The story goes like this. Father wants son to become a doctor. Son vetoes it. Father is annoyed. Son is vehement. Then the son becomes a chef. The father is furious. The son is unbending. They don’t talk. But not for long, because the father reconciles. The son commits himself to culinary excellence. At After Stories, a restaurant that debuted at Sector 29 market in Gurgaon, the son, Chef Pravin Sivach, is proving his worthiness and it’s out there for his father and everyone to judge.
North Indian, European and Continental are the choices here. Because people are still discovering it, you won’t find the world thronging it.
How the name was decided is another interesting story. When one day the owners, the consultant and Sivach went out for a competition survey, which he says, is basically read as ‘there’s no work today, it’s time to get drunk,’ they kept thinking about one name after the next. “The term ‘after’ got a lot of mention and so we decide to use it. And because we are spread over three storeys, we decide to call it After Stories,” he says. In their drunken state, they thought it to be the best name. “The next day, none of us wanted to admit that it was a drunken decision, so we went with it,” he says.
In a tête-à-tête with the chef, we learnt that his Asparagus Chicken Stuffed Spring Rolls with Limoncello Mayo is one of his best creations. The other ones are Baked Chicken Tikka with Eggs, Melted Cheese in a Spring Pastry bowl; Thai Red Curry with Asian Veggies and Sticky Rice; Homemade Bread Pot with Smoked Chicken, Mushrooms, Tomato Cream Sauce and Baked Eggs.
“The flavours have been brought together keeping a majority of preferences in mind,” says the chef, who struggles with ambiguous reactions. “When somebody says, ‘Ismay mazaa nahin aaya’ (We didn’t enjoy it), I am thinking, ‘khaana hai, Thailand ki massage nahin’ (it’s food, not a massage in Thailand). If there is a fault, explain it properly,” he says.
Weekends are the best time to visit After Stories. The chef takes an off on Mondays, when business is slow. “I haven’t worked a Monday in years. If you’re reading this, come and try us out on a Monday. If you don’t like something, tell me. I’ll fire my sous chef,” he laughs.