Door opens to new drools
Monotony seemed to have sucked out all the flavour, pun intended, out of the food offerings at Dvar. Things needed to be changed quickly. One day, Mahesh Kumar Sharma, Executive Chef, Radisson Blu, Dwarka, got on to changing things. It was about time that life is pumped into the soaringly boring menu at Dvar.
“The junior staff had gotten into the habit of the same mise-en-place routine for all recipes,” informs Sharma. Not anymore. As he lifts the tender meat patties, precisely flavoured with Awadhi spices, one of new dishes, the Galouti Kebab is ready to be served.
Standing near his sous chef ’s work station, he checks on the Cooker Ka Kukkad (baby chicken legs, cooked with a special spice mixed in mince chicken gravy). It’s perfect he says. The 4 Potli Samosa Soup, Pan Kulffi and Sherbet-E-Dvar are things you’ll definitely enjoy, he adds.
“We’ve used ingredients that are slightly expensive, but they help in justifying the taste,” he says smiling. Dvar-e-subz-miloni has been put on sim as Sharma talks us through the need for restaurants to revise their menu every few months. “Newness attracts guests like bees to honey. You sell your signatures as an important part of the menu, but by adding fresh dishes, people look forward to coming back,” he says, finishing off the vegetable simmering away.
He then instructs his chef to plate an order for another new offering, the Maas ke Sooley, a pressed meat dish that’s char grilled, before being marinated with Rajasthani spices. In the kitchen, the chef mostly uses hand gestures to give instructions. For instance, thumb for rice, first finger for appetizers and so on. “Writing orders takes time. The sign system needs to be further developed to make service swift,” he says.
The next call gets him a bit serious now. A table of 15 has ordered a few portions of Nalli Nihari, a dish that requires accurate tenderisation. Sharma has made it many times but it still beckon his attention. “It’s good that every now and then, you have something to challenge you. It doesn’t let you become complacent,” he says.