BENGALURU: At my parents’ home, celebrating birthdays was a consequential celebration. Presents would be bought and wrapped in advance and a big deal would be made about hiding the said stash and trying to convince the ‘person to be commemorated’ that we had bought them nothing.
Looking back, we grew up in a nuclear family and I think my parents created this hoopla so as to give us distinct memories that we would carry into our lives and into the lives of our new families which, I most certainly did! My children would be woken up at the stroke of midnight with a cake and presents with everyone singing the ‘happy-birthday’ ditty in their own key, while the dogs howled along knowing that a piece of cake awaited them too.
The tradition continued as they grew and their friends all congregated to sing along, smear their faces with cake and pop champagne. Try as I might I couldn’t convert my laid-back spouse into being an enthusiastic participant. One peck on the cheek and (if he was generously inclined) then a wilted bunch of flowers and a hallmark card which romantically read, ‘Dear Jaanu’ and ended with the same ‘Love Jaanu’.
After a lifetime, I had gracefully accepted defeat, but this year I invited my sister and her brood out to a celebratory dinner at the Klaa Kitchen, a home-style Goan restaurant on my spouse’s birthday. Klaa Kitchen is the brain-child of chef Rhea Aaron, cricketer Varun Aaron and restaurateur Bikash Parikh. To say that they have nailed the flavours, ambience and the ‘feel’ of Goa would be an understatement!
With an array of the freshest and tastiest seafood wending its way to our rambunctious table, one would think we were high on both the food and the endless glasses of Madeira that magically appeared before we could say saiba/saibini! Meanwhile, ‘Groucho Marx’ was thrilled as everyone called to wish him as the day ended beautifully with a fab family dinner.
Nothing like victualling on great food without the mandatory ‘convolutions’ and ‘twists’ and stay true to their origins and taste.
At the cost of repeating myself, it’s great to see Bengaluru emerging as the food capital of India. I know that many pseudo epicureans’ like to turn their snotty noses up and say the opposite. But one can find different types of cuisines, in top-end restaurants, bars, speakeasies’ tiffin-rooms, cafes and military-messes here. If nothing else we have visiting chefs like the two good-looking ‘habibis’ who arrived from Turkey to allow a privileged few, to feast on their fabulous repast at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Their suave GM Reuben Kataria, made sure we were well ‘watered’ and fed and since the invitation was only for an intimate group of friends, the laughter quotient was at its peak. Kebabs, moussakas and hummus flooded our senses and culminated in a beautiful dose of baklava. I have had my ‘seasons in the sun’!
I spoke with the mild-mannered Prashant Issar, the owner of Ishaara, a restaurant that only employs differently-abled staff especially the speech disabled, because (now this is so beautiful!), his brand philosophy states that food is a universal language, and one can easily transcend words and evoke the same emotions and experiences.
A beautiful philosophy that rings true.
(The writer’s views are her own)