Get the Punjabi Cuisine at your favorite restaurant

Like many of us, J. Inder Singh ‘Jiggs' Kalra believes that mother's cooking is best. One of the country's best–known gastronomes and food consultants, Kalra has never been to culinary school… and says he wouldn't know what was taught there. Everything he knows, he learnt at his mother's knee. “My father was a gourmet,” he recalls, “and the only time my parents had a spat was when the food wasn't good enough.” But those were rare moments indeed. And with varied cuisines, Indian and international, forming a part of everyday meals in the Kalra household, the young Kalra received invaluable grounding in what would later become his career and make him famous. His son, Zorawar, operates a chain of fine dining restaurants called Punjab Grill by Jiggs Kalra, under the Wrapster Foods brand owned by LiteBite Foods — a venture promoted by Dabur India Vice-Chairman Amit Burman. Kalra, who has drawn on his culinary knowledge of undivided Punjab to put together the menu for this chain, offers his take on the future of Indian cuisine.“Indians,” he says, “are phobic about food.” An unexpected comment, when everyone is talking about the well-travelled urban Indian and his/ her increasingly adventurous palate. Kalra concedes this, but goes on to say, “We are adventurous diners (when we eat out). But in most Indian homes, it is the housewife who cooks.” This, he says, is because at home we still prefer the predictable meals we grew up eating, and the woman of the house is seen as the custodian of the family's culinary inheritance. And even with the soaring popularity of home deliveries and takeaways, with several multinational chains customising their products to local tastes, it is this jealous guardianship of home cooking which will repeatedly bring us back to our familiar roti and dal, rice and rasam, says the food specialist.“This will be the success of Indian food in the long run,” he adds. Zorawar seconds this, saying that while some fast food chains may grow progressively more popular among youngsters on the price factor, they cannot really dent traditional food habits in countries like Japan, China and India, which have strong local cuisines. If you are looking for a Multi Cuisine Hotel/Restaurant then 1498 AD the Atria Hotel,  fulfill your choice.Here you can get multi-cuisine /Coffee Snacks.
“I love our cuisine. I've always wanted to be a restaurateur — but my ventures will always be about Indian food. No outsider is going to promote our cuisine. It is up to us to do that,” he reasons. And what can the Bangalore foodie, arguably among the most pampered in the country right now, expect from the Punjab Grill? Besides the classic Daal, and the Salmon Tikka — a popular innovation from his father, Zorawar recommends the eatery's signature Guchchi Pulao. A tad expensive at Rs 575 a serving, the rice dish is centred around the dearly-priced guchchi (mushroom) that grows in Kashmir only two months a year. “We sell this at cost,” says Zorawar, on the effort to retain such a rare item on the menu, as “otherwise, it will be lost.” With branches in Singapore, Delhi, Chandigarh, Gurgaon and Mumbai, Punjab Grill by Jiggs Kalra expects it branch in cosmopolitan Bangalore to serve as a good “tasting” ground for the country's South region. Explore here  Punjabi Restaurants in Bangalore . Asked about his views on South Indian food, Zorawar starts singing paeans to the Idli and Dosa, the spices of Chettinad and the seafood of Kerala: “These are sophisticated cuisines — with their subtle use of fiery spices. They will become world famous if you push them hard enough.”
Source "thehindubusinessline"

Lucknow comes to Bangalore

If anyone in the City is on the hunt for food fit for a nawab, his or her best bet would be ‘Tunday Kababi’, located in Koramangala. The eatery, which specialises in Lucknowi cuisine, offers customers an array of dishes that would have any meat-lover in a tizzy.Whether one is in the mood for a melt-in-the-mouth galauti kabab, aromatic biryani or delicious korma curry, ‘Tunday Kababi’ seems to have it all. Part of a Lucknow-based franchise, the eatery tries to bring the fresh flavours of nawabi cuisine to each and every one of its dishes. Santosh Mohan, who runs the outlet in Bangalore, maintains that this is what keeps his customers coming back. Keeping with this tradition, the eatery doesn’t use local masalas — rather, they are prepared, powdered and mixed in Lucknow and then brought here, keeping the taste of the food truly authentic. All the cooks employed at the restaurant are from Lucknow and are well-versed in the art of making kormas, ulti tawa ka parantha and of course, kababs. and if you are lover of North Indian, Italian, Maxican and Lebanese then Cream Centre in Indiraagar Bangalore is best Choice for you.
Not surprisingly, the main elements in the menu are the mutton-based dishes. The eatery serves three kinds of kababs — galauti, sheek and boti kabab. While the sheek kabab is made with spiced mutton mince, shaped into cylinders, the cooks aren’t as forthcoming when asked to describe the boti kabab. Apparently, they make it using a secret recipe that they prefer not to divulge and serve it with hot gravy. Awadh delicacies such as mutton korma, chicken  korma and shahi murg masala are also available. The mutton korma in particular is a popular dish — customers can’t seem to get enough of it. It’s a classic Nawabi dish, with meat that’s been cooked tender and served in gravy. Another frequently-ordered dish is the roasted barbecue chicken — deceptively named, since it’s as Lucknowi as the other items on the menu. The pieces of chicken are marinated in a combination of curd and special masalas for about half-an-hour, after which it is grilled to perfection. These dishes can be eaten with a variety of breads, including roomali roti, and ulti tawa ka parantha. No mention of ‘Tunday Kababi’ is complete without its biryanis. The aromatic, long-grained rices are cooked in the traditional Lucknowi style — they are spiced and mixed with milk and the meat, after which they are slowly cooked for about two or three hours. The restaurant also serves mouth-watering rolls. They are stuffed with cubed pieces of boti kabab, which are mixed in a thick gravy and wrapped in a hot roomali roti. If anyone is really hungry, he or she can opt for the thali. Comprising a fish curry, a chicken dish, rice, roomali roti, dal, a vegetable curry and one sweet dish, along with papad and pickle, it’s guaranteed to satisfy the customers. If you love to eat European cuisine then Chamomile in Indiranagar is suitable choice for you where you can get the several  verities of   European cuisine .
Source "deccanherald"

Shark lovers left high and dry

SHANGHAI - Several luxury hotels and popular restaurants have decided to take shark fin soup- a traditional delicacy on banquet tables -off the menu to help keep the species from becoming extinct. The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Ltd (HSH), parent company of The Peninsula Hotels, said that itwill stop serving shark fin on Jan 1 at all of its eight hotels globally, including one in Shanghai, one in Beijing and one in Hong Kong.HSH said the decision was made "in recognition of the threat facing the global shark population and in line with the company's sustainability vision".A spokeswoman for the Peninsula Shanghai who declined to give her name told China Daily that removing the dish from the menu will have a very limited impact on the hotel's food and beverage profits."We will replace shark fin soup with some other precious ingredients such as abalone and sea cucumber," she said.Swissotel Beijing has also decided to ban shark fin soup. "Our restaurant stopped selling shark fin soup at the beginning of November to protect sharks," said Zhang Lei, staff member of the Chinese cuisine department at the five-star Swissotel Beijing. Explore here  Chinese Restaurants in Bangalore.
"We saw retired NBA star Yao Ming's public service advertisement against eating shark fin soup and became aware of shark protection," Zhang said."Also, the number of customers ordering shark fin soup has decreased recently. They may beaware of the environmental protection problem as well."The Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel Shanghai, which opened in March, never featured shark fin onits menus. And popular Chinese restaurant South Beauty stopped serving shark fin soup in September."We will not serve shark fin soup even if the guest requests it for a banquet," said ShenXiaoyan, supervisor of South Beauty's Shanghai City Center outlet. The culinary industry's move has been lauded by animal protection organizations. Wild Aid, a wild animal conservation organization that has pursued a shark protection campaign for more than a decade, said in a newsletter that the ban on shark fins "exemplifies how businesses can become leaders in conservation, dissuading people from purchasing wildlife products and spreading awareness of the detrimental effects of the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade". Silicrest Hotel in Bangalore India also provides Chinese, North Indian, South Indian cuisines. This is  in Bangalore’s famous place i.e. Koramangala  and huge crowed come here to eat their favorites dishes,cuisines.
According to Wild Aid, up to 73 million sharks are killed every year to meet the increasing demand for shark fin soup. As a result, about one-third of the open-ocean shark species are threatened with extinction, with certain species experiencing a 99 percent population decline. When their fins are hacked off, sharks are often still alive. The sharks, whose meat is not considered as valuable as their fins, are thrown back into the water to drown or bleed to death. Other major hotels in Hong Kong said they were reviewing their policies in the wake of the Peninsula’s move, but few appeared ready to drop shark fin soup from the menu entirely. Four Seasons Hotel spokeswoman Claire Blacks haw said that shark fin had been removed from the menu but was still available on request. "We are a popular venue for weddings so it gets requested quite a lot," she was quoted by AFP as saying. The Conrad, part of the Hilton group, the Nikko and Regal Hongkong hotels have similar policies, with some offering a choice of menus with and without shark fin dishes. However, some hotels in Shanghai have refused to take shark fin soup off the menu, even though some customers urged them to do so. Tang Yi, a 26-year-old employee with a State-owned enterprise, booked a wedding banquet fornix year at the Howard Johnson Caudal Plaza Shanghai. The hotel refused his request to take shark fin soup off the menu."I cannot bear to eat shark fin soup after I saw the documentary Oceans that had a segment showing how sharks' fins were cruelly sliced off and the fish thrown back into the ocean."However, the hotel insisted that the banquet would be degraded without the shark fin soup. They were not willing to look for alternatives either," he said."I don't think people really love the taste of the soup. Their passion for shark fin soup is only because it kind of represents luxury."
Source “chinadaily”

Multicultural metro, melting-pot cuisine

There are two types of food cities. The first is rooted in a particular region, dominated by one or two communities and their cuisines. Ever since Partition, Delhi has Punjabi-Frontier (tandoori ), with its older Mughlai-Kayasth food pushed to the margins. Chennai is Tamil, though not just vegetarian Brahmin, but also the nonvegetarian food of Chettiar, Mudaliar and other communities. Kolkata is overwhelmingly Bengali, despite pockets of Anglo-Indian, Chinese and other communities. Mumbai is the second type of food city. The food of the state in which it is situated can be surprisingly hard to find, barring the handful of Maharashtrian places in Dadar, a few outliers like Purepur Kolhapur and several Konkaniseafood places. Gujarati food, which could claim to be the original native food, no longer dominates, though there are still good thali places (and rather more overrated ones), and it could still be said to form the basis of much of the street food. South Indian food sold by the Udipi Shetty community feeds a huge number in the city each day, not least by the Gujaratis who have happily taken to idlis and dosas, although only after spiking the sambhar with a dose of sugar (they have also produced a wonderful fusion snack with dosa khakras). But Udipi food is hardly iconic for the city, and doesn't even represent what the Udipi community itself eats at home, but is a weird melange of vegetarian South Indian, Gujarati and even some 'Chinese'. There is also Punjabi-Chinese adding to the city's mix (not to mention Chinese bhel). Muslim communities add their own delicious mix to the city's cuisine, both in a generalized meat-based cuisine, with variations for each community that are harder to find. There is probably no easier place to find Parsi food than Mumbai (easier, not better), but even here the actual restaurants are few, and tend to fall far short of what homes and caterers can provide. There are now probably more Bengali restaurants in the city, a new and welcome boom. Goan restaurants on the other hand are still far too few, and dependent on New Martin in Colaba to uphold any kind of quality.
So, no single food dominates Mumbai, and the positive side to that is how it makes the city into a great gastronomic free-for-all. You may well be able to eat better examples of each kind of cuisine outside Mumbai, but no other city in India will give you such variety in one place. This is helped by the city's geographical position, easily able to get produce from both north and south. Because it is by the sea, it has seafood culture, which Delhi lacks. Because it is close to the ghats, you can get the strawberries and salad veggies of cooler climates. Because it is a magnet for expatriates and Indians returned from abroad, you have a cosmopolitan culinary appreciation crowd who can patronize, as well as invest and work in restaurants that bring food from around the world. Explore here Restaurants in Mumbai.Yet there are negatives. It can sometimes seem easy to eat a lot of average food, but very little really good stuff. Mumbaikars can be easily pleased with mediocrity (embodied in countless 'multicuisine ' restaurants), while really good places struggle. The constant hunt for novelty and an obsession with international food means that we can forget our really good traditional foods. Nothing embodies this more than the current fad for basa, a totally tasteless imported fish.  The city's structure squeezes restaurants as well. Insane real estate rates are killing off much of the middle layer of good restaurants increasingly our choice is only between expensive premium places and downmarket ones. Yet the city is inventive and tries to find solutions, like home delivery and food festivals. High calorie foods, which are the easiest options, are directly responsible for soaring rates of obesity and diabetes, but health food products-or products that claim to be health food-can command high prices, like the Rs75 per litre Pride of Cows milk recently launched in South Mumbai. And shamefully, under all this, malnutrition stalks the city's margins. Flambe Restaurant in Bangalore also provides Chinese, North Indian and Continental cuisines .this restaurants is in Koramangala, and people love to eat food here. Mumbai's food map reflects the chaos of the city, but it is why food is never boring here. The city is constantly cooking, eating, comparing cuisines, trying new foods, reviving old ones, talking, arguing, blogging, bragging and eating more. You want to break the ice with a group of Mumbaikars? Get them talking about food. Mumbai's cuisine is a constant conversation, where anyone can partake, participate and eat.
Source “toi”

Food Truck operators opening restaurants

While tension grows between food trucks and brick-and-mortar restaurants, some local trucks are parlaying their success into opening brick-and-mortar locations. An actual restaurant - or even a casual cafe - is a way to keep finances in order and ensure long-term profitability, said Ryan Scott, who owns the 3-Sum Eats food truck and is planning to open a cafe in San Francisco's West Portal neighborhood. "I don't want to solely survive on the truck, especially now with the weather," he said. "I can't have my bottom line affected if it rains. Brick-and-mortar is dependable." Scott uses the kitchen at Bruno's in the Mission District to do most of his preparation and cooking for his truck and catering business. He's also been serving weekend brunch at the restaurant for the last few months. The various outlets are a way to hedge his bets, he says. Akash Kapoor concurs. In 2009, he rolled out the first Curry Up Now truck to instant buzz. Earlier this year, he opened a restaurant by the same name in San Mateo and also added two trucks to his operation. Explore here  Italian restaurants in Bangalore India.
The restaurant's income stays steady during weather swings, he says, while the revenue from the trucks can drop 15 to 20 percent between November and February. Kapoor also points out other benefits to an actual restaurant. The expanded room has allowed him to expand the menu, including a children's section, and perhaps offer beer and wine in the future. He also uses the restaurant as a training ground for new employees, rather than throwing them into the fire and constant long lines of the hectic food truck world."You're very limited in the truck. In the restaurant, we can create a little more, and we do serve more people," he said. That said, Kapoor also believes his food trucks are just as expensive to operate as his small Peninsula restaurant. Both require tricky permit processes, and he says he pays comparable rent for the truck enterprises. But perhaps the biggest reason food truck owners covet real restaurants is the kitchen. Mobile food regulations require certified commercial kitchens be used in conjunction with all food trucks. These shared kitchens can often be expensive, out-of-the-way or crowded with fellow operators. "For me, the main purpose was to get a commissary kitchen of our own," said Jim Angelus of the Bacon Bacon truck, who recently inked a lease for a quick-service cafe in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. "Selling stuff out the door is a bonus," he said. With some commercial kitchen rental rates hovering around $25 an hour, spending three to four hours a day in a shared space can add up. And elbowing others for ovens? That can wear on people, said Angelus. That's why he, like Scott, wanted a kitchen of his own to complement the main attraction, the truck.But the beauty of the food truck is the scheduling flexibility. Many trucks took Thanksgiving week off, with nary a protest. That's hard to do with a brick-and-mortar space, where customers expect consistent hours of operation.In the end, though, these operators agree the transition to a brick-and-mortar support system has been an important step in building their business. "I'm covering my bases," Scott said. "I want to make sure I have staying power." If you  are in delhi, India and want to eat south indian food then click here  to explore complete list of  South indian restaurants in delhi . visit bookmyrestaurant.co.in to get the latest offers and discounts. get the Complete list of Restaurants .

source “sfgate.com”

Thanksgiving Day: Indians too celebrate and say thanks

BANGALORE: As Americans the world over sit down to a family dinneron Thanksgiving Day, enjoying homely fare like chicken pot pie and the piece de resistance that makes Thanksgiving special - roast turkey, expats and foodies in India plan to do the same, albeit at restaurants. It's a trend that could lead to Thanksgiving and Halloween being firmly placed on the Indian festival calendar. Jay Singh, co-founder and executive director, JSM Corporation, which runs fine dining restaurant Shiro in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore, says, "For most restaurants and hotels, this as an opportunity to create an event to drive up footfalls. Valentine's Day and Halloween are both Western concepts, but our events around it ensure an increase in footfalls of around 20%-40%. Most of this is made up of locals, not expats," says Singh. "Spending power has increased tremendously and everybody looks for an opportunity to dine out," says Nimish Bhatia, regional executive chef - South and master of trade at The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore, which has a special Thanksgiving dinner with dishes like roast duck with onion jus, turkey, clam chowder, hot crab cakes and pumpkin sweet cakes. For Vibha Pingle, founder of Ubuntu At Work, a global social enterprise, a Thanksgiving dinner with her family will be a way to celebrate a festival that has become a part of their lives over the 25 years she spent in the US and where she still spends a part of the year. Explore here Restaurants in Bangalore
"My husband is based in the US and we all shuttle between Bangalore, Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts. I've spent most Thanksgiving weekends there. This year, we all happen to be here. As I don't have the foggiest idea how to get a turkey  in Bangalore or have an oven big enough for it, going to a restaurant is the next best option," says Pingle.Olive Beach's Thanksgiving dinner in Bangalore is sold out. "Thanksgiving is a great festival around food and there is no reason Indians can't embrace it. Also, we have many patrons who are either expats or NRIs who have returned to India. They've been to Thanksgiving dinners in the US and want to experience the food again, but, of course, it's not easy to do at home," explains executive chef Manu Chandra, who will serve a three-course dinner, with entrees like corn chowder and a main course that includes slowly roasted turkey priced at Rs 1,100 plus taxes per head. According to Vipin Sachdev, MD of fine dining restaurant chain Tuscana Kryptos Restaurants in Chennai, "Birthdays, anniversaries, Holi, Diwali, Christmas -- they all come once a year. But today Indians want an occasion every week. That's because stress levels are rising and people need to relax." He estimates that 30% to 40% of consumption on Thanksgiving will come from locals who order from the special menu. The restaurant chain has procured 90 kg of turkey for its chain of four restaurants in the city.  Bageecha Restaurant in Bangalore is also fine Dining Services .You can get here North Indian and Chinese Cuisine.
For those who want a quieter celebration at home, restaurants such as Indigo Deli in Mumbai offer a festive takeaway menu that includes American butterball turkey, smoked ham and prime tenderloin, priced between Rs 990 and Rs 2,500 per dish. "In the past 2-3 years, our takeaway menu has been popular with the non-expat crowd," says Deepti Dadlani, brand and marketing head at Indigo. This restaurant is also putting together a special Thanksgiving menu at its outlets in Colaba and at Palladium Mall. Sanne Emborg, GM of Courtyard by Marriott, Mumbai International Airport, believes Halloween has much more of an appeal to the local audiences compared to Thanksgiving, "which is very American in concept and is characterized by the traditional dinner and turkey". "Among the popular Western occasions, the most sought after include Thanksgiving, Boxing Day and St Patrick's Day. While expats and NRIs like the idea of an authentic celebration to recreate the experience they would have had back home, for locals it's a reason to celebrate," says Anil Chadha, area manager and GM, ITC Gardenia, Bangalore, which is dishing out American specialties like butternut squash puree with charred pepper mousseline, shrimp and pumpkin bisque, turkey roulade with prune chestnut giblet stuffing and roast gravy. visit BookMyRestaurant to get the Best Discount Offers.
Source “TOI”

Get a Glimpse of Italian Restaurant in Greater Kailash 2 Iike Diva Restaurant

This empress of Greater Kailash II periodically undergoes extensive renovation, but this time around, it has become a new restaurant altogether. The ground floor with its wood-fired oven and semi open kitchen has turned into a cafe, in the style of Cafe Diva in Greater Kailash I, N Block Market. Visibly less formal than Diva Italiano upstairs, it is open through the day, from 11 am to 11 pm, and serves a range of salads, pizzas, paninis, bruschettas and main courses. In this, it is very similar to its country cousin in N Block Market, also called Cafe Diva, except that the country cousin strays from a strictly Italian menu, and the one in Greater Kailash II is entirely Italian. On the ground floor, you can have an artichoke and fig torta rs 430 that has been baked in the wood fired oven and that has, consequently a pleasantly smoky flavour to the short crust that contrasts perfectly to the minimally sweet fig. The pumpkin and eggplant salad 390 with almond flakes and sesame dressing was a great way of using two rather humble ingredients. Roast them and their surface becomes gently caramelized and the texture chewy. It is a technique that is never used in desi cooking, so the al dente joys of roasted vegetables are alien to us. There's a subtle crab and avocado bruschetta 490 that is a great way to start a meal: a pairing of two delicate ingredients atop lightly toasted bread that has been baked in-house.
Upstairs on the first floor is where the fine dining section is, but in the years since its inception, even the parameters of the concept of fine dining have been redefined, so the starched white table linen has given way to a more contemporary look. The wine library has become more prominently displayed and the four tables by the full-height glass windows are still as sought after as before. Prawn and Scallop skewer with green apple infusion and lemon scented fennel salad (Rs 520) had a subtle fruity zing to it, more lemon and less green apple. Two pieces of prawn and two of scallops are skewered and the dressing on the seafood combines with that of the salad. This one is light and summery, so it will be taken off the menu as soon as the cold weather sets in. If you are lover of North Indian Dishes  and want to eat these dishes in Bangalore then Tijori - The Atria Hotel is Best Option for you .Here you will get the Best Dining Services. If you love to eat Chinese food  then  18 China TownRestaurant in Bangalore Provides the  Best Chinese Cuisine.Sicilian couscous salad with crisp fish or Portobello tempura (Rs 460) is the kind of flavourful preparation that is deceptively simple. Taste it in almost every other restaurant that serves couscous and you'll encounter a tasteless pish-pash with a slightly rancid taste. In Diva, the couscous is packed with flavour from the stock and is soft and fresh. The other notable appetizer is Sicilian rice balls flavoured with carrot and orange with parmesan and lemon zest (Rs 410). These deep-fried morsels pack a mean punch. Crisp on the outside, with the texture of Arborio rice within, there's a square of mozzarella in the centre that melts with the heat of the oil and forms 'wires' when you bite into it.You can have a pizza from the oven downstairs: the one I tried was a four cheese pizza topped with chewy Portobello mushrooms. For dessert, there is a baked cheesecake with strawberry compote Rs 240 from the downstairs deli counter.
Source  Timescity.

Veg and Lovin' It a Brief on Restaurants in the cities

A buffet spread that boasts of over 50vegetarian dishes. A pizzeria that has only vegetarian toppings on its menu card. A pasta selection with the most exotic veggies, and an exquisite fine dining eatery with chole-bhatura as its top-seller. 'Vegetarian' has taken on a whole new meaning in the city. Gone are the days when the only options for vegetarians werethali restaurants and Udipi-joints. Today, the vegetarian can proudly walk into a classy restaurant that caters only to his/her food habits. And the prices match those of any other fine dining non-vegetarian hub. Steering this trend are restaurants like Le Pizzeria, South Indies, Soul Kitch, Dario's, Cream Centre and Shakahari.  “It's a vast, untapped market,” shares Vijay Abhimanyu, MD, South Indies. South Indies, at Ganeshkhind Road, cooks up vegetariancuisine from the states of South India. Appams and dosas are served with an extensive array of foods like the Mokka Junna Miriyalu Fry, the podi-tossed Idlis and so on. Cocktails like the Rasa Vodka, Elaneer Martini and Chennai Cocaine go along with the south-Indian feast. Explore here  Restaurants in Hyderabad.
Le Pizzeria and Dario's are two of the most popular Italian restaurants in the city. It surprises many that they're strictly vegetarian. "Not that it bothers us," says Minoti Shah, a regular at Dario's. "I usually enjoy non-vegetarian food more but at Dario's, the vegetarian fare receives full marks. I visit it every week. My favourites are the avocado salad, the crostini platter with sundried tomatoes, cream cheese, mushroom and aubergine, and theGorgonzola Pizza." There is a general 'healthy' tag attached to vegetarian food which these restaurants are cashing in on. Navin Patrick, general manager, Soul Kitch which serves 'vegetarian' world cuisine, says, "Apart from the health angle, we also get the chance to experiment more with different kinds of veggies. Often, our diners tell us that they don't miss eating non-veg when they come here." Nor do people mind paying fine-dining rates for vegetarian food. "Our ingredients are all imported. There is a growing ‘vegetarian’ trend. That also explains the great response to our new outlet at Phoenix Marketcity," says Karnalkar Usmaan, GM, Cypress Hotel, where Cream Centre is located. When Shakahari opened at the Pune Marriott Hotel and Convention Centre, it became the first five-star all-veg restaurant. Chef Pensiri Pattanachaeng, chef de cuisine- Shakahari, says, “More than 25 per cent of our clientele at Shakahari is non-vegetarian. We have a lot of expats who come to our restaurant simply to experience the menu since the concept is very different and unique.” Does the high price at such restaurants ever deter people - both vegetarians and non-vegetarians? "The margin of difference between a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian dish is never very large. There are instances when a vegetarian dish is more expensive but that is not a deterrent," he says. Certain vegetarian ingredients may be very expensive due to their exclusivity and their need to be imported. "The pricing of the dish depends on that," Chef Pattanachaeng adds. there are many more Restaurant/Hotel in India which are providing the best Dining Services.  Aqua Bar – The Atria Hotel Provides the Best Multi Cuisine Dining Services in Bangalore.
Source “expressindia”

The Brits Favorite Treat is a Chinese Takeaway

A Chinese Takeaway food is very famous in the World. One leading paid surveys site, has conducted a new online survey which revealed that Chinese food is Britain's favorite takeaway treat.The takeaway market in particular reflects how Brits are enjoying foods from every corner of the globe. In the recent Valued Opinions online opinion poll on the UK's favorite takeaways, Chinese takeaway was the first choice. Overseas <strong>Chinese restaurants</strong> serve various forms of Chinese cuisine outside China. Some have distinctive styles, The <strong>Chinese food</strong> is called as Chinese Takeaway in UK and Commonwealth, but it is called as Chinese Takeouts in America and Commonwealth. In 1907, the first recorded Chinese restaurant in London, England was opened. The rise in the number of Chinese restaurants in the UK only began after the Second World War, and has been attributed to service personnel. Every Country men now like a Chinese food. So that they have established the Chinese takeaway restaurant in UK and in other countries. Not only like the taste but price is also another reason. Sometime we don’t have a time to prepare food, now we will go to eat outside; this is also another major reason. See the Discount, offer menu, cuisine at <a title="Moti Mahal Deluxe" href="http://bookmyrestaurant.co.in/restaurant-Moti+Mahal+Deluxe">Moti Mahal Deluxe</a> Bangalore, India

If we will celebrate our birthday or function in Takeaway restaurant, it would better or else we may order the menus of cuisine by online, then they can bring it to office or home, it is very easiest way to celebrate.Nowadays There are plenty of specials available for delivery, Chinese takeaway or dine in. A Chinese Takeaway Food is very easy to prepare with tastefully, normally it is very opulent. So that everyone likes to eat. If you are eating out, a fast food restaurant is often the cheapest option. Freshly cooked Chinese takeaway food delivered to your home within 45 minutes. Choose from over 2300 Chinese takeaways and restaurants in the UK. You can pay cash on delivery or by credit / debit card.The Best Quality Chinese takeaway in West Swindon which is reasonably priced and well prepared in a clean and well presented kitchen with 5 star award from the local council of Health Hygiene Department. If u wish to Book/Reserve table in India Online, then <strong>BookMyrestaurant</strong> is best engine for you when you can book a table online and can get discount on each booking. You save time and money Both visit at <a href="http://www.bookmyrestaurant.co.in">www.bookmyrestaurant.co.in</a>. if you are lover of Sea food and want to eat delicious seat food in Best Restaurant  at Bangalore then <a title="Something Fishy" href="http://bookmyrestaurant.co.in/restaurant-Something+Fishy">Something Fishy</a>  is right choice for you and get the suitable discount part.
Source “openpr.com”

Alice Waters brings Chez Panisse experience to Beijing

The Berkeley  restaurateur takes on the challenge of staying true to her philosophy of eating local and buying organic in cooking for 250 people as part of a U.S. China Forum.Reporting from Beijing— Here is a nightmare assignment for a restaurateur: Cook for 250 people using all-organic ingredients procured locally in a country infamous for its tainted food supply. Create a romantic setting in a latter-day fortress, the fluorescent-lighted U.S.Embassy .Alice Waters' celebrated Berkeley restaurant, Chez Panisse, was transported to Beijing last week as part of a four-day U.S.- China Forum on the Arts and Culture. Berkeley and Beijing don't have much in common except as food writer Michael Pollan, another delegate, sarcastically put it, "both are socialist paradises." But to replicate the Berkeley experience in Beijing? It wasn't just a matter of flying the ingredients from California. Waters' philosophy centers on eating local and buying directly from the farm. "Knowing the person who grows the food is the best way to find food you know isn't contaminated," said Waters, sinking into a chestnut-colored leather sofa in her hotel near Tiananmen Square. If Waters was turned off by China's wave of stomach-churning food scandals — the cooking oil recycled from sewers or the steroid-laced meat — she was too diplomatic to say. She responded to questions on the subject with a tight-lipped "Mona Lisa" smile.She did acknowledge that Beijing's northern climate was a challenge to her exacting standards for local ingredients, so she had to widen her range — to southern China's Guizhou province for the organic oranges in the dessert, apple and candied orange galette with honey ice cream.

Given there are only a smattering of organic farms in China, procuring her ingredients would require some serious "foraging" — the term Waters prefers for what the rest of us call "shopping."The original menu called for the entree to be duck. Notwithstanding the ubiquity of Peking duck, Waters' team couldn't find organic duck in sufficient quantity. They found instead two organic farmers who were each able to deliver a 440-pound pig to the embassy kitchens."We knew pork is the meat that Chinese usually eat, but it meant I had to cook it better than they do," Waters said. She braised it with red wine sauce and served it with a puree of turnips and a garden salad.Samantha Greenwood, Waters' special-events chef, said some of the organizers were critical of the use of simple ingredients for a VIP dinner, which was hosted by U.S. Ambassador Gary Locke and attended by many of the ambassadors in Beijing, as well as cultural luminaries such as cellist Yo-Yo, writer Amy Tan and filmmaker Joel Coen. "They thought we should be using luxury ingredients: steak, lobster, foie gras. They didn't understand that is the reverse of the approach we take," Greenwood said. Banquets in China are served on large round tables with Lazy Susans in the middle. Waters insisted on long, narrow tables to facilitate conversation. Instead of the copious toasts of <em>bai jiu</em>, a strong clear liquor, they served only wine, donated from California vineyards. The blanc de blancs sparkling wine from Calistoga-based Schramsberg vineyards happened to be the same wine Henry Kissinger  brought in 1972 for a toast by President Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai.Aside from the wine, the only imported ingredients were the olive oil — also from California farms — and vinegar. Waters and her staff also brought their own tablecloths, menus and napkins that were recycled from a party held this year marking the 40th anniversary of the founding of Chez Panisse. As a rule, Chez Panisse does not cater. In fact, the staff rather sniffs at the idea, but the restaurant has done several events outside its California comfort zone: in Berlin and Austria, a private party in the Caribbean (the restaurant will not disclose the client) and a luncheon for First Lady Michelle Obama at a Chicago hotel. <strong><a title="Hotel  Ramanashree" href="http://bookmyrestaurant.co.in/restaurant-Hotel+Ramanashree">Hotel  Ramanashree</a></strong> in Bangalore is also a very special Multi Cuisine  Hotel  which offers food in a Affordable Budget and with high quality. Explore here <strong><a title="the village restaurant" href="http://bookmyrestaurant.co.in/restaurant-The+Village+Marathahalli">the village restaurant</a></strong> in Bangalore.

The skill level of Chinese sous chefs hired to help out in Beijing made things easier here. The second course of the dinner was consomme with butternut squash tortellini, which is technically very difficult."But we figured if there's anywhere it can be done it's here because they all have dumpling-making skills," Greenwood said. "We put them on it, and they just got it immediately. We fell in love with the cooks."The U.S. Embassy had never done a large dinner before and Waters had never cooked in an embassy before, so there was some stumbling on both sides to make it work."They were open and welcoming, but it was like you can do anything you want if you give us three months' notice," Greenwood said. "If you wanted to unscrew a light bulb, it took 20 emails."In the end, though, they were able to remove the fluorescent lights. Improbably enough, Waters received permission to burn small bundles of rosemary in the courtyard to warm the tmosphere.And one aspect of U.S. Embassy security was definitely appreciated: Visitors had to surrender all their electronic devices at the front gate. At Chez Panisse, Waters said, "we can only ask politely that you don't use your cellphone."Explore here <strong><a title="Chinese Restaurants in Bangalore" href="http://bookmyrestaurant.co.in/cuisines-Chinese,Bangalore">chinese restaurants in bangalore</a></strong>

Source “latimes.com”.

Education gets spiced up as curry-making finds way on to menu

LETTER FROM BRADFORD: THE HOUSE speciality in the Prashad restaurant in Bradford is aloo dum biryani – a mixed vegetable dish – prepared as “an ode to her ancestral past” by Minal Patel, who had never cooked professionally until she came to Britain six years ago. The Prashad, a vegetarian Indian establishment with just 40 seats on the Grange Horton Road in the West Yorkshire city, has rarely had a free seat since Minal (29) and husband, Bobby, featured on Ramsey’s Best Restaurant programme on Channel 4.
Bradford, now feted as the curry capital of England, and its surrounding towns are not short of good curry houses; the Prashad itself, or Kiplings in the city, or the Aagrah, or Shimla Spice in the surrounding towns of Shipley and Keighley. In September, locals seized the Guinness Book of Records title for the world’s largest onion bhaji when they produced a monster weighing 102kg, using six sacks of onions, six bags of chickpeas and 250 bottles of rapeseed oil. The engineering department of Bradford College produced a vessel – since dubbed “Big Bertha” – that was large enough to cook the bhaji, complete with the hooks necessary to raise the record-beater out afterwards.Today, the British appetite for such food, if in smaller samples, is worth £3 billion a year. However, tougher visa rules brought in last April have created difficulties, since restaurants are now struggling to find highly qualified chefs to meet the demand. Explore Restaurants in Karol bagh here.
In the past, new recruits were imported from India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. However, April’s changes mean non-Europeans must be able to speak English, have accredited qualifications and be about to be paid more than £28,000 before they will get permission to enter.“In order to achieve the government’s aim of reducing net migration, under the revised point- based system only the top 5 per cent of the most skilled chefs qualify for admission to this country,” says the department of communities and local government. Meanwhile, British-born Asians, particularly those with a good education, are less and less likely to follow their parents into the kitchens. Together, the social changes mean that one in four chef jobs is vacant, according to the industry.The British love-affair with curry, spurred by the operation of the East India Company, dates back nearly 400 years, with the first curry dish appearing on the menu of the Coffee House in London’s Haymarket in 1773. The Hindostanee Coffee House was opened in George Street, off Portman Square in London, in 1809 by Dean Mahoment. He is said to have reached the city “via Cork”, catering for “the Nobility and Gentry where they might enjoy the Hookha with real Chilm tobacco and Indian dishes of the highest perfection”.In the late 1920s, Indian food became fashionable with the opening of Veeraswamy’s on Regent Street – still there today – under the ownership of Edward Palmer, who became known as the “curry king”. The restaurant became the training ground for a new generation of Indian chefs and received royal patronage from Prince Axel of Denmark, who had enjoyed Palmer’s hospitality earlier at the Empire Exhibition in Wembley in 1924. Click here to get the complete list of restaurants in rohini .
Delighted by his time in Veeraswamy’s, Prince Axel presented a case of Carlsberg and gave orders that successors should be delivered on the anniversary of his visit. In time, Veeraswamy’s spread Carlsberg’s reputation as the company grew in Britain. Ironically, the majority of Indian restaurants were not run by Indians at all, since most of them until the early 1970s were controlled by Pakistanis. Following Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, the dominant force were Bangladeshis from the city of Sylhet.Now, Bradford College is seeking to fill the gap left by tighter immigration rules with a 2½-year course in its International Food Academy for up to 100 curry chefs, partly trained by those working inrestaurants in the region. In the past, Asian establishments, secure in their supply of trained labour, were reluctant to hire from outside their ethnic group, Bobby Patel said. However, the prospect of non-Asian staff preparing great dishes does not faze him.“We’re not talking about getting a white face into the kitchen. We’re talking about getting talent into the kitchen and finding those stars, irrespective of ethnicity,” he said, adding the knowledge of elders will be crucial to protect traditional skills and recipes.The academy was set up in May. Demand is already high for places, building on work by local restaurateur Omar Khan, who started the OK Academy to help unemployed local youths into work. The immigration curbs “basically stopped” the importation of chefs from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, Kahn said. He approached Bradford College to form a partnership to meet demand.Although the visa rules will not be relaxed, the industry has a friend at court in the form of the rotund secretary of state for communities and local government, Conservative Eric Pickles. Now, the Yorkshire man – a former Conservative leader of Bradford Council in the late 1980s – is investigating ways in which the Bradford experience can be replicated elsewhere with a national “curry college”. Forever talking about his love of curry, Pickles says “tikka masala is more British than fish and chips”. For three years, Ladbrokes has run a novelty bet that he will drop into a curry house during the Conservative conference. Each year the bookie has lost.
Source  “irishtimes.com”

Basmati rice aroma to waft through global dishes

New Delhi: India will promote the use of basmati rice in global dishes and non-traditional markets aimed to boost exports, a senior official said Wednesday. "We are trying to expand the use of Basmati rice in International dishes," said Arvind Kumar Gupta, advisor at the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority of India (APEDA). Over 50 celebrity chefs and food critics from different countries, including US, Mexico, Britain, Italy and France, gathered here Tuesday-Wednesday for the "Basmati for the World" culinary conference organised by APEDA in association with All India Rice Exporters Association under the aegis of the ministry of commerce and industry. Gupta said some chefs prepared fusion international food using Indian basmati rice. "We export basmati rice to over 100 countries. It is mostly being used in Indian dishes and by Indians. Now we are promoting its use in dishes of other countries also," Gupta told IANS. Basmati rice is the single largest agricultural product exported from India, valued at around $2.5 billion. In the last fiscal, India exported nearly 2.2 million metric tonnes of basmati rice to 106 countries. The Middle East is the biggest market for Indian basmati rice. "Our total production is nearly 4.5 million metric tonnes. Almost half of it is being exported," said Gupta. Explore Restaurants in Vasant Kunj
Master chefs from various countries who showcased their local re-invented dishes using basmati rice including Arancini, a Sicilian dish (fried rice balls) by Chef Matt Edmonds from London and Maki roll by Michelin-star chef Lionel Levy of the Une Table, au Sud restaurant of the French port city of Marseilles. Flora Mikula of the Parisian restaurant, Auberge Flora, created basmati ice cream served with caramelised pineapple embellished with saffron. She replaced a French rice variety with Basmati for a gazpacho (cold vegetable soup) with paneer and black olives. Expore here Restaurants in Saket  which are providing the fine dining Services. American chef David Felton, famous for his farm-to-table restaurant, Ninety Acres, has created a Basmati risotto with Brussels sprouts and butternut squash and paired the classical butter-poached Maine lobster with Basmati rice and Thai curry sauce. Edgar Navarro, a Mexican chef reinvented the tumbada, the traditional seafood rice dish of Veracruz, with Basmati rice. In a bid to promote the use of basmati rice, a coffee table book was released during the event carrying detailed information on this unique Indian Rice, its essence and how it has been preserved over the centuries to modern days.
Source "twocircles"

Pulling up to the big table at Edmonton restaurants

We something that much of edmonton is having trouble warming to.We used to sit people there if that was the only spot we had available .even people with reservations,” Costa says. “We didn’t check with them first — we just didn’t see it as a big deal. But some people left. I guess the thought of sitting with other people really bothered them.” Now Costa always gives people advance notice if they’re going to be spending their evening at the communal table. Fewer people are walking out, but some still decide not to go ahead with the reservation. Communal tables are large tables that can accommodate groups of people from a number of different parties. They’ve become more and more common in big city restaurants around the world and Edmonton’s dining scene is now starting to see more of the tables popping up. Along with Corso 32, you’ll find them elsewhere downtown at MRKT, The Marc and Tres Carnales, as well as Ousia, the new Mediterranean restaurant on Whyte Avenue.Explore here Table Reservation In India
Over at The Marc, where a hand-crafted eight-person communal table bridges the gap between the dining room and the bar, owner Patrick Saurette reports he’s also encountering some reluctance. “People would rather sit at the bar,” he laments.When he first opened The Marc late last fall, Saurette felt Edmonton was ready for communal-style dining. “Really, the concept has been around for a long time. As a kid, growing up in Vancouver, I remember going to this breakfast place where, if there was a vacant seat at a table, you just took it. It really encouraged neat conversation.” He had a friend make a large wooden table that is distinctly different from the white, glass-topped tables that dominate the rest of the room. He thought the table would fit in well with the light, easygoing atmosphere of his restaurant, as well as help to encourage spontaneity. “I wanted people to feel that they could just pop in for a bite at the last minute, without always having to have reservations.” Currently, the communal table seems to be more acceptable at lunch, but in the evenings, those seats are the last to go — if they go at all. Saurette says although Oilers coach Tom Renney has sat at the table, it wasn’t by choice — every other table was taken. And even when the table does happen to be occupied, Saurette isn’t noticing a lot of interaction. “There was a group celebrating a birthday there, and they did share the cake with the others sitting at the table, but really it’s an uphill battle.”Costa points out the big tables make some sense from a business perspective for restaurants always working on tight margins.Click here to know more about Gurgaon Restaurants.
“A restaurant needs to fit in tables wherever it can,” explains Costa. “In New York, you’re lucky to have an inch between you and the table next to you but here, everyone’s used to dining in their own little world.“It’s more than that, though. Eating is about company and sharing, so the communal table is a way of bringing people together. I want people to sit amongst other people and meet others who share the same city as they do. For me, those are the best times.”Costa admits that “one person can spoil the whole pot,” but says situations like that, where one diner makes everyone else uncomfortable, happen only rarely. Once people relax and let go, they usually enjoy the experience. There have even been people who’ve met at Corso 32’s communal table and come back for dinner together on nother night.“Our communal table often ends up being the loudest table in the restaurant, with the most interaction.”So there does appear to be hope for the communal table concept in Edmonton, and at least one restaurant where the common nosh is more the rule than the exception. That’s at MRKT, where chef and co-owner Carla Alexander feels the concept is being embraced. She says the long 24-seat communal table that dominates her room is routinely busy, as are the three smaller six-person tables. And she says that holds true for both the more casual cafeteria-style lunch service and the slightly more formal table service at dinner.“We wanted people to dine together — to enjoy the food and to share conversation. Most people like being amongst it all, elbow to elbow. It is a little unconventional, but people do strike up conversations.“When I dine out, I’m always looking at what’s coming out of the kitchen. This makes it easier to say, ‘That looks great. What is it?’”Saurette says he’d like to turn The Marc’s communal table into a place where dinner is about more than just the food. He’d like to see “a table of talk.” He envisions a table that’s bigger and wider, with a centre board running down the middle of it. “It would be like a true groaning board — you could put the platters of food right in the middle, along with baskets of bread and maybe some flowers.”As for Costa, one day he’d like to open up a restaurant that’s one big communal table.“The thing I love about Edmontonians is that, while they may hate the idea at the beginning, once they start eating, they switch over,” says Costa. “This is something that’s different, and no one likes something that’s different right away.”His advice? “Don’t stress – just enjoy your food. Who cares what someone else might be thinking?

Source “edmontonjournal”

Non-payment of arrears: DTS declares 388 hotels, restaurants as defaulters

Some 388 hotels and restaurants of Karachi have been declared as defaulters by the Department of Tourist Services (DTS) because of not paying of registration fees and penalties since 1994, well-placed sources told Business Recorder here on Monday.Department of Tourist services (DTS) was the part of Federal Tourism Ministry, but it has been devolved to Sindh Tourism Department a few months ago.The main function of DTS is to register the hotels/restaurants and travel agencies of the province.So far, 538 restaurants and 193 hotels of Karachi were registered according to the record of DTS, sources said. According to a report available with Business Recorder that Student Briyani restaurant Korangi is defaulter of Rs 16,05000, Baloch restaurant Liaqatabad is defaulter of Rs 16,05000, Larosh restaurant Nazimabad is defaulter of Rs 17,06000, Vella Vetta snacks and restaurant Nazimabad is defaulter of Rs 16,39000, Café Faiz Chanesar halt is defaulter of Rs 17,06000, Cafe Waseem Chanesar halt is defaulter of Rs 17,06000, Cafe Nisar Awan Chanesar Halt Rs 17,06000, and Nana hotel Chanesar halt is defaulter of Rs 16,99000.Besides, Café Seaman Kiamarri Rs 15,02000, Afghan Bukhari restaurant Kiamarri Rs 15,02000, West wharf restaurant Rs 15,02000, Bismillah restaurant West wharf Rs 15,02000, Khyber hotel Baldia Town Rs 15,02000, Lucky Star Hotel Baldia Town Rs 16,99000, Pak Muslim Darwesh hotel Baldia Town Rs 16,99000 and Queatta Subhanallah Baldia Town Rs 16,99000 are also in the list of defaulters.Similarly, the names of Khan Restaurant Nanakwarra with arrears of Rs 17,89000, Baboo Hotel Lyari Rs 17, 97000, Noorani Hotel Lyari Rs 17,06,000, Café Watan restaurant Lyari Rs 15,94,000, Superduper Fast Food FB Area Rs 17,06,000, Bismillah hotel Gul Bai chorangi Rs 17,07,000, Golden snacks North Rs 14,50000, Peshawari Abbasi restaurant Keamarri Rs 14,77000, Almadina hotel Keamarri Rs 14,77000, Muslim Pakistan hotel Keamarri Rs 14,77000, Allahwala hotel Keamarri Rs 14,77000, Punjab silakot hotel Lyari Rs 13,54000, Café kamal Hassan zai Lasbela chowk Rs 15,02000, New Naimat Kada Hotel Lea Market Rs 13,49000, Café Ibrahim Lyari Rs 13,49000, Sufi Hotel I.I Chandrigar road Rs 13,49000 and Café Akram restaurant I.I Chandrigar road Rs 15,92000 have been included in the list of defaulters.Explore here Best Restaurants in Connaught Place Delhi.
Report further mentioned that Karachi Muslim Hotel Custom House, Bismillah Hotel Custom House, Fazaldad Hotel Cantt station road, Qalandri restaurant Cant station, Malik Naveed hotel Chand Bibi road, Abdulrazaq restaurant, Pakistan chowk, Karachi restaurant I.I Chandrigar road, Bismillah Hotel PECHS, Gul restaurant Ayoub Goth, Mak Fast food FB area, café Saleem Main Quidabad, Delhi Islam Hotel FB Area, Quetta Al-Markaz Hotel Sharah-e-faisal and Mamoon Delhi Kabab Main super highway have been declared as defaulters by the DTS.Report added that Café Dilshad FB Area, New Mehbob Hotel Kharadar, New Aslam Hotel Kharadar, Café Zarshan Ali Mohammad road, Express Block food Hasrat Mohani road Café Rahat Shershah, Amin's Broasted Chicken Bahadurabad, Café Rehman Predy quarter, Café Mashallah Ranchore lane, Majestic restaurant Nazimabad, Walk and Door Fast Food, Standard hotel, Chicken Broast Fast Food Shahrah-e-Faisal, Malir Hotel Kathore Bypass, Mashallah Briyani North Nazimabad, Mama Snacks North Nazimabad and Café Subhani Manghopir road are also not paying said arrears.Report concluded that Zeenat Hotel Manghopir road, Shaheen restaurant Shershah, Bobay hotel Shershah, Café Abbas Nazimabad, Cahwal inn restaurant Boat Basin Clifton, Café Kashmir Akhtar Colony, New café Quality PECHS, Café caryy home PECHS, Malir Hotel Kathore bypass, Bhitai Hotel Bhitai colony Korangi road, Delhi Mashhor Kabab Paratha Dhoraji colony, Five Star hotel Main University road, Souzau Hotel Kashmir colony and many others were also mentioned in list of defaulters with arrears of thousands of rupees.Officials of DTS have issued many letters to defaulter time to time for registration and informed them for penalty as well but hotel owners have not responded the said letters and continued their business, sources said. To see the complete list of restaurants in India explore BookMyRestaurant . Book, Reserve Tables in India through BookMyRestaurant and get Discounts in each Booking
Source “brecorder.com”

Something to Chew On: 10 Controversial Policies

If you’re like me, you deep-six tons of email without reading, but I always at least glance at messages from restaurant trade bureaus or advocacy groups because they can be good sources of information and ideas for stories for this column. This morning, I opened email from FohBoh – “Food Service Social Media” – and found a link to a piece that originally appeared on the Huffington Post online: “The 10 Most Controversial Restaurant Policies.” All right, I thought, this is right up my alley, as my late father used to say to my consternation, since as far as I knew he didn’t own an alley and we did not, thank goodness, live in one.Faithful readers, may your tribe increase, will recognize that I have written about some of the issues over the past two years, but I want to go through these matters briefly to reiterate or pronounce anew.
NO KIDS. All sorts of restaurants exist that cater to families with children, who belong in fine dining restaurants only if they have the background and training in manners. Honestly, though, there’s no sense making eating out too demanding on the kiddies, as well as hard on the parents and other diners. Now if we could get the grown-ups to use their inside voices.
NO SUBSTITUTIONS. Restaurants usually make every effort to accommodate customers with allergies, dietary restrictions or just personal preferences. Requesting a substitution, however, should be within rational limits. None of this “I’ll have the red snapper with mango sauce, please, but substitute a veal chop for the fish” stuff. And why go to a restaurant that specializes in a niche cuisine, unique ingredients or narrow range of techniques if you’re disposed not to like it in the first place?
AUTO-GRATUITY FOR LARGE GROUPS. Few menus nowadays don’t include these or similar words at the bottom: “A gratuity of 20 percent will be added to checks for groups of six or more.” “Hey,” we want to say, “it’s the customer’s right to determine the amount of the tip. And besides, tipping is customary, not legally imposed.” As we head into the holiday office luncheon season, however, remember that it’s very hard work serving a table of 10 or 12 or more people; give the waiter a break. Besides, if the tip is included in the final amount, you and your cohort don’t have to tax your brains with knotty percentages and multiplication. Or is that division?
NO RESERVATIONS. OK, this is a toughy, and I’ll admit that my reaction to being told that there’s a wait of an hour for a table tends to be, “See you later, alligator – or never!” On the other hand, it’s über-irritating to have a reservation and still be asked to wait in the bar for half-a-freakin’-hour. Yes, fine dining restaurants should take reservations – and they should honor them, as should patrons.
CREDIT CARD REQUIRED TO MAKE RESERVATIONS. This is the other side of the reservation coin. You would be amazed how many people don’t show up for their reserved table, which the restaurant is holding out of courtesy, and don’t call to inform management that they will be absent. Giving a credit card number to secure a reservation doesn’t bother me, and besides, the practice is not prevalent in Memphis.
NO CELL PHONES/CAMERAS. Well, duh on the cell phone thing. Ever notice that when people talk on cell phones in public their voices go up, often by rock concert decibels, as if the person on the other end is dead? Nix to that, especially in fine dining restaurants; chat away at Chuck E. Cheese’s all you want. The camera issue is trickier. No, you mustn’t bring your $1,000 Nikon with industrial-scale lens and tripod into a restaurant, but in an age in which food-lovers like to post their dinner pix on Facebook or blogger/reviewers want food porn for their sites, maybe we can go easy on a discreet phone camera; no flash, please, so watch the light.
DINING TIME LIMITS. Another tricky matter. Restaurants need to make a profit (as do waiters), so management wants to turn over tables; patrons want to linger over coffee and bon-bons to conclude what perhaps was a wonderful or romantic occasion. Let’s compromise: When you make a reservation at Chez Panopticon, don’t assume that the table is yours for the night. I mean, it’s a little unconscionable to sit down at seven and leave at 11. Two hours, two and a half hours; does dinner really need to be longer? .Book/Reserve Table at Infusion Restaurant
DRESS CODES. Face it: dress codes are dying. So be it. That death knell does not mean, however, that’s it’s hunky-dory to stroll into, say, Erling Jensen or Acre or Felicia Suzanne’s in flip-flops, cut-off jeans and tank-top. I mean, really, if you don’t have the common sense god gave a goose, you don’t deserve great food anyway.
NO STANDING AT THE BAR. Ouch! Certainly if you’re at a restaurant bar on a busy night, especially if you’re dining as is increasingly the habit, you don’t want to be hemmed in by suits demanding the bartender’s attention, jostling your elbows or, worse, to have a Harvey Wallbanger dumped down your neck. Still, do any bars in Memphis enforce such a policy? Not that I’ve observed.
CASH ONLY. I’ve written quite a bit about the credit card conundrum and how much servicing credit cards costs restaurants, but there’s no excuse today for a restaurant not to accept them. Credit cards are simply how business gets done. Expecting people to carry hundreds of dollars in cash with them to lunch or dinner is unreasonable.
BookMyrestaurant Presenty Provides the table Reservation services in India .Where you can Book/Reserve table Online and can get Discount in each Book For More Info Visit  http://www.bookmyrestaurant.co.in. Explore here Restaurants in Bangalore.
source  "memphisdailynews"

Mira Nair's shoot creates problems in Delhi

Big Hollywood stars may be shooting in the Capital, but not everyone is thrilled. In fact, the shooting of Mira Nair’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist in Old Delhi meant big losses for small businesses in the area. Last Sunday, Nair began shooting at the Taj Mahal Hotel on the Church Mission Road in Fatehpuri, Old Delhi with actors Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland and Riz Ahmed. The shoot went on till Friday night, and the area around the movie set was camouflaged — with heavy black curtains along the streets, closely parked vanity vans, generator carts and goods trucks, in order to ensure that shoots were not leaked. That’s not all, the narrow entrance to the Church Mission Road area was blocked due to buses and mobile lavatories that were used by the crew of 200 odd members. “Nobody could even make out that there are shops or restaurants behind the trucks. We lost almost R5,000 every day because the trucks were there all day,” says Gianchand from Sheesh Mahal Restaurant. Rajendar Restaurant, which is down the road from the film sets, faced losses of about Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 daily. Even though it’s peak wedding season in the Capital, Jagdeep Singh from Babaji Cloth House that supplies tents and other wedding necessities, had barely any customers during the shoot. “For three days, we went home without earning a single rupee. Our shop was completely hidden behind a generator cart and only regular clients could rummage through to get to us. We lost almost Rs 10,000 every day,” he says. Explore here Restaurants in Delhi .
Monis Ahmed from Jade, a metal souvenir shop, says he had thought a foreign movie’s shoot would bring in more sales. Vinod Kumar from Sharda Associates says, “They should at least compensate us for the loss.” The movie also stars Pakistani singer-actor Meesha Shafi and Hollywood actor Kate Hudson and is slated to be out next year. Talking moolah :-The owner of the Taj Mahal Hotel allegedly earned R5 lakh per day during the six day shoot. However, the hotel refused to comment on the matter. The filmmakers also hired a nearby motel, Green Restaurant and 50 rickshaws were hired for a day last week. Each rickshaw puller was paid Rs 600. On the itinerary  :- On Saturday, the crew of the film was reportedly spotted at a school in Kamla Market, near Ajmeri Gate where the next leg of filming is scheduled. They have already filmed in Nehru Place, Khan Market, Noida and other areas of the Capital. The film will also be shot in New York and Istanbul. Click here to see the complete list of North Indian Restaurants in delhi Ncr .
Source "HT"

Public get a taste for fine Indian dining

DOWN through the years, when it came to food awards and general culinary recognition, Indian, Chinese, South-East Asian food, and other world cuisines, have stood in their own 'Best Ethnic' category -- almost as a bit of an afterthought.People would say "I'm dying for a curry" or "a Chinese", but not ever think of them as fine dining. This was in part due to the Indian and Chinese restaurants giving European customers what they thought was wanted: dumbed-down versions of their cuisines for the masses. They didn't stretch the customer's palate -- nothing too hot, spicy, or different; safe dishes like chicken korma or sweet and sour chicken. If you wanted to experience really good authentic Indian or Chinese food you had to go with Indian or Chinese friends, and you would find yourself eating beautiful food 'off menu'. Explore Chinese Restaurants in Delhi
Happily this has changed in the past few years and ethnic cuisine has deservedly been winning mainstream awards. It has been the same pattern in London, too, with Atul Kochhar being the first Indian chef to receive a Michelin star in 2001 when working at Tamarind restaurant. Kochhar went on to win a second Michelin star at his own Benares restaurant.Being the second youngest, and a bit of a mother's pet, Ghai used to help her prepare the food for the family from the age of 10."My mother was always cooking for at least 20 people. My father was the eldest son of his mother, so we lived in the family home, a big house, with my father's two brothers and their families."We have a ritual in India where only the eldest woman of the house will go to the kitchen and prepare the food. The kitchen is like the temple of the house, you cannot wear shoes and just walk in. It is also about hygiene and ritual."I used to help, and watch her cook, originally on a choola, a barbecue and oven. She used to make lovely mint chutney. Now we have grinders, but she would just take the mint with the stems and chop it all up. The stems weren't wasted because of the cost factor and also the flavour."She used to have a small spice box, five or six spices, and cooked food that I cannot compare with. She will cook potatoes and chickpeas, all that type of food, better than me. You have to cook with love, it is in your hands, in your mind, in your body, not just the spices." Sunil's first posting from training college was to the Sheraton Hotel at Agra and then the Shree Ram Hotel. After his training he went back to Gwalior to one of the famous Taj Group hotels, the Usha Kiran Palace -- a heritage hotel -- which did a lot of large banquets. He then moved on to the superb Oberoi Group hotels at Shimla."This was in 1997, and I was very excited as I wanted to join Oberoi and get a full training and see the world. What I learned in some places was dealing with big numbers and mixing the spices, but Oberoi gave me the class. I was working in the French restaurant to learn the basic cooking style -- I love the French cuisine -- and I worked with the French chefs for three years."
In 2000 Asheesh Dewan, who was also originally a chef with the Oberoi Group, asked his friend Rajiv Singh Gulshan to find him a chef for his Jaipur restaurants in Dublin. Explore here Restaurants in Delhi. "He said he wanted me to give up my job in India six months before I left and to travel around the country to different villages to learn different styles of regional cooking."Sunil was by now married, having met his wife Leena when she was training for hotel management. They have a son, Ishan, who is eight."When I came to Ireland first, full of enthusiasm, I could not understand why only chicken breast was served, no chicken on the bone. People only wanted four things -- korma, Madras, rogan josh and vindaloo. In India, rogan josh is strictly with lamb only. There is no such dish as prawn or chicken rogan josh. Same with 'moilee' -- this is a very simple sauce from Kerala served with fish or shellfish only.It was then decided to open Ananda in Dundrum Town Centre in September 2008, with the involvement of Atul Kochhar. "I went to Benares in London and spent time working with Atul Kochhar. It was a great learning curve, and that is what you see in Ananda now, with our own touches. We knew what people wanted here."
Then, in 2009, Sunil Ghai won not only Best Chef in Dublin, but Chef of the Year. This was a huge honour. "We are very focused on local food and at single flavour dishes at Ananda. If I use one spice such as star anise it will only be star anise. If the food is single flavour you can still taste the meat or the fish, if we put a whole lot of spices in you will only taste the spices. I will do a vindaloo but it will be my style, a contemporary take on vindaloo."There are always a number of different elements on Ghai's plates. If it is monkfish, for instance, the monkfish cheek will also be used as a 'kofta', and superb chutneys and vegetables will adorn the plate.Ghai has the best of both worlds, using his French fine dining training in a contemporary Indian style. His food is always elegant.Sunil feels that people are coming out from the recession. "It's not the same as 2007 or 2008, but people are spending. Lunch is very busy; we do a two-course lunch at €15, and early bird at €20. I have seen an awful lot of changes between 2001 and 2011. In 2001 people only wanted korma, but now people have changed and learned a lot."
source "independent"

Security agencies uneasy over restaurant near airport

NAGPUR: Security agencies are worried that a two-storey restaurant and bar coming up a short distance from terminal building of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport, may pose a risk to the airport. The under constructions restaurant, which is within airport premises, has made terminal building, Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower vulnerable targets, according to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officials responsible for protecting the airport. The local intelligence agencies and officials of CISF have made their concern known to Mihan India Ltd (MIL), the airport operator company, but it has largely ignored them.CISF has pointed out that the tower and a steel structure being built at the place was posing threat to the security. Strangely, the structure has permission from MIL. It is not clear whether it has municipal sanction or not. Sources said it has not been approved by Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other security agencies.CISF sources said, "New construction is coming up just 10 metres from airport terminal building and definitely poses danger to passengers and building. Saboteurs can take vantage position anywhere they choose, just by taking control of restaurant building." It would be easy because outsiders will have free access to the restaurant without any security check. if  you wish to go Chinese restaurants in Bangalore  then click here.
Deputy inspector general of CISF Archana Tyagi during her inspection of city airport recently had also raised her concerns about the height of tower and shed. Tyagi in her report has mentioned that targeting passengers in departure area, ATC tower and even aircraft on tarmac from such a height and close range distance is no big deal for a trained militant. "All one has to do is to bring a firearm, take control of restaurant tower and show his skills as soon as the target arrives," said Tyagi in her report.Further oil tankers containing highly inflammable fuel for the aircraft, CISF quick response team (QRT) vehicle are also within close range. Many other highly sensitive potential targets that can paralyze the functioning of the airport can be hit from the tower. When contacted CISF deputy commandant Pranit Chandra said installation of over 50 CCTV cams had enhanced security and helped reduce pressure on CISF. "However, we are not responsible for the security at the restaurant coming up outside terminal building. Explore Restaurants in Bangalore . For strengthening airport security, more cameras are needed to cover city side parking area, entry and exit points of pick and drop porch. These will help us not only keep an eye on more people but also on security staffers and airport officials," he said.Chandra claimed that CISF had increased checks at entry and exit points at airport. A quick response team (QRT) is posted round the clock while regular anti-hijack and security drills were being conducted to enhance the security.
Source “TOI”

The Eatopians : The food entrepreneurs who are betting big on India

At 160 million people, India's middle class is larger than the total population of the United Kingdom, France, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Australia put together. As the middle class prospered in the past decade or so, it has single-handedly penned the script of India's evolving consumption story. Thanks to these 160 million mouths, India is in the midst of a gastronomic revolution. Indians are willing to experiment and spend more on eating out than ever before. The "eating out" market in India is valued at Rs 33,000 crore and is growing at 10% annually, says Saloni Nangia of Technopak Advisors, a retail consultancy. Bulk of this goes to the mom-and-pop shops, the roadside eateries and the paani puriwallahs. However, the organised sector is worth about Rs 8,000 crore and is growing at a faster clip (20-25%), says Nangia. So who are these organised players? Like Indian cuisine itself, the entrepreneurs who sell them come in all flavours. Some like Hari Bhartia, Ajay Kaul, Jai Singh, Vikram Bakshi, Virag Joshi have brought international brands like McDonald's,Domino's, KFC India.
Then, there are the home-grown entrepreneurs who have created brands in the country. Anjan Chatterjee's Rs 200-crore Speciality Restaurants took Bengali and Chinese cuisines across Indian metros. Cafe Coffee Day took the cafe culture across India. CCD, as it is popularly known, has 2,500 cafes across 150 cities. It plans to add 250 cafes this year alone besides adding more variety to its food menu, says A Venu Madhav, COO, Cafe Coffee Day. Mumbai-based Mirah Grouphas made a series of quick-fire acquisitions in the past few years and now sells everything from dhoklas to donuts. What's also interesting is that most of the entrepreneurs are in their 30s and their businesses just a decade old. In some ways, they have grown their businesses, piggybacking on India's consumption boom. But it's not an easy business to be in. Costly real estate, inflation and an inherently demanding and fickle business make it tough going. Explore here Chinese restaurants in Delhi.
"The restaurant business has a high mortality, especially in the fine- and casual-dining segment," says Nangia. Funding is also not easy to come by for start-up ventures. The entrepreneurs themselves say venture capitalists (VCs) are beginning to understand the dynamics of the business. "VCs typically have a five-to-seven year horizon. The real pot of gold in the restaurant business in India is 10-12 years down the line. If you stay invested in the top 10-15 F&B players, you will make some serious money," says Riyaaz Amlani, founder of the Mocha chain of cafes.ET takes a look at some of these home-grown entrepreneurs who have built their brands from scratch.
Source ”economictimes”.

London uncorks Indian wine

Can Indian wine make a name for itself in London? If recent headlines in the British press are to be believed, the answer is ‘Yes'. Many made big play of the fact that Waitrose, a posh supermarket chain, began stocking two Indian wines belonging to United Breweries — Zampa syrah 2008 and Ritu viognier 2010 — as part of its ‘unusual wines' segment. They sold out swiftly, and Waitrose says it is considering selling them online in the near future. “We are keeping an eye on Indian wine producers as the industry develops,” Waitrose wine buyer Matt Smith said on email. He discovered the wines at the annual London Trade Fair. “The wines do match well with Indian food, but this isn't the main reason we stocked them, as I believe they do stand up on their own,” he said. Indian wines, of course, have been sold in the UK for many years (now collapsed Indage being the biggest among them) but, somehow, they never seemed to permeate the British consciousness, or when they did it didn't bode well. A British friend grimaced when I once suggested a bottle of Indian wine to accompany our meal: she recalled a sickly sweet headache-giving red she'd had years ago. Why take the risk when there was a safe bottle of quaffable Argentine Malbec for a couple of pounds more?
Indeed, the danger of memories is one reason why London's top Indian restaurants have been relatively cautious when approaching wines from India.Benares, a modern Indian restaurant in the heart of Mayfair, has introduced Sula, Grover and Soul Tree in its list of 400-something wines, but its wine buyer, Costanzo Scala, is cautious about adding more. “Sometimes distributors of other Indian wines approach us, but in some cases I think it would be a pity to put them on the menu as it could be quite counterproductive for the wine industry,” he says. “We are selling memories more than anything, and we don't want them to leave with bad ones.” He hastens to add: “It is very important for us to support the Indian wine movement”. However, reds in particular can pose problems and can be tough on the palate. “You really get the Indian soil… you get a very strong nose of smokiness that can be difficult to approach.” Sunaina Sethi, sommelier at the London branch of  Seafood restaurants in Mumbai  Trishna, is similarly cautious. The restaurant added two Sula wines to its 200-strong wine list pretty much as soon as it opened here. “We felt it was important to introduce Indian wine into London,” she says. However, for now, any expansion of their Indian wine selection will be confined to Sula. The restaurant has included the Indian winesin its tasting menu, matching a Sula Chenin Blanc with a fish curry (“The fantastic acidity cuts through the oiliness of the fish,” she says) and the Shiraz with lamb. “Indians have generally heard of it but Europeans, more often than not, try it out of curiosity,” she says, adding, “they're pleasantly surprised and go for it again.”Benares' Scala says that while few clients know of Indian wines, they are “positively surprised” when they try it. Explore Indian restaurants in bangalore.
In fact, that was my experience recently: while out with Irish friends at Trishna, we ordered a bottle of the Sula Sauvignon Blanc and then a second one; what started out as curiosity turned into a willingness to consider an Indian wine as an alternative to the regular European house whites. They'd certainly have it again if it were available, my friends said. Getting your wine recognised in the UK is a tough feat: Britons bought an astonishing 134 million cases of still wine from across the globe last year, according to International Wine and Spirit Research; India produces around 750,000 cases of still light (below 15 per cent alcohol) a year, a fraction of which is sold abroad. IWSR Chairman Val Smith estimates that around 50,000 cases are sold abroad each year, split across the Gulf, South- and Southeast Asia, the UK and the US. It's the competition with well-priced European and established New World wines that poses the greatest challenge to Indian wines attempting to establish themselves in Britain, says Steven Spurrier, consultant editor at wine magazineDecanter, who set up the Wine Society of India. “I like drinking Indian wine, but in comparison to a good Chilean or South African I think there's no comparison,” he says. “I think they do have a market in restaurants and do have a market in retail for those who want wine with curry, but if it's a question of an Indian wine for £5.99 (Rs 470) instead of something from the South of France… the Indian doesn't go any better for the food.”
Source “thehindubusinessline”