Says Sharmi

The Veg Thali Mashi, who looks after Bono at home in my absence is from a village in Howrah. When she first came into our house six years ago, I noticed she liked her food spicy. Owning a palette that couldn’t take much heat, I kept asking her how she was digesting the red chillies with such ease. “Habit!” she reasoned, adding, “Without the red chillies I feel the food isn’t tasty.” Despite she imploring us to try her cooking, we were wary. Because somehow, I felt that the heat of chillies would mar the delicacy of the other spices. But yesterday, I realised that it takes a deft hand to balance things out. As I tucked into the expansive vegetarian thali (Rs 350) at Tenali – The Andhra Kitchen yesterday afternoon, I will admit that my nose resembled a little spring from the mountains but my tongue was happy with the strong flavours and spices. And of course, I had the curd and the Sabudana Payasam to temper things down. Ginger fried chicken wings Tenali Kitchen is no

When I stepped out of home yesterday for a lunch date at Plum by Bentchair, Lutyen’s Delhi’s new posh dining destination, I was anticipating a quiet experience amidst the colourful interiors with a spread of what the restaurant has termed fusion Asian. I was wrong. I hadn’t expected it to buzz that way on an afternoon when the city was preparing for Janmashtami Puja in the evening. A steady stream of guests walked in throughout the two hours I was there. I actually was pleasantly surprised by how well foodies have responded to this concept retail restaurant. After a chat with the manager, I realised it was a good decision to choose yesterday. “The tables are completely sold out on weekends,” he said with enormous pride. Coming to the definition of a retail restaurant, it is where you can purchase as you eat. Not just the victuals. Tables, chairs, consoles, paintings, accessories, home décor collectibles… just about anything that you lay eyes or your behinds on… if you

In the autumn of 2007 when my Mister, who was then my fiancé, first stepped into the inner circle of Connaught Place in New Delhi, he gave me a sudden call on my Motorola handset in Calcutta. “I can’t wait to bring you here. It’s buzzing with energy. People, shops, eateries and vibrant colours. It’s so colonial yet so new,” I heard him rattling on the moment I answered. The excitement in his voice was almost tangible. He kept his promise. We shifted to Delhi as a newly-married couple in the last week of December that year. After setting up home, we both ventured out to explore CP (that’s what the nerve centre of central Delhi is popularly known as) on January 1, 2008. I vividly remember falling for the white columns holding up the horse-shoe shaped structure, the numerous shops lined in the inner circle, the hawkers vending their colourful ware, the restaurants, the people, Keventers and Wengers… College kids, old couples, families… everyone was making the most of the fir