the soup, it was thicker than I'd expected - almost like a puree - but warm, creamy, comforting, with tiny explosions of flavour every time I bit into one of the fresh oregano leaves. Served with crispy bread sticks livened with a surprise chilli hit, the soup was generous enough to sate my post-morning-walk hunger pangs.

The red velvet cupcake I sampled next was a bit of a let down due to the slightly dry crust around the otherwise fluffy cake. Now red velvet is supposed to be decadently soft and moist and melt-in-the-mouth, so this one was a bit of a miss. But Siddharth said that it was probably due to the air-cooled chiller, and said that it affected the texture of his macarons as well. He went so far as to urged me to try his dark chocolate macaron (on the house!) just so that I could compare its perfect texture with the slightly-warped texture of my salted caramel macaron. (Disclosure - I did not allow him to give it free, and paid for it)

And I think this is the key to a memorable dining experience - while great food is enough to make a restaurant a firm favourite, great interaction with the chef/staff or truly attentive service takes a restaurant from good to great. Siddharth's willingness to share his knowledge, talk to his patrons, and his genuine passion for food (he gave me a spoonful of his basil-cashewnut pesto as I was paying the bill, just so I could taste the freshness of the basil he sources!) make Le Plaisir a definite must-visit for folks who love 'Western' food.

Le Plaisir
Shop 4B, Next to Oma Spa
Bhandarkar Road,
Pune
020 30570433