Startending Night with Zibi Zapert at Yauatcha

He is a sought after mixologist globally. He also happens to be the global brand ambassador of Johnnie Walker Blue label. Over the years he has been putting his bartending skill to use in a number of clubs, cocktail bars and hotels in Amsterdam, Dublin, London and Delhi, apart from Poland, the country of his origin. He also runs a hospitality consulting agency and works with companies providing training to bartenders and tailoring cocktails.

So when I learnt that Zbigniew (Zibi) Zapert  was going to be the guest mixologist at the bar at Yauatcha, the Michelin-starred  oriental cuisine restaurant at Quest, in what it called the ‘Star’tending Night on 24^th April, I was pleased at the privilege of seeing him at work on receiving an invitation as a blogger.

I arrived a little late and saw Zibi already in action at the bar counter. The short guy with a clean shaven head looked perfectly chilled out, just like his guests in the Friday evening. After being ushered in by Anindya, the GM, I made myself comfortable on the stool at the counter for a ringside view of the master at work. Over the next one and a half hours I discovered that he was great fun at work, equally for his colleagues and his guests, often smiling and enjoying every tiny bit of it while staying focused on making the cocktail to perfection with his artistic touch. At the moments when he was concentrating on making a drink he looked as absorbed as a painter giving gentle brush strokes on his canvas. Not for once I found him behaving like a highly sought after celebrity mixologist who endorses one of the iconic brands of the finest scotch whisky in the world. I am sure it’s one of the qualities that make him what he is.

Zibi Zapert

Zibi was particularly enjoying the moments when he was matching the rhythm of shaking the drink with his colleagues for the evening- the team of bartenders at Yauatcha. He was also coming out of the counter every now and then and interacting with his guests in a freewheeling manner, seeking feedback. He was equally game in explaining the intricacies of an outstanding cocktail to those who asked. His childlike enthusiasm was indeed admirable and infected the bartenders. It was testimony to the fact that his passion and work have a successful marriage.

Shake, shake, shake 

Four of his signature cocktails were handpicked for the special menu for that evening, spanning a range of liquor and wines:

1. Tanqueray Ten Breakfast Martini- Tanqueray Ten (a dry gin), Grand Marnier (a premium cognac) and orange marmalade.
2. Tanqueray Ten Blighty Mojito- Tanqueray Ten, cucumber, mint and tonic water.
3. Johnnie Walker’s Gold Collins- Johnnie Walker Gold Label, beer reduction, basil, orange juice and ginger ale.
4. Zacapa Treacle- Ron Zacapa (rum), orange juice and Angostura Bitter (a dry ale).

Zibi with Tanqueray Ten Breakfast Martini

Zacapa Treacle

The first two were priced at Rs 750 each and the last two at Rs 1200 each.

The blighty mojito is obviously different from mojito, if you have observed above. The blighty mojito, originally created by Jake Burger, is a distinctly British take on the ever popular mojito, substituting gin and tonic for the white rum and soda in the original recipe and adding a refreshing touch of cucumber to the mix. Interestingly in Zibi’s mix of blighty mojito the tonic water retains its place.

As I found out from team Yauatcha, no. 1, 3 and 4 were the highest in demand among the guests who waited keenly for their drinks as Zibi was dishing out one colourful cocktail after another. And apart from the signature cocktails, he made a few others to delight his guests, which included:

Lalu with Ketel- Oolong infusion, lemongrass and litchi juice blended with Ketel One vodka (from Holland).

Old Fashioned Talisker- Angostura bitter and chocolate syrup mixed with Talisker single malt whisky.

I wanted a fruity cocktail and was offered one made of litchi juice, sugar syrup, rose water and champagne. Loved the fine taste and passed on the compliment across the counter!

To go with the cocktail I was served prawn dim sum (dim sum is one of Yauatcha’s fortes) accompanied by pickled vegetables, soy sauce and chili sauce. The sweet n sour veggie cubes, and the lighter versions of the said sauces added to the taste. It was followed by Crispy Prawn Cheung Fun- a soft steamed wrap (like dum sum’s) of chicken-encased prawn, shaped like a thin roll drenched in soy sauce. The wrap melted in the mouth bringing forth the crispy chicken casing that acted as the perfect foil to the juicy and soft, steamed prawn (the same as it was in the dim sum) in this sublime creation.

Crispy Prawn Cheung Fun. Photo by Tania Kathuria. 

The evening will indeed be memorable, thanks to the master, and make Yauatcha stand out among the other eminent upscale bars and pubs in the mall.


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Prosenjit's Ananda Plus interview and a counterview

Read up Prosenjit's interview in Ananda Plus (of Anandabazar Patrika) yesterday which came after a pretty long gap (Read it here). The Bangla film industry is going through one of its worst crises ever as mainstream movies, including those by the biggest of stars are regularly failing at the box office. He came up with a few recommendations, which I could not be in agreement with. I posted it in response to the Facebook post by Indranil Roy who took the interview (where he shared the link to it and solicited feedback). Here it is:

At the outset, I salute his concern (he's always showed it), intention and spirit for Bangla film industry. No doubt, we need successful mainstream movies for the industry to survive. Multiplex successes can contribute little as the majority of roughly 250+ theatres are single screen.

I couldn’t make sense of his main recommendation. He wants Dev and Jeet to do 2-3 movies a year for the industry to survive. But they’re doing exactly that! Each of them has had 2 mainstream releases every year at least for the last two years (I’m not counting Buno Hansh and Royal Bengal Tiger). This year Dev has already had one. Isn’t Prosenjit keeping tabs? The point is: the movies have to run at the box office for the industry to survive. Dev’s movies are bombing one after another (the last one being this year’s Herogiri) and Jeet is not much better off either. Bachchan grossed well, but it did not happen as smoothly as Boss. And Game (2014) had bombed before that. He isn’t doing a single movie now and the apparent reason is that he doesn't have a worthwhile offer.

Also a statement that an actor’s stardom suffers heavily due to wide exposure through commercial appearances merits a debate. Abir (Chatterjee) is the one of the most exposed stars today. Every other day he is seen in some brand promotion/ inauguration or the other. Rather than his stardom taking a dip dive, it has risen notches after his Feluda and Byomkesh movies released simultaneously last December. Stardom is largely determined by box office success and if it’s in order, commercial exposure probably does little damage to it.

Would like to come back and add to this post if there's an interesting exchange of notes on the Facebook post.

Station Café- the continental stop at Sealdah

Honestly speaking, Sealdah is too downmarket a place to even think of a continental cuisine restaurant. So when I came across this restaurant opening up few months back beside the flyover on my way home through Sealdah station, I was pleasantly surprised. In fact it was no short of a culture shock. The place is known for a variety of cheap food available on the street and in some no-frills eateries. There is no good restaurant around, even a small and decent dine-in place for Bengali’s favourite cuisines- Mughlai and Chinese.

Soon after the opening, they put up a board with white paper pasted on it showing hand-written combos and standalone dishes- like soup & sandwich, grilled fish, roast chicken with capsicum rice. The prices did not look like ‘made to suit the area’. So it felt that quality continental food without compromise on cost was being served.

I looked up Zomato and the surprise went up as I saw a handful of reviews appreciating the food. So I ended up on way home last evening. 

The modern interiors give it s proper café look with casual wooden chairs. Apart from ground floor, it has a low first floor carved out of the ground floor height, which gives a view of the flyover at the same level. It is located on the narrow walkway beside the flyover to the station from the Jagat Cinema end, on the same side of the road, in the middle of old shops.

Ordered a grilled fish without looking at the menu as I was in the mood for the dish for some time. The menu is neatly divided between soup, entrée, salad & cold dishes, round the hour, main course and beverages & desserts with plenty of non-vegetarian and vegetarian options. The prices fall between budget and premium. For instance a cup of coffee comes at Rs 45 and cream of chicken soup at Rs 65. As summer is approaching, I like the fact that that they have cold dishes like chicken mayonnaise (Rs 175) and fish mayonnaise (Rs 210) on the menu.

The grilled fish arrived within fifteen minutes, served with sautéed vegetables and potato chips. A thick fillet topped with a milky white cream-based sauce and mustard sauce. The fish was of good quality. Inside the crisp exterior was succulent fish, with mustard sauce in every bite. The sharpness of the sauce enhanced the taste.  The veggies in between the bites balanced the taste and helped relish the fish all the more. A good evening snacking experience! The menu price was Rs 220 but I got it at Rs 180 as part of an ongoing offer.

Wish to go back to the café to explore more and come back here to share it.

(Photos sourced from the Facebook page of the restaurant)

To know more about the restaurant visit Zomato through the following link:

 

The IPL 8 opener in the city- random thoughts

After the glitzy, uber-glam opening ceremony last evening the city filled out Eden Gardens to the brim to watch the home team play in the opening match against the biggie Mumbai Indians. And they were happy going back at short of midnight having seen KKR defeating Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets. Here are some random thought pieces on the match telecast. 

1. How much cricket it is remains debatable, but IPL definitely remains a well marketed property and still secures a good chance to get big audience. A match can be caught at leisure post work. One doesn't even need to make an effort. I caught the last part (KKR batting) sitting at the dinner table. Compare it to the recently concluded World Cup matches. Who would watch morning cricket?
2. Surya Kumar Yadav, the young new recruit showed class and great promise in his fiery, match-winning 46 off 20 balls which included six sixes! He will be watched.
3. Shah Rukh, thanks to an injury is off work and made it to the field with his self-proclaimed cheerleader gang of children including the tiny AbRam. This man can still embarrass the smartest of people having the gift of the gab with his wisecracks. On being asked by Navjot Singh Sidhu (the commentator) what the secret to his growing glow at this age was, he remarked, “ Bas Siddhu ji, bachche paida karte jao”. It was more indefensible as it referred to himself.
4. May be commentators will one day learn how to pronounce Kolkata, that it is NOT pronounced ‘Kolkaw-ta” (T as in target) or ‘Kawlkata’.
5. Last year Nokia and Rose Valley adorned the front of the KKR jersey. Rose Valley secured an enviable position for any brand- at the upper part. This year Nokia has become history and Rose Valley’s head's present address is Enforcement Directorate lock-up. So none of them have retained the positions. The front has gone to the rising smartphone brand Gionee.

Grand Easter offerings at The Lalit Great Eastern

As Easter is knocking on the doors, The Lalit Great Eastern, the heritage star hotel in downtown Kolkata, is all geared up to usher it in. Its legendary bakery has lined up a delectable range of cakes to appeal to the platter of the gastronomes and a specially curated brunch is going to be served at Alfresco on day Easter (5^th April).

The celebration at The Bakery started 30^th March and will go on till Easter day, 7 am to 10 pm. It is extended to its New Market outlet to cater to a wider range of cake lovers from 10 am to 8 pm. The offerings include a gourmet selection of Simnel Cake, Pistachio and Orange Cake, Corn Cake, Carrot and Mascarpone Cake, Easter Chocolate Bunny, Easter Egg Chocolate, Caramel Royal, Italian Gabuna, Mango Silk Cake, Profit Roll, Chocolate Blondies and more. The highlight of the décor is a gigantic classic Easter Egg. Here’s a look at the mouth-watering spread.

The giant Easter Classic egg

The Easter special Red Velvet Cake

Simnel Cake

Pistachio and Orange Cake

Corn Cake

Carrot and Mascarpone Cake

Easter Chocolate Bunny

A look at the bakery shelves

The brunch at Alfresco is all of Easter specials- a roasted turkey in carving station, live egg and waffle stations, bacon, asparagus tart and more. The star attraction is Mimosa (a champagne cocktail) which is optional. The restaurant is pleasantly decorated Easter style with coloured egg shells in nests placed at the centre of the tables. The sumptuous brunch will be available 12 noon to 3.30 pm and the pocket pinch is Rs. 1300 per head and Rs. 2200 per head (with Mimosa) plus taxes. So here’s an opportunity to make the coming Sunday afternoon truly special!

The Easter at Yauatcha

Yauatcha, the oriental cuisine restaurant at Quest, has the distinction of city’s first Michelin-starred restaurant. The young player in Kolkata’s oriental cuisine scene has also won the Best Oriental Cuisine restaurant award in fine dine category at Times Food Guide Awards 2015. The Easter plans at this fine dining stop are in full swing. It will be laying out a set Easter day lunch and there will be Easter eggs to choose from. Here’s a sneak peek.

Starting with the Easter eggs. There are two- Medium Egg with 5 chocolate inserts and Large Egg with 8 chocolate inserts (at Rs 175 and 300 plus taxes respectively).

Medium Egg with 5 chocolate inserts 

Large Egg with 8 chocolate inserts 

The Easter lunch menu is a compact five course gourmet affair with handpicked dishes to make it a really special experience. Spread out over soup, dim sum, staple, main course and dessert, evenly for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian, it’s a choice of one option in each leg. It’s flagged off with soup with a choice of one from Shredded Lamb Soup and Asian Green soup. Soup over, move on to dim sum where you can choose one from Prawn Chive, Prawn Toast, Veg Chive and Veg Crystal Dumpling. The staple offers you Egg Fried Rice, Spicy Veg Fried Rice and Udon Noodle with main course options Kung Pao Chicken, Chicken Szechwan Peppercorn, Stir Fry Bean and Kung Pao Tofu for company. You shall be served a full portion in soup and dim sum and a half portion of staple and main. Round it off with one sorbet or ice cream. To help you navigate skillfully here’s the chef’s pick: Asian Green Soup, Prawn Chive, Veg Crystal Dumpling and Kung Pao Tofu. It comes at Rs 1500 plus taxes and will be served on the Easter day, 5^th April, from 12 noon to 4 pm.

Yauatcha has just launched a high tea menu as well. It’s a set menu for one person with choice of one dim sum or dessert along with a pot of Jasmine green tea which is a specialty here. It’s a good idea to try the dim sum as it happens to be their forte and the range is endless. In dim sum on the menu its one choice from Vegetable Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf, Baked Vegetarian Chicken Puff, Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf, Chicken Char Sui Bun and Baked Chicken Puff. For those who would like to go for the dessert, pick one from Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse, Assorted Macaroons, Raspberry Delice and Religieuse Jaffa Cake. At Rs 495 all inclusive and served 4 pm to 7 pm everyday.

Apart from the high tea, there’s a set five course lunch menu for one person that has been started recently. It comes at Rs 850 all inclusive. But let’s park it for another day, as it’s already a little too much for the gastronome.

The shawarma roll at Royal Lebanese

I had my first taste of shawarma roll at Bakers’ World on Loudon Street (which later became Cakes).  Later I tried it at Kookie Jar too (close to the Bakers’ World outlet). Didn’t like it on both occasions. A colleague told me many years later that a confectionery shop was a wrong place to have it. Shawarma roll is a middle eastern delicacy and should be had from a place like a Lebanese joint. Well, back then (when I tried it) Kolkata hadn’t opened up to Lebanese, so I didn’t have a choice either.

Thanks to the proliferation of Lebanese joints these days, two of them have come up at Hatibagan which was perceived to be a conservative market. So it was a bit of surprise to me to see one of them right at the Hatibagan junction- named Lebanese Junction. I tried its shawarma roll one evening. Well, it was enjoyable in the beginning, thanks to the finger licking good white sauce they put in it, but in the middle it started feeling dry with the sauce and the raw vegetables missing. It was pretty filling indeed. So much so that I skipped dinner. And yes, it was healthy food, something I always vote for. But the taste wasn’t inviting enough to come back. The other outlet at Hatibagan was Royal Lebanese, city’s largest Lebanese take away chain, at Shyampukur (opposite Arsalan). So I wished to try it at Royal Lebanese one day.

Meanwhile thanks to Royal and other standalone Lebanese joints and other places serving shawarma roll, backed by some media coverage, it became one of the healthy snacking choices of the city foodies. But at Rs 100 it was super premium considering the prices of popular snack foods.

I was looking for some light snacking after a bit of shopping today at City Centre Salt Lake in the evening and came across the Royal Lebanese outlet outside the mall. To my delight I found that they have started a shawarma roll at half the market price- Rs 50. Assuming it would be lighter I wasted no time to order one. And the experience was satisfactory enough for this blog post to happen. Yes, lighter it was, and tastier than the past experience too. A smaller pita bread and smaller portion of shaved chicken with chopped tomato and onion and that yummy white sauce generously put inside did the trick. That it was a healthy option was an added gratification.

Apart from the soft, flat pita bread that looks like an uncooked tandoori roti, the chicken is grilled, and not fried at all. So are the vegetables, which are served fresh and raw. All this makes it healthy. Lebanese food per se is being promoted to be a healthy food choice going against the tide of unhealthy snacks available everywhere. The other common dishes are shawarma salad (served with pita bread, it is a complete food experience in its chicken variety), various kebabs (chicken, fish and mutton, including Iranian varieties), grilled chicken items and a special one being the Arbi biriyani (cooked with olive oil).

There was one realization. At Rs 50 shawarma becomes quite competitive for chicken roll, the big brother of popular snacks, which is available at more or less Rs 30, especially for people who don’t mind paying a few bucks extra for a healthier food that can also rival on the taste front.

So making it available (along with few other popular items like shawarma salad without pita and  chicken Arbi biriyani) at an attractive price point of Rs 50 is indeed an aggressive move by Royal Lebanese, who seems to be targeting the (medium-priced) popular snacks market dominated by the likes of chicken and mutton rolls, fries & cutlets and noodles. Hoping to see more people trying it out. Next on my Royal Lebanese wishlist is Arbi biriyani.

For those interested, especially locals, they are doing free home and office delivery. Here go the contact details.

Royal Lebanese

DC 22, Sector I

Salt Lake

(Near City Centre, close to Sugarr & Spice and opposite the petrol pump and Vasan Eye Care)

Phone: 033 4064 4555/ 6460 0248, 9830611153

The food map of Chandni Chowk I: Crystal Chimney

Here's starting a series on the food map of my office place- Chandni Chowk. This series has been long on my wishlist. Well, Chandni Chowk is part of the central business district of the city, and it's a big food fair going on here everyday, parts of which I shall try to capture. Off the mark with Crystal Chimney, while this recent post on the roadside singara muri is the precursor.

A small, economy Chinese and Tibetan joint, located on CR Avenue (near metro station). The ground floor is kitchen and cash counter. A narrow spiral staircase takes you to the small and cramped first floor which has seven to eight tables set up back to back, literally. The space is so cramped that if you and your partner are generously endowed, you'll be better advised sitting opposite one another and never otherwise. It works better as a takeaway joint. However it's our favourite dining joint whenever we wish to enjoy a decent Chinese meal with colleagues with time constraint, being just across the road from office. That it's pocket friendly also counts (though prices have been rising steadily over the last few years). It doesn't matter if we have to wait a while. It enjoys significant patronage of the employees of ABP (Anandabazar group) who have offices all around (including one in the same building).

I like their hakka noodles, fried rice and momo (not much the sweet n sour sauce served with it) among mains. In noodles and rice the quantity is good for one and a half persons with modest appetite. In sides it is the spicy and pungent Devil's Fish that I've liked best so far . The thuppa is also good. Chicken side dishes are decent. Prawn dishes are notches above ordinary. The menu is a wide range of options in starters, mains and sides in rice, noodles, vegetables, chicken, fish and prawn.

And the fate of New Market's and other traders

So the fate of the New Market shop owners and others in the fraternity was sealed by the CM in the all Bengal hawkers' conference at Nazrul Mancha yesterday. Exactly as speculated in my preceding blog post on the New Market shutdown that also ended yesterday, hawkers have been given the immunity by the CM. Officially every hawker hawking till 13th March, 2015 will now have license to hawk (other than life insurance and annual medical reimbursement). Everybody will have 'registered with government' status. Those who are not registered yet, can do so by paying a fee of Rs 30. So we pedestrians will now walk on the footpath or road if and where space is left for that by the hawkers. And shop owners paying all kinds of taxes to government and corporation will be left to bleed. Wonderful! Would like to ask "Are we closer to London now?"

The protest by New Market traders

I am slightly disturbed by the Times of India report published today about the three-day shutdown by the shopkeepers of New Market starting tomorrow, which is for the first time in the history of the 141-year old market. Showing solidarity, joining them will be Sree Ram Arcade, Firpo’s and Treasure Island and the shopkeepers at Lindsay Street, Bertram Street and Humayun Place among others. So the area area around New Market during the strike will be a sight hitherto unseen and unthinkable. The increasing hawker menace in the area over the past few years, overlooked by administration indeed is the sole reason. This is inconveniencing shoppers and shopkeepers alike to no end.

Hawkers have always been around New Market, but their dominance has taken scary proportions in the last few years. And the traders are being forced to do the historic strike and their repeated calls to administration didn't yield any result.

My question is, how did KMC let the matter get completely out of hand gradually? So much so that New Market is going to be creating history for the wrong reason! It is bringing shock to us and shame to KMC, which is getting ready for election in little more than a month’s time! Is the honourable mayor not realizing that, or he is allowed to do little before the state level hawkers’ conference takes place on 13^th March and advised rather to concentrate on drawing up strategy to win the poll which will see him re-elected?

What can we expect in the conference? Will the hawkers’ get the virtual immunity like the taxi drivers got a few days back (Penalization with small money for refusing passengers)? Am so much eager to know. Chances of such a populist announcement is pretty much there as hawkers wouldn’t have been able to practically rule the city’s favourite shopping area had there not been political backing of the ruling party.

The Magnum Masterclass in the city

Chocolate or ice cream? The answer would be either of the options or even both in one, like, a chocolate cone or a choc-o-bar. As it is, in the latter choice, chocolate, at least in this city, plays second fiddle to ice cream. But that’s going to change now, and your choice of ice cream will be driven by the chocolate used in it to take it to another level of pure experience. That’s what the Kolkata edition of the masterclass at Taj Bengal showed on 21^st February.

Celebrity chef Kunal Kapoor, who has been a judge in Masterchef India, came to the city to teach an audience of mediapersons a thing or two about chocolate and Belgian chocolate in particular and introduce it to the Magnum experience that drives home the point made above. Giving him company was actress Soha Ali Khan, a self-confessed Magnum lover. The audience was overflowing in attendance (perhaps for the pull of the chef). It was an honour for this blogger to be invited to the coveted event by Magnum, one of the world’s leading ice cream brands from Unilever. It was another pleasure to meet other familiar bloggers connected to the Kolkata Bloggers Facebook page in the event.

The masterclass started with the emcee asking to recall fond chocolate memories. Kunal told how gifting imported chocolates to girlfriends was fun and the fact that they were ‘imported’ did its bit to impress.  Kolkata being a city that knows its desserts, the talk shifted to what their favourite Kolkata dessert was. While Soha’s answer was a typical celeb type “I am torn between rosogolla and mishti doi”, Kunal mentioned patisapta as his favourite. Why, asked the emcee. Because “it’s easy, doable and full of flavour.” Full marks to the chef for being able to win the hearts of Bengali foodies. Kunal was fun and down to earth, cracking jokes every now and then (including at the expense of Soha) and slipping into Hindi often. His easygoing charm hooked the audience and stood in contrast to very starry Soha.

The discussion came back to chocolate and turned to Belgian chocolate, and the chef gave a short, enlightening lesson here. He asked the audience to try the chocolate pieces kept on the table- dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate. He told to break a piece of dark chocolate in the mouth and push it against the palette. That it melted away, and didn’t stick at all, showed it was good quality dark chocolate. He also reinstated what chocoholics know- White  chocolate is not really chocolate, as chocolate has to have cocoa in decent proportion and white chocolate doesn’t have it. The cocoa butter gives the chocolate its distinctive flavour, and dark chocolate has it in abundance, but milk chocolate, the kind that is popular among masses, has a good amount of milk fat that makes the taste different. Percentage of cocoa varies in chocolate. While in milk chocolate available in the market it is as low as 15%, it can go upto 70-75% in niche dark chocolates. Belgian  chocolate, which is legendary, contains a minimum of 35% cocoa, which is amongst the highest in the world. It gives the chocolate a rich and indulgent flavour and a high grade, and it makes it premium too.  Another interesting fact is that white chocolate will mellow you, while dark chocolate will keep you awake.

Magnum uses Belgian chocolate only, and the chocolate that goes into it is even more special, being patented for the brand by the biggest chocolate maker of Belgium. It comes in three variants (only in stick or bar)- Classic (which is your good old choc-o-bar), Almond (almond studded chocolate crust covering rich vanilla) and Chocolate Truffle (Chocolate sauce running into chocolate coated vanilla). It will be available in the leading outlets in the city from 1^st March and costs quite a premium- Rs 90 each bar (90 ml).

The chef, the star and all of us bit into Magnum together, and the first bite gave a distinctive crack that the product is known for. I had chosen the Classic. The chocolate was definitely distinct and its slight bitter, rich taste left a mark. The vanilla inside was top grade too!

Now, what’s a masterclass without some cooking? So Kunal made his special, Kolkata dish with Magnum, which was a spin to his local favourite- patisapta. It turned out a cone made with the pancake of patisapta (held up by a paper cone), and cut out Magnum pieces, along with khoya (milk solids), nuts, cranberry etc making the filling.

Photo by Anirban Saha

Kunal's fusion patisapta with Magnum

It ended with the chef opening the floor and getting his audience members in various round tables make their own versions of sundae using a Magnum bar and other dry ingredients provided at each table. And some tables did a good job that the chef found interesting.

The press kit was innovative. It included the soft copy of the press release and other support material in a chocolate bar shaped pen drive!

Fellow bloggers from Kolkata Bloggers group.
Group admin Anirban Saha third from right  

Looking forward to Kolkata loving its Magnum experience! 

The life and times of Miss Shephali

To those of us born before eighties the mention of Miss Shephali is synonymous with the died art of cabaret. It wouldn’t be wrong to call her ‘Queen of cabaret’. We know that she would perform the hot and sensuous dance form in numerous plays in the golden era of professional theatre as a crowd-puller and did so in many movies too. Those who have watched Ray’s Seemabaddha have seen her in performance in a hotel scene, and his Pratidwandi had her play a small character unlike her real self with Dhritiman Chatterjee, the protagonist. Her name had high recall value among the youth of sixties and seventies- the period of her reign in first in city nightlife and later on in Bengali theatre.

But much of her life is lesser known and does evoke curiosity still now. I wish Gulbahar Singh made his planned biopic of hers with Paoli. It could have been our answer (at least content-wise) to The Dirty Picture.

The current issue of Anandalok, path-breaking indeed, satiates the curiosity to some extent. It coincides with the publishing of her official autobiography Sandhya Raater Shephali from Ananda Publishers.

It is full of trivia like the Seemabaddha scene was shot in the same restaurant in the hotel where she would perform every night, and she had to dance before camera with zero preparation as Ray had never briefed her about shooting her, or the abrupt beauty tip she got from Suchitra Sen who used to keep tabs on her, to extremely sensational ones like how she literally ragged Uttam Kumar at Firpo’s Hotel- her own domain, just for fun (She would perform in this elite hotel where the superstar was a frequent ‘front table’ customer) and the subsequent affection of his that lasted many years, and her chance witnessing a private world of the great Amitabh Bachchan.

The youngest of three sisters in a struggling refugee family from east Bengal, originally known as Arati Das, she started her career in mid sixties at just twelve to earn bread for her family, as the first Bengali cabaret dancer in Lido Room of Firpo’s Hotel. She never had to look back.

For more, go grab the collector’s issue from the stands.

The Mitra Café on VIP Road

We were terribly hungry after a long client meeting in DLF (New Town) that got us exhausted, followed by an airport drop of a senior executive from HO. Our car was on VIP Rd moving towards Baguiati and boss suggested KFC (on VIP Rd), which we agreed to. But as we were about to get in to KFC, we noticed that Mitra Café, the famous snack joint of Sovabazar, has opened a muticuisine restaurant in the same building. It’s the Metro Bazar building near Bazaar Kolkata on VIP Rd (on way to airport from Joramandir). K popped the question- KFC or Mitra Café, and I changed direction to the latter (on the fourth floor) as I find it a better option.

The restaurant looks decent. It’s spacious and the décor is minimal and nice. Only eight wrought iron tables (four-seater) and chairs and four sets of two off-white three-seater sofas and a table are laid out. Many more tables can be fitted in, given the open space left out. The colour palette is warm and sober shade of yellow with matching light coloured floor tiles. Press articles about the famous chain (with branches at Shyambazar and Golpark) are framed to adorn one wall. Three of us made ourselves comfortable on a sofa set.

Unless one has made up his/ her mind, he/ she will be spoilt for choice to order from the expansive ranges of fried items in fish, chicken and mutton. I had pre-selected fish. K and I ordered Fish Diamond Kabiraji.

The kabiraji didn’t take long to arrive. Its length covered the plate. I love the bird’s nest look of the crust of kabiraji they make at Mitra Café. For a change, the sauce served was the good old mustard, and not the off-white bland sauce they serve at Sovabazar. But disappointingly chopped onion was far outnumbered by cucumber pieces.

The kabiraji was well made as usual. The egg crust felt pure, having been made from quality ingredients with no compromise. It cost Rs 100 apiece, which is not expensive given current fish prices. It was finished soon. Boss was not hungry, so didn’t eat anything. He and K rued the fact that this dish was made with a whole lot of oil. K pointed out that the because of the egg crust, it absorbs more oil.  I don’t feel like joining such talk while one has willingly chosen to snack on such stuff. I just gently pointed out that had we gone for KFC, it wouldn’t have been a healthy option either.

One thing that puts me slightly off about Mitra Café is the use of vanaspati as the cooking medium. I don’t expect it in such a place of high repute. Besides being unhealthier than white oils, it gives a sticky feeling on the tongue while the food is not so hot.

Overall, a good snacking experience. What elevated it was having the Mitra Café experience at a comfortable ambiance at a new location.

The singara muri at Chandni Chowk

I am gastronomically in a happy space at work since I joined my current office at Chandni Chowk nearly five years back. The area is a foodie's delight to put it mildly. Almost everything that comes to one's mind (and more) when one looks for food on the go is served.

I don't remember when I came across this wonderful snack. Must be in the first year in this area. It's called 'Singara muri'. Yes, they have married the ubiquitous jhal muri with singara in an innovation and created magic! Basically a singara (doesn't matter if not hot) is first beaten in the pot of jhal muri, then the ingredients of jhal muri are poured in and mixed. And it's ready. It's unbeatable taste is helped by three chutneys- one with chilly, a sour one and a sweet one. Needless to say it makes the best of the taste of singara and jhal muri. Costs just Rs 15. Used to cost Rs 10 when I started.

It's not as healthy as jhal muri. But if you are watching your waistline, yet can't help a bit of indulgent snacking, you can go for it and get away with a little guilt, unlike gorging two singaras.

It used to be one of the options for my evening snacking. My trusted vendor sits at Princep Street, at the crossing of Bentinck Street, bang opposite erstwhile Orient cinema. He's a regular jhal muri-wala but. I know one more who sits at Bentinck Street, a few metres away towards GC Avenue crossing. But haven't tried him yet.

Wish to come back with a full-fledged post on the food map of Chandni Chowk soon.

Review: Ebar Shabor

One genre where Tollygunge had a void for long is adult detective thriller set in contemporary times. Ebar Shabor finally addresses it and clears the test, and that is its highest accomplishment.

Shirshenu’s Shabor Dasgupta, a senior police officer in detective department, is not celebrated like Feluda. Little wonder the author stopped writing the stories after a handful as they were not lapped up by the readers over time. Nevertheless Arindam was right in his decision to pick up Shabor for adaptation on big screen in addressing the void mentioned earlier. Also Rwin, the story on which Ebar Shabor is based, is a verbose one set mostly indoors. It does go to Arindam’s credit to have intelligently translated it on big screen by taking the story outdoors exploring various locations of Kolkata that give it its character. The scenes in Pondicherry also add freshness to the frames.

I have a hunch that the seed of the film was sown during the filming of Kahaani, where Arindam was the executive producer. Kahaani had a Bengali soul and many like me must have thought something like this could have well been made in Bengali. It showed the potential of making such smart urban thrillers sitting in Tollygunge that blends the old world charm and heritage of Kolkata beautifully with storytelling.

Mitali (Swastika), a rich heiress gets mysteriously killed by stabbing in her bedroom one night after a party hosted by her at her place. Shabor takes up the case. He draws up the list of suspects all of who are found to have reasonable motive to kill. The audience is kept guessing till the end and here lies the success of a murder mystery. Through his interrogation we come across an ensemble of characters that give the story its rich tapestry- Mithu Mitra (Abir), a banker and Mitali’s ex-husband, Pantu Halder (Ritwik Chackraborty), a motor mechanic and Mitali’s neighbour, Samiran (Rahul), her close friend who is a spoilt son of a rich businessman (Santu Mukherjee), Khonika (Debleena Dutt), Samiran’s live-in girlfriend, Joyita (Payel), Mitali’s cousin and a shady woman Julekha (June). Mitali had fallen for Pantu in college and later left home for a whimsical marriage that lasted six months.

Ebar Shabor’s strength lies in its story, slick making, casting and performances. Shirsha Roy’s camera aids Arindam’s storytelling in an outstanding manner. Shirsha’s use of close-up shots help build the emotional map of the characters in a story that delves deep into their mindscape. Bickram Ghosh’s background score helps create the thriller tempo and his signature notes lend it a freshness. The director has preferred on-location shooting over studio floor and he is spot on in choosing his locations.

Good casting is director’s job half done and the performances are well delivered as expected from a well cast film with well-written characters. Despite someone of Saswata’s calibre playing the lead, I found Ritwik outshining everyone with his Pantu Halder, a motor mechanic who has a past of sound academic record. It was a treat to watch him bring edge to the uncouth character with nuanced diction among other things. Saswata has shown controlled emotions as Shabor, a hard-boiled cop who never lets his emotions out. He carries himself right, avoiding unnecessary flamboyance. He has worked hard on the action scenes, lost weight through workout and diet to look believable as the character. However I feel the characterization held him back from shining bright. He’s hardly shown thinking. It would be wise on the director’s part to spend some time showing his detection. Swastika, Abir, June, Payel and Dipankar (Mitali’s father) are apt in their roles. Rahul is typecast in such characters, though his comic timing is good as usual. Debleena has potential but she’s portrayed such character traits before. She underscores the glam quotient shared by Swastika and June.

Padmanava Dasgupta and Arindam’s  script is decent, but could be tighter in the first half. The dialogue written by them is the weak link of the film. While the comic bits are good (Mostly with Rahul), it lacks the much-needed punch.

I expected the chase scenes to be racy, like we saw in Kahaani, but honestly speaking they didn’t really match up to it and looked repetitive as they continued. I also can’t help but wonder how realistic it is for Pantu to run that fast and long with an injured leg.

The songs are good and well-written (by adman Sugata Guha), and well used too, but not spaced out. One follows the other a little too soon.

But all these glitches are covered by the story with special mention to the high emotional note of the climax.

Overall, a good, entertaining watch. A new franchisee is established. Looking forward to the next instalment which is already being planned.

Photos sourced from Ebar Shabor Facebook group.

Twitter-savvy Railway official

It was surprising to find out that the Divisional Railway Manager of Sealdah division actively operates a Twitter handle. As it was, the other day on my way to office, I was pleasantly surprised to find out a PA system in the Sealdah-bound local train compartment. A recorded voice did station announcement like it is in metro rail. I tweeted my finding. Later on I found out that it had been retweeted and favourited by the said Twitter handle (named 'drmsdah'). It also replied that the plan was to extend the PA system to all rakes in the division.

It is not usual that we, the general public, get to interact with a senior official of a govt. institution, especially which renders a service like transport. So I tweeted about the handle, which was favourited by it too. Then yesterday while I noticed a no. of snack stalls on Bidhannagar station, which I hadn’t noticed before and tweeted about it, the handle responded stating such stalls often occupy precious public space that results in a compromise of security of passengers. Such spaces need to be reclaimed.

Hence as it appears, the Railway official, who is the like the CEO of the division as the position means,  is not on Tweeter just for giving updates of new services , development and train schedules (which it does) and retweeting praises off and on, it is also interested in engaging in dialogue with commuters, which is indeed praise-worthy. For example the above-mentioned conversation which extended beyond what is stated, informed me that there is (at least) an intent to have quality assured vending at all stations (like one sees at large and important stations like Dum Dum and Barrackpore) provided Railway gets "the space required freed".

A visit to the museum

Relived my childhood through a visit to Indian Museum with my daughter on last Christmas eve. Visited the place only once with my father ages back. Have wanted to go back many a time all this while. The museum turned 200 years last year.

It has extensive collection of exhibits of anthropology, archaeology, geology, botany, zoology and art spread in 25 galleries on three floors. The ticket has a do-it- yourself guide of all the galleries and facilities of the museum at the back which I found very useful. It was a tad disappointing that many galleries were closed for modernization. But it did feel good to see the improved aesthetics and presentation of the modernized galleries- for example terracotta, zoology and Egypt. The ticket costs just Rs 10 and you can do photography of the exhibits on collecting a permit for Rs 50 (and it’ll be worth it) from the counter.

Not much is to be said about the collection. It’s amongst the best in India. A child of any age will be mesmerized by the exhaustiveness of the exhibits in various sections. The visit will be especially enriching if he/ she has been studying Indian history and life science for a few years. My little one was obviously excited to see the dinosaur skeletons and the mummy in the Egypt gallery (which is one of the museum’s major attractions) in particular.

I was amused by two exhibits. One was a 19^th century chessboard from Murshidabad in the Decorative Art section on the second floor. It’s a standard size marble board with chessmen made in ivory. The unique feature was that all the chessmen were actual- so there were actual boats, elephants, horses and soldiers. The other one was a life size Durga idol completely made in jute in the ‘Plants in the service of man’ section on the same floor.

The chessboard

The collection is so vast, an entire day (It’s open 10 am to 4.30 pm/ 5 pm) may feel short if almost all the galleries are open. We spent about three hours and had to rush through many sections. There’s a sprawling, well-manicured lawn inside where you can rest your aching feet after/ in the middle of the tour in the mellow sun in this season. Food isn’t allowed inside. There’s an in-house cafeteria, but though the food is decent and reasonably priced, it lacks variety. In the afternoon we found nothing other than kachuri (puri)-ghooghni  (which we had) and rice meals available and the items were getting sold out fast.

The pristine white Raj era building and the lawn

Kolkata lives the ISL dream

This football-obsessed city dreamt of this moment a little more than two months back when country’s first private international football league kickstarted in this city itself among massive fanfare. What made it special was that it was co-dreamt by its loved warrior prince. Atletico de Kolkata started with a stunning opener of Indian Super League and kept the tempo burning...before it hit a plateau from the middle of the season till the end (the precise reason why I haven’t blogged about it so far). It lost its league topper position and the ‘undefeated’ distinction down the way. And then it crawled to the semis. The home match was a disappointment, adding to its increasing list of draw games. When the away match took it to the coveted finals, the dreaming eyes were wide open again.

It was an exciting match with some attacking football. So much so that some moments found the box unguarded at either end. But the ninety minutes didn’t see a single goal again. ATK didn’t have its full strength. Its out-of-form striker Fikru had been dropped from the squad earlier and the skipper and marquee player Louis Garcia had to watch from the sidelines due to a hamstring injury. As injury time started rolling, we got ready for a tie-breaker decider which would fall short of a desired triumph if in our favour. And then..............the moment came from an underdog. The match was over soon. The dream came true. We are the champions of the first ever Indian Super League!

Mohd Rafique, take a bow for that stunner of a header off the measured corner kick that gave us the first ISL and made history. You gave ‘opportunistic’ a new meaning in your replacement stint of those few minutes (Due credit to the coach for this).  Despite your short height, you emerged the tallest among all in the evening. And the icing of the cake, again, is the fact that you are from this city.

A shoutout to our ‘wall’ Bete on the goal line too. Had it not been for that incredible save off Kerala’s aggressive striker Michael Chopra, the match would have ended differently.

Atletico de Kolkata with the trophy. Also seen are Ms Neeta Ambani of Reliance, co-promoter of ISL and ATK co-owners Utsav Parekh (sixth from left sitting) and Sanjeev Goenka next to him. Mohd Rafique is sitting next to Ms Ambani and the trophy, facing.

ATK coach Antonio Habas and co-owner Saurav Ganguly with the trophy

And yes, my heart goes to Kerala Blasters. Not because it gave us some wonderful buddy moments with Saurav and Sachin who watched the match from the stands cheering for their respective owned teams, but for the superb football it gave us in the final. If we are the champs, they’re not far off.

I sincerely hope ISL lives the football dream of this nation in every possible way. The eyes will be on spotting and nurturing talent from all corners in for the long term. The euphoria that it has generated is enough to drive that.

 Photos sourced from http://www.indiansuperleague.com/