I have always avoided attending a quintessential ‘big fat Indian wedding’, because there is always a crush to meet with the bride and groom, a crush to get yourself a plate of food, and definitely a crush when an ‘aunty’ (bigger than myself) decides her precious grandchild or (very) old better half is not getting proper nutrition! But, I must admit that weddings nowadays are very streamlined and the crush and the rush are both handled admirably well. There are people and family members/good friends who step in and straighten out the wrinkles. My good friends, Simran and Mandeep Chandok, celebrated their daughter’s wedding in style.
This was a big fat Punjabi wedding in the plush precincts of The Leela Palace! After the austere Akhand-Path-Sagan (continuous reading of the Guru Granth-Sahib), followed by a delicious lunch or langar, the evening celebrations were a raucous party! We were greeted by a genuine Sikh dhol-party, while the family waited to greet us warmly indoors. Everyone was there! All our old friends and their kids were there. Our children went to school together and the sense of revelry, joyousness and bonhomie was evident. Dances galore, but the most heart touching one was when the bride, Harmehr’s, grandma came on the dance floor to shake a leg with her. Just precious! Even though I had eaten a traditional Amritsari feast the night before, I promptly landed up at The Leela Palace which was showcasing their Ashtamudi Keeralayam festival. I just had to discover the hidden culinary treasures from Kerala. Plus, I was keen to sample their famed raviz nirvana, a fish dish, ostensibly named by the famous cricketer Chris Gayle.
Apparently the story goes that when Chris visited the backwaters, he had the chef conjure up this fabulous fish dish for him. He was so impressed that he immediately gave it the nomenclature ‘Nirvana’. Thus the raviz nirvana was born! Well, I too, clocked onto the ‘nirvana’ bus by eating myself silly. Everything on my plate tasted like nirvana, so now you can’t blame me can you? The ambiance at the Riwaaz was perfect. We could easily be sitting at the Leela Asthtamudi in Kollam, with the kombu, kuzhal (pipe), pullamkuzhal (flute) and para (drum) playing and traditionally dressed Kathakali dancers gracefully swaying.
I remember when my friend Chef Abhijit Saha was the culinary director and was responsible for starting the fabulous, ‘Italia’ restaurant at The Park Hotel. It was ‘the’ place to go to especially since ‘namma ooru’ wasn’t that entirely culinary forward in the early 2000s. Italia gave us the taste of little-Italy and the food was as authentically close to being Italian as it was possible. I remember going with the children to partake on the aglio olio, and my kids would devour the Margarita pizzas like it was going out of fashion. Abhijit moved on and so did we. Well, I took a couple of friends and went back there after a long while since the hotel manager Kiron Kumar, took me there to sample their new menu. We were certainly not disappointed! The fresh produce (especially the crustaceans and fish like salmon) were excellent, fresh, and cooked perfectly. I was truly happy to see that the chefs and the management had put in all their efforts to make this restaurant shine again. Viva Italia!
( The writer’s views are personal)