Oberoi (Taipan), Taj Mahal (Varq), Aman (Tapas), and Metropolitan (Sakura) are the 5-star hotels participating in Delhi during the current week. Interestingly different cuisines -Chinese, Indian, Spanish and Japanese respectively are being showcased at these venues. Olive at the Qutab (Mediterranean), Indian Accent (Indian Fusion) at the Manor in Friends Colony and Smoke House Grill (varied European) at G.K.-1 are the high-end restaurants serving specialty cuisines.
Unfortunately, the promo and the website of the enterprise give the impression that 3 wines would be served with the 3-course meal. A quick check with Taj and Oberoi was disappointing. For instance, Taj serves Mouton Cadet Blanc and Tarapaca Sauvignon Blanc with Pater Sangiovese and Escudo Rojo from Rothschild, based on the stock availability according to the Restaurant Manager. Olive at Qutab has a bigger choice with wines like Masi Bardolino Classico and Beaujolais Village Louis Jadot and d’Arenberg Chardonnay also offering a good option (remember-Olive charges 10% service charges besides 12.5% VAT on food and 20% on wine-same as everywhere else).
Olive offers a much better option for wine lovers at the Wine Bar at Olive Beach-‘In Vino Veritas’ every Thursday starting from the 3rd February where they plan to offer a special 30% discount on select wines with complimentary snacks from 6-10 pm, accompanied by some lively music.
‘We are targeting these nights to lovers of wine and would like to introduce our Wine Bar to people who have not visited it yet,’ says Ramola Bachchan who partners AD Singh in this project, adding, ‘we are expecting an eclectic crowd of people to attend including the embassies and Expat community, so it should be a good forum for people to network and make new friends as well.’
The Restaurant week does offer great opportunities for foodies to try out various cuisnes and restaurants without burning a hole in the pocket. ‘For one week a year, we offer consumers the opportunity to dine at the city's most aspirational restaurants at more affordable prices. This allows participating restaurants to showcase their skills with some of the best selections from their menu while consumers can experience places they may not be familiar with. More importantly, however, it is a week-long celebration of the culinary scene in each city - a time for us to be proud of our finest restaurants,’ says the prompoters’ website
Supposedly modeled after New York and London, followed by Paris, it was kicked off in September in Mumbai where it would be repeated next week. The commercial venture has been started by three people to give the gourmands an opportunity to try different cuisines at affordable and accessible price points. Each restaurant gives out his specialty basically a starter, main course and a dessert. Curiously, Olive Beach has an unmatchable 3-course meal offer at lunch time for Rs.900 and for those not very hungry, a 2-course meal is available for Rs.600
The first restaurant week was started in 1992 by a group of New York restaurateurs and food-industry personnel to augment business during that year's Democratic National Convention and is supposedly very successful since. The organizers will take it to Mumbai on Feb 7-13 for an encore – it appears to make a good business model too.
A Bangalore Restaurant Week was also organised on slightly different lines in November last year. The concept in Asia had earlier appeared in Hong Kong and Singapore.
You can make your bookings online. Pre-reservation is essential since most restaurants are offering an unbeatable deal and seem to be mostly booked. But don’t go looking for a great deal on wines- unless of course, you are the only person in the group drinking wine and it is a must with your meal. The offer does give you a wider choice at nominal discount on the wines-by-the-glass.
Subhash Arora
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