Category: dinner

Chef In a Box

Ever been there? – Reaching home late, wanting to eat at home, but hunger forces you to order in, instead? Or having trouble getting out of that soft blanket in treacherous cold or leaving the air-conditioned room in sultry summer and having to gather, wash and chop ingredients before you put together a meal and then gobble it down?

Chef-In-A-Box is the solution to all of the above; and they came to Skeeter’s rescue on one such day by asking her to try out their offering. They’ve tied up with a couple of home chefs and bakers who prep the recipe, gather measured ingredients for you, deliver to your doorstep and all you have to do is cook them per the instructions.

Skeeter has heard raving reviews of Shreyaa’s Kitchen and since they have a tie-up with Chef-In-A-Box, it was one of the obvious choices! Skeeter picked the Veg Khow-Suey for her mains. Considering it is one dish that requires quite a few diverse ingredients to have at home, before you think of making it, even though Skeeter knew what was coming, it was a delight to see everything prepped, packed and sent over. 10 ingredients, no less! Garnish as well! Skeeter asked for the egg to be omitted and they did so. The cooking bit was a breeze. The taste was spot on (salt, spice, all in place)! The only low point in the entire process was that the gravy thickened a bit too much upon adding chickpea flour. Skeeter had hot water handy and salvaged her Khow Suey dinner. The quantity was enough for two, and depending on your appetite, even three can easily share this one! 

The second recipe that Skeeter tried was Rich Dark Chocolate Pots, a dessert by Chocooze, which was a cool four-ingredients dish. This one was again a breeze to make and requires three hours of minimum refrigeration. With minimal effort required to put this one together, it was a hit, and tasted swell! Skeeter chose two big pots instead of four.

What needs improvement? Same day delivery needs to be introduced. More chefs/home cooks need to be added for greater variety.

Price:

Khow Suey from Shreyaa’s Kitchen (Serves 2): Rs 410
Chocolate pots from Chocooze (Serves 4): Rs 455
One has to order a day in advance, so yes, this is not one of those instant services, but convenient for sure. 
Where to order? www.chefinabox.in

La Compagnia – A dinner with strangers

It’s a strange feeling to go for a dinner without knowing anyone on the table and coming back with a few friends in your kitty. Skeeter experienced the same at La Compagnia: A dinner with strangers.

The concept

A dinner at a pre-determined venue with a specially curated menu will be held each month in various cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and more… There are no +1s allowed. You have to be a solo diner. You’d be joined by other such diners and would gradually get to know each other over perfectly timed courses that give you ample time to befriend and network with others on the table. The table could have people who are new to the city, people who are looking for work-related opportunities, or just a cool bunch to dine out with and explore a new cuisine, perhaps.

Dinner with strangers is a concept popular in the West, which people sometimes organise at their homes. Yes, they open their homes to complete strangers and sometimes even throw in a new cuisine for everyone to sample. The possibilities are endless. It maybe a potluck, or a cookoff, it only gets as fancy as your mind.

The venue for the debut La Compgania table in Delhi was Guppy by Ai at Lodhi Road. We arrived to a neatly laid table with fresh flowers, sparkling cutlery and our respective name tags. As all diners arrived we took our seats and began the introductions. The table was a good mix of entrepreneurs, start-up funders, start-up owners, journalists and writers. We all happened to share the table with Marryam Reshii, a respected food writer/critic, one Skeeter personally adores. Conversations, food, and alcohol did rounds, not necessarily in any order. Sometimes, the experience precedes the food and this was one such event. For the uninitiated, Guppy is Skeeter’s comfort food place, where she’d hop in for some Rock Corn Tempura or a Udon noodles and mushroom bowl. They do some great cocktails too!  
The meal included Amuse Bouche, appetizers, cocktails, main course and a dessert platter. 
Damages:  Rs 1850 per head.
P.S.: This was one of the better organised events that Skeets has been to in a long, long time! 

Tres -> Delhi’s sparkling star

The mood

A much needed dinner outing had Skeety thinking and after closing in on a Chinese favourite Skeety dumped it for the Modern European food serving restaurant in town: Tres. And no cheesecakes for guessing Skeety came home happy after the dinner. It was an absolute impulsive, ‘I must get out today’ evening. Skeeter was not hungry. Okay not much. She called up for the directions, and was told the exact directions (it pays to have well-informed staff). Reached there without event on the broomstick.

The drinks

Our table set in for the evening with an Apple Rosemary julip (Rs 225) that had fresh apple chunks, a twig of fresh rosemary, zesty lemon topped up with lemonade. A rather refreshing take on a drink. As perfect as it could be. The second drink we ordered was the Tres Mary (Rs 225), which the menu says is a Classic Virgin Mary with house made tomato jalapeno relish. A lovely drink again, though I’d have liked the rim of my glass much better salted (It could just be a Skeeter thing). We also had a generous and very fresh bread basket accompanying the drinks.

The food

The menu lists these broad categories: Small plates, Sharing plates, Salads & Appetizers, Soups, Mains, Meats and desserts.
We chose to order Roasted goat cheese and beetroot, apple walnut dressing and olive bread (Rs 419) from Salads & Appetizers. What we got was a giant slab of goat cheese on the slightly toasted olive bread with a taste bud teaser, finger licking good, beetroot, apple walnut dressing on a bed of lettuce. A medley of flavours, each distinct and each binding all ingredients together for a unique flavour. This was a dish Skeeter will definitely go back and order again. We requested our attendant to leave the plate so that we could polish off the dressing to the last drop. Skeeter does believe in helping nice restaurants clean the plates you see.

Next, we opted for the vegetarian sharing plate, which is a trio of chef’s selection served with dry salad, relish and crust bread (Rs 659). The chef can never be wrong. We trusted them blindly and got our share of a)Baked artichoke hearts b)Roasted summer peppers, aubergines and mushrooms and c)Deep fried corn tortellini with salsa verde for the sharing plate. The baked artichoke hearts stole Skeety’s heart. Naughty them. The roasted peppers, aubergines, mushrooms had bulbs of garlic thrown in and a chunk of cheese for company which altogether made for a very, very warm and hearty plate. The tortellini were perfect but the salsa verde did not shine much. As much as Skeeter would have liked to order the Mains, she thought an almost full stomach would not be able to do justice to those plates of art. And then, Skeeter wanted to secretly make some room for dessert.
The list of desserts made us slightly dizzy (so many good options to choose from), so we went ahead with the chef Julia’s recommendation of a “little different” Cajita (Cajeta) cake with seasonal fruit, a Tres speciality and trademark. An extraordinary end to a magnificent dinner.
The people and some titbits
Chef Jatin Mallick, Chef Julia and Fatima Lobo are the people behind the place. Tres means three in Spanish.
If you make a reservation and go you are likely to be better off as the place got almost full by 8:15ish.
They are open for dinner only and start early at 6pm.
The plating of each dish was outstanding and made each dish very, very visually appealing.

The not so good
Our tiny table could barely accommodate the beautiful big plates. 
The waiters were in a rush to take away our glass of unfinished beverage which we did not like. We had to stop them but our lovely bread basket was taken away. *Insert very sad smiley*
None of the above will deter us from going there again and again, and more. Will try to update this post as and when.
How to reach
Shop No. 17, Main Market, Lodhi Colony, Delhi, 110003
Opposite Vir Savarkar Park 
Ph:  011 24625520
Damages: Approx Rs 3,500 for two without alcohol.