Comfortably Numb

Sheila Kumar's Storehouse

Feature: How We Gave Ourselves A Food Upgrade

Even as haute cuisine deliberately downgrades  itself, are diners willy-nilly  undergoing an upgrade? The movement has all the subtlety and finesse of a glacier melting. Everything has happened at pretty much the same time. Lalitha,  give or take a ‘ji,’ now finds a wide gamut of ready-to-eat, hatke packaged meals on the store shelves. Kitchens transmogrify…

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Feature: At The Chef`s Table

Compliments of the Chef The Chef’s Table concept comes as a boon to those who want to dine well without breaking the bank. Caperberry, Bangalore The world of diners is divided into two. The first lot, the adventurous, head to a select restaurant, scan the menu with the intense concentration of a lawyer reading fine…

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Feature: Indian Kitchens Go from Hot to Haute

 Kitchen: Hot to haute Well, let’s face it: it never is going to be a glam room. Not even if you perch a mini television atop the pinewood and glass cupboard. Or a sleek boombox in yonder corner, nestled amongst the  fronds of bamboo bonsai. Not even (don’t ask) if the  room is well, roomy…

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Feature: The Olive Oil Explosion

A dash of virgin, ji? A flacon of olive oil is beginning  to look very much at home next to the haldi and dhania containers. Its debut into desi kitchens was so subtle, one almost missed it. Some years ago, I chanced upon huge canisters of olive oil stacked neatly alongside storage tins in a Coonoor-based friend’s pantry….

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Feature: Likethatonly Restaurant Review

Moregoodstuff The food trio — AD Singh, Chef Manu Chandra and Chetan Rampal —is showering Bangalore  with more good stuff. Their new eatery, tucked away in a quiet lane in  Whitefield, is all about whimsy, starting with the name: likethatonly. The décor — by designer  Anshu Arora, painter Murali Nagapuzha and landscaping artist Rashmi Attavar…

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Feature: Olive Beach Restaurant Review

Bountiful brunch This is a reaffirmation rather than a report. Restaurateur A.D. Singh’s brainchild, helmed by Chef Manu Chandra, a long slow lunch at Olive Beach continues to be the top-draw for Bangaloreans on lazy Sunday afternoons. So. What’s the same-old same-old? Why, it’s the Ladies who Lunch in Style, their Louboutins clacking on the…

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Feature: That Sugar Rush!

Drowning in a sugar rush at Olive Beach restaurant The strawberry consommé-drenched yogurt sorbet slides down my throat, smooth as honey but with a deliciously gritty undertaste. I take a deep breath of appreciation which coincides with my dinner companion’s rueful comment. “This is splendid. But omg, shouldn’t we be thinking of the damage it…

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Feature: Monkey Bar Restaurant Review

LIVING IN THE KITCHEN Good food served at a pub? Why not? The concept of a gastropub is fast catching on. I am probably outing Bangalore’s newest secret: a neat mix of good, unpretentious food, innovative cocktails, mocktails, and some fabulous old-fashioned rock and retro music at Monkey Bar, India’s first gastropub. In that order….

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Feature: The `Mazing Macaron

 The cult cookie First, a question. Is it macaron or macaroon? We need to tweak that old Shakespearean saying here: confectionary by any other spelling just does not taste the same. But more on that later. Macarons have been around for a while but when cupcakes began their run on fame, the former retired to…

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Travel: Singapore`s hawker centre food

A culinary carnival A serious but delicious search for the true taste of Singapore   I’M in heaven. This is bliss. I have just bitten into a bright green sweet, with coconut shavings scattered atop it. The sweet has released a spurt of cane sugar. Garry, sitting across from me, smiles knowingly. He knows all…

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