The chattering classes of Delhi are talking about Circa 1193, a restaurant in the shade of the Qutub Minar. It is an unusual venture for several reasons. The first is the location: from the terrace on the second floor you can see no fewer than 26 heritage buildings and structures. The second is that it’s…
The first reason lies in the psyche of the Chinese themselves. They seek to please. They won’t give you what they themselves eat: if you don’t like it, they’ll lose face. It’s safer for them to give you what you like, so what if it isn’t in the least bit familiar to them. You want…
How bad can a restaurant actually be? If it is really bad, it could be like Fawlty Towers: hilarious when you’re watching it as a television serial; less so when you are actually in a place like Manajsa in Hauz Khas market where everything that can go wrong does. It was a Friday evening when…
America’s North West “The best types of salmon are chinook, followed by sockeye and then coho.” These words of wisdom were imparted by Kevin Moffit, President and CEO, Pear Bureau Northwest. A friend and I were at Paley’s Place, a small, intimate restaurant in Moffit’s hometown, Portland, Oregon. Moffit was the host and much as…
We food writers have it much easier than our counterparts on television. We can conjure up images of childhood treats or aspirational exotica with words; those guys use reality, or their version of it. Writers and poets can relegate food to the status of ambrosia or to an irritating drudgery (“the smell of steak in…
Suddenly, there are quite a few restaurants in the National Capital Region that serve the food of the southern states. At one time, all we were exposed to were idlis and dosas. Today, each sub region of the four states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh is clearly defined in Delhi’s restaurants. Spice…
My first glimpse of Leela Palace Udaipur was not of the building itself, majestic as it is, but of the way the management looks after its guests. Shortly after a date for my visit was set, I received an email. Would I please list out my preferences for music, beverage and reading material. And while…
What’s the big deal about rice and meat together in the same dish? Plenty, especially if you come from Hyderabad, Lucknow or Kolkata. Some of the best biryani I’ve eaten has been at Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton, prepared by a Hyderabadi royal called Begum Kulsum. She’s married in Lucknow, but fiercely retains pride in the cooking…
If a director from Bollywood made a film about the Samandari/Avanzo families from France, the audience would dismiss it out of hand as being far too filmy. However, it is a tale that ends with a fairytale patisserie in Khan Market, selling light-as-air macarons bursting with fruit flavours, and baguettes and flaky croissants. It starts…
Deepak Ohri was on one of his famous flying visits to the capital when Upper Crust caught up with him. So, was he here to look out for a property? Was he here to recruit staff for Lebua, Bangkok? Or was it some other mission entirely? Ohri has a mysterious smile, and he used it…