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 At the BW Hotelier conclave when President of the Delhi Wine Club, Cav. Subhash Arora invited me over to a wine dinner on the 28th of March at Masala House (which to be candid, I had not heard of) and slipped in his usual manner- ‘very good Indian food!’ it left me with two thoughts. The first was that either I had missed another one of Zorawar’s launches recently or one of the newer Tajs must have unleashed another Masala ‘something’. But the more overpowering thought was the conviction with which he said it. While he is the “wineguyindia” trust me, the man has savoured the finest food all over the world and though he doesn’t wear that on his sleeve I for one always admire his candour. That built up a lot of expectation.
I have been on both sides of Delhi Wine Club Dinners, organizing as a hotelier and being a guest and sometimes both simultaneously; so needless to say the restaurant partner with similar vision and ethos would have been chosen, there must have been a recce along with food tasting. And of course the current superstars of the wine scene – Sula vineyards were the wine partners with a diverse selection of 6 interesting wines, 5 of them being imported wines from Hardys (Australia), Mud House (New Zealand) and Kumala (South Africa).
So you sniff around a bit on the internet, call a few industry contacts and whatsapp a cousin in New York, who is practically eating at a new place every day. I pleasantly discovered that the owner of Masala House, Saurabh Anand is a hotel management grad and runs a successful catering outfit. It was his younger brother and business partner Gaurav Anand who flew to New York with just a suitcase to be with his fiancée for a week. Years later this qualified lawyer is one of the most revered Indian chefs and presides over the kitchen at The Bhatti Grill, Awadh and the Moti Mahal Deluxe! The last one is a part of their exclusive international franchise rights for the iconic brand and within 6 months of opening at the fashionable and well heeled Upper East Side, won 2 stars from the New York Times. I lived for 2 weeks in that neighbourhood and even though it was 15 years ago I was always awestruck by the stretch limos and my first brush with building concierges and old ladies with cute dogs in their purses.
The Sundar Nagar Market is not flying off the handle as a dining destination but I think it was a great choice since the sylvan Lutyen’s surrounding along with the slightly refined snob value the immediate neighbourhood evokes, does augur well for positioning. The A Ta Maison in the same market has made the words ‘inner circle’ and fine dining their own and Number 8, while still finding its feet, created bit of a buzz.
I can bet any first timer will walk in with a sense of intrigue and with the excellent reviews they are getting, (and which will only grow) a sense of expectancy as well. As is the case for most restaurants nowadays, it’s a 3-storey affair. I was ushered in..nah ...escorted to the roof top terrace, walking through two flights of stairs with enough time to register the racy-ish bar at the ground floor and the interesting mix of furniture at the next floor. The vibe was certainly of comfort and elegance, no over the top statement.
The terrace was cozy and it has a cute private sun room also which will remain pre- reserved all winters especially because of the fantastic view. I was promptly handed over a Sula Brut Limited Holi edition flute that was I think just uncorked a few seconds ago looking at the effervescence and the surface was like a fumarole of tiny bubbles tantalizing the palate. It was a pity it wasn’t served from the rather feisty colourful bottle. I always maintain that even wine-by-the-glass should be served from the bottle.
This was followed by an endless stream of what one calls “starters on circulation“ while the guests also intermingle, make new contacts and back slap old ones.The menu description gives you just the 3 main aspects and does not superlative-suffocate you.The usual combo was the main ingredient/the main flavours/the cooking style. A bit like what you see in Indian restaurants in NYC and London and other places where the affluent Indian diaspora and the gotten-used-to-it-by-now foreigners eat. But some reviews which I have read about the food are preconceived notions that the food is anglicized and made to suit a foreign palate.
I grew up in a family where life revolved around food; my mother used to have an open house kitchen and women came from far away to learn the art of Awadhi and Hyderabadi food from her; I trained at the Dum pukht and Bukhara kitchens and have eaten some amazing Indian food in the by lanes of inner cities and houses of connoisseurs. Each and every kebab this evening was perfection, slow cooked to carefully crafted perfection. The Silbatte ki Shami, the kadhi patta jheenga and the Bhatti Murgh were drawing"oohs" and"aahs" from all those standing around me. I think the Anarkali Tikki is rightfully their signature dish and though the taste is well camouflaged a lot of Indians are on the ‘I don’t eat xyz etc and beetroot’, it stands quite high on that list. The kathal varqui was clearly a winner and I am sure a lot of R& D went behind that. The Kurkuri Matara Chaat will always have mixed reviews but I loved the textures and give me a mouthful of chaat any day instead of a plateful.
 While some guests were comfortably ensconced in the covered area the weather was just right to enjoy some alfresco talks especially with the Sula team who I met after ages. Saurabh and Tina, the owner couple, were always behind the shadows, orchestrating the service and stepping in whenever required. Signs of matured, professional restaurateurs! An aspect they seem to have indoctrinated in their service staff as well. Attentive but not intrusive---surreptitiously efficient.
We then moved down to the house…the Masala House for the sit-down and the mandatory speeches. There was a choice of Tamatar Sabz and a Murgh Makai soup and I chose the latter due to the buttered popcorn and yes- it indeed added a delightful crunch to a simple chicken broth. The paired wine was the Mud House Sauvignon Blanc 2014, which is a true blue kiwi Sauvignon Blanc. I found it to be very crisp and vibrant on the palate and with fresh fruity undertones. For the 3 of us on the table - David Briskman, Subhash Arora and yours truly, this was the wine of the evening.
It was a very bold move by the chef to have freshly made appams served for a formal sit down. Back in my years at the Park Sheraton in Chennai we refused it for most and if we really had to, we had to hire an army of part time appam masters and assembly- line them. The south Indian course was well cooked and while we did the Indian ‘half-half’ trick with the appam and sailed through, I might recommend that in India at least the appam must come onto a larger plate where the guest has the option to pour the stew onto the appam and eat it with hands. This is much akin to a lot of people rolling up the chapattis and biting into it like a roll while spooning up the gravy.
Anyway, I could see they were all hands on deck and did a fair job with the appams. It was a basic veg stew and that is all that is required actually. While the Uri Jheenga was good it wasn’t of the consistency to have with appam and perhaps also I have had a very different version of it before. The Hardy’s Gewürztraminer Riesling 2014 was easy drinking and fresh. A bit paler than most Rieslings, I thought but a very very good pairing for this course.
Zaheen Khatri, the wine educator from Sula took to the mike and without getting into very intricate details of the terroir, varietal, etc just gave us a fun, refreshing description of the wines we had so far and in a very succinct, smiley manner kept us enthralled till the main course arrived.
Main Course
The main course is where Indian cuisine gets a cross or a tick. I loved the menu selection in which the chef is trying to showcase the latitude of his skill set. – Soya Keema Khumb Masala, Dum Ki Daal, Dum Aloo, Murgh Takatak, Nalli ka Rampuri Korma, Kesari Gucchi Pulao and a nice assorted bread bar. I had an authentic Dum Aloo, the real slow cooked one, after eons and the dum ki daal was really brought to life by releasing its own flavours over low heat – long time instead of the jhatka type introduced flavours by the now ubiquitous style even in house holds “tadka”. While the Hardy’s cabernet shiraz true to its character hit it off with the meats, the Kumala Pinotage just did not do anything for me. I recognize the peculiar pinotage smell but that wasn’t the case, may be it needed to be aired but it was reasonably young or sometimes it’s just the mood you are in.
Anyway, main course devoured and Cav Subhash Arora asked the young Khatri over and to recap the rest of the wines. She first went to the centre of the restaurant to shouts of “cannot hear you “and then went table hopping, engaging everyone’s wits. Saurabh and his wife Tina came over to have a chat with Subhash Arora who also thanked them and their team for the wonderful evening. The actual vote of thanks was done by my witty table mate David Briskman, who is an out-of-town member and was visiting from Milan and attended the dinner, to a standing ovation.
At this point as always we are stuffed and slightly “happy” so we end up sharing desserts. Both of which were exemplary – the Gajar Halwa Cake and the chocolate rasgullla mousse served in a jar.
It was a fun, bonhomie-filled and banterful DWC dinner, as always well thought of, well planned and well executed.
Just a last line or two on the food – I think the place is true to its food and that’s what will set it apart. A good place for families who have had too much of Pandara Road, too much of the new age quirky loud Indian places where sometimes service is amiss or too ‘pally’ or even worse- the ‘three curry method’ types. They have tried to keep the tone a bit contemporary and did what’s commonplace nowadays “our take on XYZ etc etc “ and that too for just a few dishes.
So the Americans stole our yoga, now they are stealing our food! That was in a lighter vein, what’s critical is being honest to the food and keeping the brand promise simple and humble. I can name a few foreign fine dining brands which landed with a thump in India and failed because they could not keep it simple and humble.
Till the next DWC dinner….Jai Ho !!
Rifaquat Ali Mirza
Tags: Delhi Wine Club, Masala House, Sula Vineyards, Sula Selections, Cav. Subhash Arora, wineguyindia, Hardys, Mud House, Kumala, Saurabh Anand, Gaurav Anand, The Bhatti Grill, Awadh,
Moti Mahal Deluxe, Sula Brut, Mud House Sauvignon Blanc 2014, Hardy’s Gewürztraminer Riesling 2014, Zaheen Khatri, Sula, Kumala Pinotage |