|
 The usually modest and soft-spoken Chef Saha could not hide his elation behind a wide smile as we sat down for lunch in the 28-cover fine dining restaurant on top of the Bistro style restaurant Fava on the ground floor of the buzzing UB City in Bangalore. Barely 4 days ago, Saha Signature Indian Restaurant and Terrace Bar, Singapore had been bestowed the top Epicurean Star Award 2014, by the Restaurant Association of Singapore on 25 November 2014 at Raffles City Convention Centre. Saha Signature was selected over the other worthy nominees in the Best New Restaurant category-Babette, Cook and Brew, The Study, Dancing Crab and Pince & Pints and UNA.
The awards ceremony, first introduced in Singapore in 2006 as RAS Industry Night, was conceptualized to honour top-notch F&B dining concepts that have tabled innovative ideas and consistently delivered stellar food and service. It’s a singular achievement for the enterprising Chef who dreams of opening Saha Restaurants across the globe selectively and gradually.
Commenting on the Award, Chef Abhijit says, ‘the food at many restaurants may be innovative but the service standards are not of international class so much so that Michelin has not stepped in this territory so far. It was our mandate to offer an excellent, unmatched service as well, besides a dynamic Menu that would make our clients with varying backgrounds want to come back for more. Obviously, I am very excited to be honoured with the coveted award of Singapore in such a short time.’
 His hands always itching to change Menus, Chef Abhijit offers two kinds of Tasting Menus besides A-la-Carte; Long and Short-costing between around S$78-110. The dishes in this Menu are changed every fortnight. He is also very proud of his wine list in Saha Singapore and says, ‘at any given time we have 80 labels available in Caperberry. But we have many more in Singapore because we also use wines from Ravi’s personal wine collection in Buyan. I believe in putting wines in the list that can be sold. Therefore, I have also selected 60 such wines in our List.’ Ravi Viswanathan is an avid wine collector and has a unique selection, referred to as the Museum Collection at the Buyan Restaurant being run by his Russian wife on the ground floor.
Abhijit has a great affinity for wines, not only for cooking but also drinking with food. His interest in wines has taken him all over the world, including France, Italy, Spain, California and Australia. He is an active promoter of wines at both his restaurants in Bangalore. In Saha, Abhijit offers 12 wines by the glass including 3 Indian wines- Sula Dindori, Brut and Grover Sauvignon Blanc at S$14/15. For S$18 you could get wines like St. Claire Marlborough or Chapoutier Riesling. The Saha Wine List features aabout 30 wines at under S$ 100 (Rs. 4800) while DRC-La Tache Grand Cru, 2005 sold for S$8214 (Rs. 392,000) is the most expensive fine wine in the list.
 Despite the instant success, Abhijit who is quite used to winning accolades-he was named the Best Chef in India at the Indian Restaurant Congress and Awards in 2013 - is pragmatic enough to feel that the future expansion would depend upon the success of this venture commercially in the saturated market with diners having wide choices. In India, he would like to make his presence in Delhi and Mumbai whereas his ultimate ambition is to open a 15-seater restaurant in Japan.
Whether it is Fava, Caperberry where he already uses innovations to move the wines fast-currently he has a special list of about 25-30 wines that offer slow-moving wines at a 30% discount, he pairs wines and offers incredible deals at both the restaurants. Try beating the Two & Three Course Lunch offer at Caperberry at Rs 750++ & Rs 950++ respectively, with a glass of Sangria which costs Rs. 450 by-the-glass on its own.
Whether it is Bangalore or Singapore, there are three good reasons to visit both and personally congratulate the Maestro Chef Abhijit Saha and his visionary financial backer, Ravi Viswanathan.
Subhash Arora
Caperberry Wine List at 30% Discount Saha Wine List |