Restaurants that never needed to ponder over how to bring guests in, wear new cloaks in a post-pandemic world, realising that change is better glorified than resisted
The sidewalk outside the original restaurant has been used for outdoor seating, with staff keeping an eight-feet distance and taking orders from behind barriers
When the national lockdown was announced in March, Worli village was one of the first to fall into the containment zone list. Resto bar Slink & Bardot, nestled in an old villa at one of Worli's oldest gaothans, like all other restaurants in Mumbai, shuttered, believing it would be back in business in a month or two. It was a task for the team, to take stock and salvage what best they could. Vegetables were pureed and frozen, perishable food was distributed among staff, and meat was cured, sanitised and left to hang.
ADVERTISEMENT
Chef and owner of Qualia, Rahul Akerkar interacts with guests in the new al fresco section. He has ditched elevated dining to include comfort food into the menu in order to reach out to a wider customer demographic. Pics/Ashish Raje
Eight months on, the Parmesan wheel has developed a pungent mold-like blue cheese, and the duck breast has matured beautifully, having earned the ideal conditions of humidity and temperature. Left to time, ingredients too had transformed, "just like the world had, no longer the same place anymore," says chef Vidit Aren. The chef, who has previously worked under Slink's co-founder and chef Alexis Gielbaum, now takes over the reins of the kitchen.
Health restaurant Sante Spa Cuisine offers the Sante in your Seat option, serving the meal in the safety of your car. Pics/Atul Kamble
Aren used the lockdown to create experimental ingredients for his new menu. For instance, he applies the black garlic technique of fermenting to the lemons he uses. The result is a black paste with notes of red wine, plumy and balsamic vinegar. Further reduced into a thick paste, it is married with a dark chocolate ganache and filled into a lemon confit shell, as delicate as marmalade. "Since inception, we have aimed to build a network of growers, farmers and sommeliers who are open to a two-way conversation about artisanal produce," says Aren.
The sidewalk outside the original restaurant has been used for outdoor seating, with staff keeping an eight-feet distance and taking orders from behind barriers
The sausage they use for the pork belly is the recipe that co-founder Nick Harrison's father used, but is made on a hog farm in Maharashtra run by an ex-colonel, who has spent three years perfecting breed for right fat. "He marinates it in red wine and fennel as per the recipe to produce an ingredient that's exclusive to us," says Aren. International borders have closed, but interestingly, borders have opened up when it comes to serving a 'non-cuisine'. "The new Slink menu is all about clean, honest and minimal flavours," says Aren, who limits the complexity to the backend, ensuring what the guest is served is sublime but simple. "The techniques we employ and the preparation time has increased by quantums. The duck liver donuts, for instance, are made from meat that took six months to cure."
One of Bandra’s oldest restaurants, Olive Bar and Kitchen, now offers all-day dining and a simpler menu that is quicker to negotiate
When Gielbaum and Harrison started the restaurant with restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani, three-and-a-half years ago, it wore a purist French cloak that allowed room for fluid contemporary transgressions. Harrison agrees that the lockdown served as a nudge to evolve to the next level. While they once were happy to put popcorn chicken on their menu because "that's all diners wanted with their drink on weekends", they now don't wish to dumb themselves down. The customer now has a heightened understanding, allowing the team to serve what Harrison calls a "Bohemian chic" menu. He adds, "All the overthinking we do as chefs, will only translate into a fun food experience that focuses less on visuals and more on satiating the craving without trying to be too much."
Nick Harrison, co-owner Slink & Bardot, and chef Vidit Aren say they used the lockdown to create a menu that uses exclusive ingredients that have taken long to prepare, but the dish that arrives at the table is simple
Keeping up with the times, veteran restaurateur AD Singh of Olive Group took the call to turn his Union outpost to an all-day dining address. "This has not been done in 15 years [of Olive's journey], but it is a move to maximise capacity with proper social distancing. People are keen to go to places they feel at home at. This puts safety as top priority. Our new daytime menu is light gourmet. People are stepping out for shorter periods of time, and we are giving them the option to order in advance too," says Singh. "Our expertise," he says, "is in dining, and all we are doing it taking into account the new restrictions and processes, and offering the dining experience we are known for, but a little differently."
At Worli resto-bar Slink & Bardot, every alternate table is blocked and marked with red signage to help maintain physical distance between guests. Pics/Ashish Raje
Talking about different, some restaurants are thinking out of the box to create safe pockets for customers. When co-owner Kaneesha Jain and head chef Arnez Driver of health restaurant Sante Spa Cuisine were strategising to open doors after the lockdown, they knew they'd face the challenge of attracting customers. "A lot of people are still paranoid, and rightly so. For those who are not comfortable sitting indoors, we are introducing a Sante on your seat option, which allows them to eat in their car," says Jain. For this, they have sourced wooden table-trays. Their QR code system allows customers to order and pay from their phone. "The tables are limited and need to be booked in advance. We offer sanitised tables, packed cutlery, sanitiser sachets and play Spotify music to create a vibe," says Driver.
Arnez Driver
When it comes to service, a new, mellow equation has developed. With gloves, masks and shields on, the service is more casual. Hospitality veteran, chef and founder of Lower Parel's Qualia, Rahul Akerkar believes diner expectations have fallen. When he picked the space for the restaurant at plush address World Crest last year, his eyes were on the sidewalk that lined the private road leading to the residential complex, hoping to turn it into a dining space some day. The pandemic placed a premium on the outdoors, a space, medical experts say, is safer to hang in than air-conditioned environs. Akerkar jumped at the chance to launch Qurbside dining last month. "It is the prescribed format at the moment, and a natural way to go," he thinks. Cutlery is placed at the centre of the table, and the staff keeps a distance of six to eight-feet across a fence of barriers. The menu has changed, rather drastically. "While our quality standards haven't changed, we have dumbed down the food. We need to appeal to a wider palate.
Kaneesha Shah Jain
Comfort foods like sandwiches and handmade pasta are on the menu. It's no longer elevated dining," he says, adding, "How we serve is less important than serving what customers enjoy. If this is the way it needs to be for now, I am okay with it and happy that people are coming out to dine."
Keep scrolling to read more news
Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
