burrp! picks from Chef’s Table

LINK: http://know.burrp.com/b-buzz/chefs-table-chennai-burrp-picks/46393

Sandhya Ramachandran makes a list of the most exciting dishes on the six burrp! Chef’s Tables across Chennai.

As Chennai gears up for the exciting burrp! Chef’s Table across six of the best restaurants across the city, we decided to scan the menu to tell you what you should must must try!

 The Chef’s Table begins on 16th November at Focaccia at Hyatt Regency, known for its splendid Italian cuisine. With the affable Executive Chef Thomas Angerer at the helm of the table, the evening promises to be full of fun and of course, good food. The dish on the menu that sounds most enticing is the antipasto (‘before the meal’ or a starter, in layman terms) of warm carpaccio of prawns, candied lemon, watercress, chilli. Primarily a dish of raw slices/pounding of prawns, the dish already makes our mouths water! Another dish we are looking forward to is the layered baked dish – the seasonal vegetables millefuille, balsamic glaze, crispy artisan cheese.

Burrp! Chef’s Table No 2 is at Beyong Indus (Taj Club House) on 19th November. A dish called ‘Chops of the Third Kind’ has our attention locked down on this menu! The three flavours of lamb chops and vegetables are made in jalfraize style ( marinated lamb chops and vegetables vegetables are fried in oil and spices to produce a dry, thick sauce to form a type of  curry).

On 20th November, when the Chef’s Table moves to Benjarong, we urge you to try the famed National dish of Thailand – the Phad Thai Goong - Thai rice sticks cooked in a sweet and tangy sauce with prawns, wrapped in an omelette. Chat up with Chef Anand and Chef Ram Kumar and get to know yourHormok Talay from your Larb Gai(well, wait and discover what they are at the Chef’s Table).

Apart from the pastas on offer, what draws us towards the menu at Tuscana’s Chef’s Table on 21st November, is the Gastrin. An ancient version of the baklava from Crete, this dish is made with nuts, seeds, and pepper layered between filo pastry (thin sheets of dough). Also a must have on the menu is the Greek coffee – strong, unsweetened and a purist’s delight!

At Teppan, on 22nd November, feast on the Grilled Tofu in Hoisin sauce (a Chinese dipping sauce made from soybean, sweet potatoes and other flavourings) with scallion and roasted garlic. If you love your garlic, toss in some of the burnt garlic and mixed vegetable fried rice!

We bring the curtains to a close at the Chef’s Table on 23rd November at Hip-Asia, Taj Connemara. Make sure you don’t miss the Saka – mushi susumiyaki. Made by cooking fresh salmon and vegetables in an envelope on teppanyaki, this delicious dish comes served with pickled vegetables and teriyaki sauce. There is also a very interesting sounding dessert that we recommend here for you to finish off your meal in style – the green tea tiramisu.

But most of all remember, we have just picked out one dish from the menu. There are oh-so-many more. With each menu offering you between a three and five course meal, with all-new dishes exclusively conjured up for the Chef’s Table event, get set and gear up for a gastronomical adventure with the Chefs between 16^th and 23^rd November!

b! reviews Kryptos by Willi @ Nungambakkam

LINK: http://know.burrp.com/food-dining/b-reviews-kryptos-by-willi-at-nungambakkam/44779

Like the expression ‘Greek God’ is to men, ‘Greek food’ should be the last word in judging food, gushes Sandhya Ramachandran after a visit to Kryptos by Willi.

Our idea of Greek cuisine is barely what one could have called authentic. Apart from one or two dishes tasted in multi-cuisine restaurants, the rest of our knowledge came from watching movies like ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and reading ‘Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants’. To sum it up, we knew next to nothing. So walking into a Greek restaurant was more of an initiation into its cuisine and not exclaiming “that’s Greek to me” anymore. A bad pun aside, Kryptos by Willi onKhader Nawaz Khan Roadwas where we headed.

Tasteful minimalist décor welcomes you at the basement restaurant and the community table right in the middle had our curious eyes and ears perk up. Neha Agarwal, the PR and Marketing Manager who joined us, explained that it was a way of promoting the Greek tradition of communal eating. This table has at many times borne witness to random groups of people sharing a meal and bonding over food and conversation, adds Brand Consultant, Jyoti Agarwal. The point of a meal – to feel a sense of togetherness – finally gets its due.

Unfortunately for us, we were two vegetarians out to experiment a new lunch buffet menu at Kryptos along

with trying out a few old regulars. Thankfully, the buffet was balanced and for a change, even as vegetarians we felt it was good value for money. There was a cold salad counter with servings of chickpeas, potato, spinach and cabbage salad. But what caught our fancy were the Meze-Dolmades. The dish was made from vine leaves marinated in brine and wrapped around a stuffing of rice tossed in olive oil. Moving from soft and chewy leaves to the mildly crunchy rice, the textures that this dish offers you can only be experienced and not written about. A must try, we declare!

There was also yummy mozzarella cheese floating in a bowl, looking like cottony clouds, so appetising that you cannot resist but put them on your plate (only a short pit stop for the cheese, hah!). The haricot beans were well cooked and were a light and healthy eat. The pasta salad was not up to the mark. However the capers, black olives, green olives and Kalamata olives pretty much mentally transported us to the Greek countryside. Another item that deserves mention was the Imam Bayildi (slow baked brinjal with tomato sauce). The brinjal tasted smoked on the outside and was soft and tender inside; the mixture of the two making for an excellent dish.

We attacked the mixed meze platter with gusto. The bourekia-mushroom pastry (pastry parcels filled with mushroom, leek and cheese) was overwhelmingly good. The mushrooms especially were tender and oh-so-yummy! The tiropitakiaor cheese pastry saw the cheese filling oozing into our mouths from the phyllo pastry triangles they were nestled in, taking us on a sinfully good ride on the gourmand highway. The kremidopita-tomato tartlets had Greek onion and tomato baked in crunchy tartlets with feta cheese. There was then the Cypriothalloumi cheese served with buttered potatoes, broccoli and herbs. The Cypriothalloumi cheese is by nature layered in appearance and salty to taste and the one we were served with, lived up to our expectations.

We stuffed our mixed vege stick (minced vegetable patties filled with mozzarella and sundried tomatoes) burger-style in between the layers of our phyllo bread, spread some hummus and dug into it. A definite healthy and tasty impromptu Greek fix we were proud of. The paneer skewer, although good to taste was a killer to the Greek spirit the rest of the menu provided. To us, it was the clear black sheep in the flock and we are ready to argue hours to make them take it off the menu!

The usual suspects lined up in the dips. The tzatziki was pretty much the Indian raita, with the garlic and olive oil adding the Greek touch to it. The skordila or the garlic-based dip and the quintessential Meditteranean favourite, the hummus made out of chickpeas, were also present, egging us to bring in more flavours to our food.

There was then the star of the evening  – the Domates Piperies. Braised red and yellow sweet peppers with their delicate outer skins stuffed with tomatoes, pine nuts, mint and basmati rice tossed in olive oil, this dish had us asking for more. The crunchy pine nuts contrasted the soft peppers and rice, and the olive oil let us slip it all in smoothly. Aromatic and absolutely delicious, even if you attribute every superlative in the book of descriptions to this, you’ll feel like you haven’t done justice to it. So take our advice, just dig in for more and eat away, instead of finding words!

The svingi – melting chocolate puffs – looked like chocolate dim sums/modaks and of course, tasted good. The baklava was as it should be – true in spirit and taste. The Greek frappe coffee was a purist’s delight – bitter unsweetened coffee shaken to froth and served cold.

Despite hogging on such a spread, thanks to the simple fresh and healthy Greek cooking style, we left with the feeling of having had a hearty wholesome meal. Kryptos is definitely a restaurant one should visit once. You are sure to go back. For you just don’t get acquainted with Greek food, you fall in love, head over heels – on first bite and for life.

Must try: Domates Piperies, Meze-Dolmades, Greek Frappe Coffee
Buffet available from Monday to Friday: Rs.  550 per head