As soon as the email publicising Chef’s Table Week hit my inbox, I was all geared up to book a Chef’s Table. This year, Restaurant Week decided to add a twist to their offerings, with a unique dining experience (aka Chef’s Table Week) with interaction with Chef- through a seven course tasting menu. World over, the greatest chefs hold a special Chef’s Table- not in the main dining area of their restaurant, but often closer to, inside or in a location that has view of the kitchen itself, thus this offers a brilliant insight into the workings of the most dynamic kitchens, and chefs.
Others also offer these experiences as a part of their dining options, particularly interesting are the Casablanca Room and the Chef’s Studio at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel. But the only glitch is that a chef’s table experience is at a multiple of the cost of a regular meal, or even a regular 7 course meal! The up side? Here you get to see the food being prepared, the Chef spends time with you learning about your preferences, and educates you on their preparation methods, choice of ingredients and their basic philosophy behind every small thing they serve you. For people who are interested in not only eating, but understanding the meal and the methods, this is an extremely rewarding and engaging experience.
So here we arrive, at Vetro, starving ourselves all day and hitting the gym before the much anticipated decadent 7 course meal. Each restaurant participating only offers one table per seating to Chefs Table Week, since logically the chef can’t be at two places at one time. Setting is lovely, with the mandarin personalised menu cards waiting patiently to be opened. Vetro offers a wine tasting experience to all its diners as well, which was a wonderful way to kick start the evening. Popped open was a lovely Bollinger with the meal, part of the Chefs Table package.
1. Then we started the yum stuff—the amuse-bouche, a modern miniature take on the classic calzone. The bonsai version was plated up all pretty, on a bed of saffron infused sauce accompanied by a lemony green salad.
2. The salad course was a Bell pepper salad. The salad was places a-top potato capaccio (bland), with celery cream and salted ricotta. This would be a wonderful time to slip in my own version of the bell pepper salad!
3. The mascarpone and artichoke ravioli came next, floating in an extremely light and flavourful tomato broth topped with potato cream. I was actually left scooping up the last few drops of the broth. Divine.
4. Hitting in next was the Beetroot risotto, with gorgonzola fondue, coffee and red wine jelly. This was my least favourite course, as we later shared the reasons with Chef Vincenzi- the beetroot risotto was plainly just too sweet. And the red wine jelly just didn’t cut it- the balance was off. If this was/is on the regular menu, I would caution against it.
5. Cleansing the palate was an incredibly yummy and not too sweet sorbetti del giorno- (admittedly much needed after the risotto!) served on an adorable tea pot.
6. Final on our mains was the porcini mushroom and ricotta crepes on a crispened beetroot polenta. The polenta was crunchy to taste, although soft and supple once you break in the outer crust. Enjoyed the crepes, and the lovely mushrooms.
7. Finito with Vetro’s version of the tiramisu. I prefer real tiramisu!
Espresso to settle it all down. Good overall experience but not exactly what I had envisaged a Chef’s Table to be (we had about 5-7 minutes of interaction with the chef). Maybe it’s just too unrealistic to expect a real chef’s table experience at Rs. 3000/pp. Maybe it’s time I pull out my piggybank (none would be large enough!) and start saving in order to experience the real thing!
