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…
Café Delhi Heights is a cozy space with a variety of moods in a single area. I chose the colourful Indian lounge area with gaudy cushions on a jute lookalike cushion that topped a “sofa” fashioned from bricks. Elsewhere, you can opt for bar seating, booths or low, comfortable-looking swivel chairs. The café embodies the…
The YWCA Kitchen is a great place to have a meal near Connaught Place: no messing with dug up roads and after office hours, there is plenty of parking too. The place is small and cozy and has a couple of tables in the charming pocket-sized garden. The Mediterranean blue and white eatery serves as…
After the sealing drive in Khan Market’s infamous middle lane (all you needed was three feet of vertical space and you could start a shop) quite a few little stalls found themselves out of business. The administration, in their wisdom, has decided not to sort out the manic parking, the potholed lanes or the interior…
Of late, the trendy market in South Delhi, Greater Kailash N Block, has been undergoing much changing of addresses. In the space that Full Circle vacated, Ritu Dalmia has set up a Diva Café. It was the need of the hour. The lady with the enviable brand equity has set up her own café, as…
We cannot quite figure out why the owners of this sleek wine bar with great food to go with it has such a mischievous name, but rest assured: there’s no monkey business here. L’Angoor is a wine bar with a restaurant attached. No detail, however small, has been spared. The result is a refined space…
Why would somebody spend lakhs if not crores on setting up an Italian restaurant in their hotel, complete with pizza oven, sophisticated wine rack and open kitchen, and then spoil it all by naming it IT? I haven’t a clue as to whether the name is It or IT either. However, if you look on…
It is surprising that out of all the cuisines that exist in Delhi, most come from far away geographically. Italy is hardly a close neighbour; even Thailand is a 5 hour plane ride away. We have never tried to explore the cuisines of our immediate neighbours, so although Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Myanmar have cuisines…