Fire at The Park New Delhi Launches New Menu

WHEN PRIYA Paul and Bakshish Dean’s brainchild Fire at The Park New Delhi first opened its doors to the public way back in end-2003, the food that is served was something which was a revelation for diners. Too bad that it was ahead of its time and didn’t catch on as say, Manish Malhotra’s somewhat similar vision at Indian Accent years later.

Fire, at The Park, New Delhi, after a fairly interesting and experimental run of a few years, was, in the view of this author, ignored in the last couple of years.

The new menu which is being introduced at the Fire this time around, by Executive Chef Abhishek Basu, Executive Chef of the hotel under the guidance of Priya Paul, as was stressed, has brought back some of that early sheen to the food served in the restaurant, I think.

The new tasting menu, which is available as a full six-course experience for Rs 1600 to 1900 plus taxes and Rs 3300 to 3600 plus taxes for vegetarian and non-vegetarian respectively.

The new menu, which can also be purchased as individual items brings the restaurant back on track when it comes to the kind of food that is began by serving more than a decade ago.

My standout dishes were the salad with Father Michael’s burrata, arugula, tomato, organic rocket leaves and baby tomatoes, crispy curry leaf and mustard seeds. The sourcing of this dish includes cheese specifically purchased from a priest who learnt how to make cheese while studying in Italy. A lovely embellishment for a dish which was already unique thanks to the curry lead and mustard seed twist.

My other favourite was the bhut jolokia prawn stir fry, with the prawns cooked perfectly and the tomato based gravy perfectly married to just a touch of the bhut jolokia chilly.

The dish which really won my heart over though, was the Kodava Pandy Curry served with a millet dosa, which really did wonders for my taste buds, though the chef should have been a little more liberal with his use of peppers, I thought.

It was a great effort and one which, in my view, is a right step to bringing back the restaurant’s reputation as a culinary innovator.