From Spicy Duck to New Ideas

Sourish Bhattacharyya Sep 06, 2016

WITH Hyatt Andaz ready to open in October, it's worth remembering that the American hospitality behemoth owes this Hindustani brand name to Rakesh Sarna, who spent all but the last two years of his working life with Hyatt Corporation. The Managing Director and CEO of Taj Hotels, it seems, continues to be passionate about coining names.

Sarna's latest, after making Tajness an industry buzzword, is the name he has chosen for the Chinese restaurant that will replace Blue Ginger at Taj Palace. The name is Spicy Duck and it leaves no one in doubt about the direction of the new restaurant, which will be run by two Malaysian Chinese chefs, one of whom is a duck expert and has been working in Mumbai for the past two years (and therefore is well acquainted with the vegetarian palate), and the other is a dim sum specialist who counts mushroom spring rolls drizzled with truffle oil among his original creations.

Orange will be the theme colour of Spicy Duck, which will sport a contemporary Chinese look and have a cocktail-paired menu, a first for Delhi (and why not, if Blue Bar happens to be its neighbour), with six or seven types of duck preparations and 13-15 dim sum varieties. Sichuan will be the inspiration for the cuisine and September 10 is when the new restaurant's doors will open to the public.

Talking about Tajness, one of its main highlights is the emphasis on a return to 'comfort food' and giving local specialities, from dosa to laksa, a pride of place. The revamped Shamiana at the Taj Mahal Palace in Mumbai, with its extensive Indian breakfast selection, showcases the new thinking that will also be reflected in the offerings of the now-shuttered Kafe Fontana (also at Taj Palace), which will open with a new look and a new brand identity (and a new focus on its al fresco spaces) by October 15. Eggs Benedict now seem so yesterday; time to dig that ragi dosa.

Punjab Grill to Open Washington, D.C., Innings at Trump Hotel Near White House

PUNJAB GRILL reminds me of Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- always travelling, but to plant the flag of wholesome Punjabi food in new markets. After Bangkok (where it is TripAdvisor's No. 1 restaurant out of 10,000), Singapore (where it got a laudable mention in the Michelin Guide) and Abu Dhabi, it is opening in Washington, D.C., in about a year. Funnily, its address will be the Trump International Hotel at the historic 140-year-plus-old Old Post Office Pavilion, which is on 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue (five blocks away from the White House, which seems more and more unlikely to have Donald Trump as its next occupant).

The U.S. General Services Administration leased the building, which has outlived the many senators and officials who wanted to raze it to the ground, to the The Trump Organisation in 2013, when its maverick chieftain hadn't yet announced his intention of running for White House. Well, when Trump is Dumped by the American electorate (which, I hope, he will be), he can spend time in the immediate neighbourhood of White House nursing dreams of becoming the President of the United States of America after his bete noire, Hillary Clinton, demits office. To keep him going, maybe he'll need generous helpings of Punjab Grill's famous maa ki daal and atta chicken.

OTW at The Lodhi Announces Its Rebirth with a Celebration of Chef Tharatip's Thai Lovelies

EVEN AS the Taj Palace restaurants are in the process of a transformation, OTW (On The Waterfront) at The Lodhi has come back to life with Chef Tharatip laying out the most delicately flavoured Thai seductions on the table, including chicken wings with a Sriracha tang, a lamb salad elevated by the goodness of a restrained massaman sauce and a fingerlickingly good pork belly preparation.

OTW will go back to being a Thai-European restaurant, even as the floor above, famous for its 'dining-in-the-kitchen' layout, is being rechristened Dim Sum & Then More. The leadership team of Kaushik Ghosh and Nitin Raj, who has come back after a stint with the company that runs The Pirates of the Grill (and will soon launch Prankster, a micro-brewery with Harangad Singh, ex-TresInd and ex-Varq), propose to use the space to promote dim sum lunches and freshly made sushi. Elan, the luxury hotel's all-day dining restaurant, meanwhile, will focus on Regional Indian Cuisine under the leadership of Chef Vijay Thapliyal, who has returned to his old hotel, which, as we had reported earlier, has a new general manager, Vikram Aditya Singh, formerly with the Taj and the Oberoi.

Vidur Kanodia, Osama Jalali Tie Up to Enter Authentic Mughlai, Regional Food Dining Spaces

I HAVE often admired Vidur Kanodia's passion for food, although he's from a Marwari business family and an electrical engineer with international patents, and Osama Jalali's penchant for re-invention -- from PR to food impresario, from fat boy to a leaner-though-not-meaner him, I see shades of Jiggs Kalra in him. Vidur earned his spurs with Shiv Sagar, although its glory days were cut short by controversy, and then he seemed to be veering in too many different directions; Osama, too, appeared to have run out of steam after his initial couple of food festivals reviving the lost recipes of the Mughal era. But don't write them off yet.

Vidur and Osama are now partners in a joint venture that will take them across India and the world, selling what they are best at -- the lost recipes of Mughal India, which have a global audience if market well, and regional street food, which is abundance in our country, and can be customised for food courts, food trucks, pop-ups and even the Big Fat Indian Wedding. It's like two one-hit directors coming together to make their biggest hit together. Vidur and Osama have a great thing going, for they have youth and talent on their side. They should now nurture it with patience and care, and my only advice to Vidur (and I mean it well) is not to be in a tearing hurry. Success comes to those who know how to wait for it.