CHENNAI: Of Cocktails & Cuisine

The French have always had a penchant for Tamil Nadu given the historic Pondicherry connection. Whilst Pondicherry became a chic French colony, Tamil Nadu’s capital Madras remained entrenched in hoary tradition. Until Madras was renamed Chennai and transformed into a hotspot for IT and multinational factories. BMW, Audi, Michelin, Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai etc., launched factories in Chennai whilst top international banks and consultancy firms chose the maritime South Indian city with the world’s second longest beach, Marina Beach, for their back offices. International investments brought in an onrush of expats, Japanese, Korean, French, German, American. Suddenly, 5 star luxury hotels blazed across Chennai to receive the surging expats. And Chennai debuted onto the international stage having metamorphosed from a city synonymous with culture and the “Madras cafes” (local idli-dosa joints) into a city with racy world-class cuisine. And, indeed, cocktails!

Kommune

Serves up Kulture with a “K” clinching the trend of tweaked tradition in contemporary Chennai. “Three storeys. Unlimited stories” is the invitation extended by this 3-tiered restaurant & bar which features a rooftop terrace plus a library for quiet, culture and cuisine. But here’s one place where you’d sacrifice ambiance to sit on the first floor as close as you can to the kitchen and bar- you wouldn’t want that terrific food going cold or cocktails getting warm whilst getting to you. This unobtrusive little venue demonstrates innovation but it comes with mastery of craft. No brusque caprioles of outlandish flavour or pirouettes of panache that fall flat on the discerning epicure’s palate but rather compositions of subtle and nuanced orchestration: attention to detail is tight as a fine-tuned violin. Think flavours cascading like the lilt of a soft-strummed harp and textures as nimble as notes from a piano played with the tips of the finger.

Presentation has the sophistication of classic Greek sculpture rather than the attention-seeking business of modern art. Deft creations feel as light as a gentle breeze through one’s hair. Operations Manager Arun Kannan’s cocktails are breezier still. Arun has an uncanny ability to decipher your personality and intuit your mood and extemporise knock-your-socks-off cocktails à-la-minute. The list of starters is extensive and you explore on as even chutneys accompanying podi idli have attained an exalted level of rarefaction.

Finally staff ask if you don’t want to try some of their mains which they swear are as excellent as the starters. Indeed! Curd rice, for instance, has the unctuous texture of risotto, a Michelin-starred one. Exhilarated at this unexpected elegance of texture and eloquently navigated ingredients you ask to meet the chef and are told the head chef is on leave. You insist on meeting the genius behind your supper. Out comes someone who seems a schoolboy. No you haven’t had too many of Arun’s crafty cocktails. This shy reticent kid is the “chef,” but it transpires he worked at some of Chennai’s top fine dining restaurants where incidentally you’d never find the exquisite finesse he has managed to muster at this everyday get-away bar.

What a delightful discovery this, a place that isn’t savagely marketed by belligerent PRs but a discreet little hideaway for those in the know who know that here’s an unusual place that let’s the food, elocution, mind you, speak for itself. After 6 of Arun’s cocktails you had better not let yourself speak. Hit the desserts -utterly divine- to sober up. And then have a few more cocktails. Ensure you’ve ordered your cab back before! Otherwise Arun with 5 star hotel grounding is ever obliging.

Meal for 2 from: US$30
60&62, 3rd and 4th Floor, Gopathi Narayanaswami Chetty Rd, Thirumurthy Nagar, Satyamurthy Nagar, T. Nagar, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600017
Tel: +91 909 23 85000

KOOX Asian Grill & Bar (Novotel Chennai Chamiers Rd)

KOOX erupted on the Chennai night sky with glitz and blitzed competition. Everyone who was anyone in Chennai was seen at the stunning new address and those not from Chennai whizzed in as glorious reviews spread abroad. KOOX’s signature Bubble Wap prosecco cocktail all rose-petaled and pretty-in-pink toasted the much-hyped avant-garde restaurant’s launch. The ever-en-vogue cocktail celebrates KOOX’s 5th birthday this year. Over 5 years the restaurant has cunningly reinvented itself to keep the glam set surprised and enticed. Set poolside on the terrace top, this venue’s many talents include accommodating thronging guests in a nifty space without a sense of clutter.

Staff ensures you feel like you alone are dining in a packed restaurant. A tree in the middle of the terrace stands tall and triumphant above the melee of guests. Young owner Shweta Gupta refused to slay this tree to make way for revenue-generating tables. And it has proved a talisman, Shweta effuses with girlish vim. Ample sofas in exotic print capture Shweta’s femineity whilst KOOX’s concept reflects her cerebral agility. A name like KOOX, besides, signals originality. Inspired by London’s Zuma Shweta conceived a menu that would straddle the fine line between pleasing local palates and teasing those of Chennai’s expats and ever-growing tourists.

Jalapeño Tempura oozing fat tongues of molten cheese is lethally delicious but you’d be foolish to get enmeshed in this starter for Truffle Gyoza, Kung Pao Lotus Root and Water Chestnut & Broccoli Skewers are marvellously executed too whilst KOOX Sushi trumps over all else in town. You find yourself calling for 10 portions of the truffle oil sushi until Kari Kari Uramaki with maple-pepper sauce demands your attention. Equally vociferous for their share of limelight are streamlined Sweet Potato fingers from the Robata-Yaki BBQ grill. After gorging on the starters, for mains you can just about manage a spot of brisk wok-tossed tofu with KOOX Sichuan noodles.

Spectacular presentations only accentuate the flavoursome acrobatics of Chef Ganesh Sonari’s Asian creations, notably the maverick take on Japanese cuisine. With desserts you tumble from the sublime to the ridiculous. But if you can still critique their inadequacies then you clearly haven’t done justice to young mixologist Kalai’s extravagant cocktails which come with all the drama of fumes, flames, foams and fabulous caskets like something out of a magic show. There’s Smoke & Ice comprising truffle-infused whiskey shaken with Egyptian hibiscus and Treasure of Islay boasting ingredients smoked with mesquite wood. Home-infused syrups and cordials impart a KOOXy flavour (for want of a more befitting word). Shweta can’t stop gushing over the intricacies of her brainchild, when not trying to coordinate fetching her little girl from a spend-the-day at her friend’s!

Meal for two from: US$50
KOOX, Novotel Chennai Chamiers Rd
11, Pasumpon Muthuramalinga Thevar Rd, Rathna Nagar, Nandanam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600035
Tel: +91 078248 08019

The Cheroot Malt & Cigar Lounge (ITC Grand Chola)

Chennai has become a city of bars and some very good-looking ones. But none can claim the vintage suave of Cheroot which looks like a gentleman’s club plush on London’s St James’ St. This ultra luxe lounge bar with its sleek suede sofas, leather arm chairs and hushed lighting is a connoisseur’s choice. But snazzy chandeliers swinging down from dark and debonair wood-panelled ceilings bring contemporary flash fetching a younger crowd with a sense of sophistication.

One of India’s youngest F&B managers Abhimanyu Arora appeals to the youthful with incrementally more experimental cocktails that slink down to your table in comely glasses. Flamboyant in sunset orange, turquoise, ruby, these heady concoctions are a visual fiesta. Whilst Cheroot has a certain virility about its demeanour the cocktails on a sweater note come as the caress of the feminine. And there’s no better time to savour this caress of the feminine than over a languid sultry afternoon in Chennai. Cheroot is a delicious oasis in the heat of Chennai. Languish long over cocktails, canapés and a cheese platter and before you know it 6 hours have elapsed! Then linger on to watch the ambiance change as gentleman enter to cherish a cigar and a fine malt ensconced in the classy smoking lounge.

Cocktails for two from: US$25
63, Anna Salai, Guindy; Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 032
Tel: +914422200000/+91-9962169701

Bite before the Flight at Welcomehotel Chennai

The resurrection of the iconic Welcomehotel Chennai in a glamorous new avatar is historic in more senses than one. Occupying the address Mahatma Gandhi stayed at when he visited Chennai the hotel is almost a gallery encapsulating the city’s culture and heritage. But it cleverly zooms you from heritage to contemporary hip via slinky wall sketches showcasing old Madras with invigoratingly modern French chic. It’s almost like an ancient soul in a youthful body as historic artefacts and artwork sit snugly in a stylish modern cadre exuding light and vigour.

The hotel’s culinary highlight “Taste of Madras” has been conceived to reflect the design element: expect street food synonymous with the city reinterpreted with a cheeky quirk and presented with zesty flair, even chutzpah as foreign flavours seep into the domain of the traditional and local dishes present themselves dressed up in global couture, as it were. The Madras Mezze Platter is comely with its colourful crisps of black rice, raw plantain, spinach leaves and cashew pakoda which flirt with playful dips like raw mango & chick peas, Byadgi chilli & peanut, tempered yoghurt & cucumber, a local twist on zatziki. Thattau Idli and Kottu Paratha are hot local favourites, “hot” meaning spicy too but the hotel tames the usual ferocity of the dishes deferring to the daintier palates of their chichi clientele.

The menu scores on the thrill of surprise and showmanship in keeping with ITC’s sense of culinary adventure best exemplified in Vazhipoo Cutlet Slider and Beans Vepudu Paniyarama Takoyaki enlivened by kempu chutney. A parade of chromatically striking beverages inspired by indigenous ingredients like tender coconut water and tamarind complement dishes. “Taste of Madras” is a teaser partaking of a menu as long as time itself. But if you are short of time, even if it’s JUST before a flight, do nip by for this bite before the flight. Then return with more time to explore the hotel’s culinary repertoire.

Meal for Two from: US$20
Welcomehotel by ITC Hotels- Cathedral Rd
Cathedral Rd, Parthasarathypuram, Teynampet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600086
Tel: +91 9384883226

Golden Dragon (Taj Coromandel)

Chennai’s longest-standing Chinese restaurant. Locals would even call it a living legend. The decor changes ever so often so you have something to go back to. But as if addicts, residents of the posh purlieus of Nungambakkam where the Taj Coromandel is ensconced, need an excuse to return to their neighbourhood Chinese restaurant. Except, that this “neighbourhood restaurant” is amongst the priciest addresses in town.

There was a time when Chinese chefs who couldn’t speak English served crafted authentic Chinese cuisine that generated packed houses in a country where “Indian Chinese” is the norm and Golden Dragon distinguished itself with refined authenticity. There still is an expat chef but of late the gregarious Indian chef Srinivas is delighting avid diners with his interpretation of Chinese cuisine. The the ambiance is elegant, the vibe exhilarating as generations of diners faithful to the Taj Coromandel keep streaming in. Golden Dragon is one of Chennai’s few international cuisine restaurants where you will see antediluvian great grandparents dining beside toddlers. Kudos to the restaurant that has maintained its following amidst the onslaught of flash new numbers.

Meal for Two from: US$100
Golden Dragon, Taj Coromandel
37, Uthamar Gandhi Rd, Tirumurthy Nagar, Nungambakkam, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600034
Tel : +9144 6600 2827