Regional Specialties From A Culinary Journey...

The G.T. Road is a restaurant modelled around the concept of Asia's well-known trade route by the same name - linking four countries and leaving its traces through three empires beginning from the Mauryan Empire.

Spanning across the length and breadth of the massive 2600 km, the Grand Trunk Road still facilitates transportation for commoners and traders alike. And hence, The G.T. Road is a culinary journey that traverses 2600 km to bring the best of dishes from Kabul to Chittagong. 

Spinning off on the concept of dining like a prince but paying like a pauper, G.T. Road caters to the variation of spoilt-for-choice buffet with the local specialties of the countries that the roadway passes through being brought to the table.

The G.T. Road spells vintage like no other, with the customary vintage car at the entrance, coins, rifles, artefacts, photographs and archaic utensils perfecting the ambiance.

On a recent visit to Chandigarh over the long weekend, one of the restaurants we chose to dine at was this one, and pleasantly, the Delhi outlet and this outlet could be said to be the mirror images of each other as far as the overall experience is concerned.

From on-table grills to the live kitchen counter vested in the preparation of the choicest of street foods and also crisp Jalebi, to the extensive variety in Main Course and cheat meal kind of indulgence as far as the Desserts are concerned, this place is for patrons who like being spoiled for choice.

Also, do try their Bunta served in the 'glass bottle with a marble' especially the Lychee variant, and the Kala Khatta mocktail.

As always, a meal here concludes with a handful of सौंफ-मिश्री.

Raising A Toast To Corporate Master Chef's Delhi Edition!

There is no love sincerer than the love of food. I got to witness the same late last month at Select Citywalk, Saket which was the venue for the Grand Finale for the latest season of the Delhi Chapter of World On A Plate's Corporate Master Chef.

Focussed on the theme of getting corporates to juggle culinary nitty-gritty in the gastronomic arena leaving behind their desk jobs for a while, The Corporate Master Chef is a crowd puller wherein luminaries from the food world act as stern critics to choose the best among the best and crown the winner who is at the top of their game in the kitchen.

This time around, model-turned-actress-turned chef and 'Mummy Ka Magic' fame Celebrity Chef Amrita Raichand had been roped in as the brand ambassador and to judge the fourteen finalists for the Delhi edition of the contest.

With summers in full swing, the Grand Finale was kickstarted with a refreshing recipe from Chef Amrita's hat that featured a healthy twist to Tabbouleh, a Lebanese Salad, in the form of the addition of core ingredient and pseudo-grain Quinoa, and king of fruits, Mango.

Touted as a Superfood (along with Chia) by the Central Food Technological Research Institute, Quinoa is a powerhouse in terms of being a treasure house of low glycemic load carbs and Zinc, which is present in trace elements in the human body.

When I asked her if she ever had any blunder dish with Quinoa, she expressed her views on the same captured in this snippet.

While the masterclass with Chef Raichand was full of anecdotes to master the perfect salad recipe, the hearts of the finalists were set racing when it was revealed that a preliminary round featuring teams of three to four contestants each would help in the elimination of three teams to deciding the final three or four contenders that would compete amongst themselves to be bestowed the title of The Corporate Master Chef.

The teams were given a half-an-hour timeline to present their creativity and skill on the plate while keeping the limelight on India Gate Quinoa as a core ingredient. Though the rain gods had a role to play in intercepting the conduction of the final, Chef Amrita quipped that she cooled Delhi down to a certain extent!

Being the advertorial face of companies like Whirlpool since her modeling days, Chef Amrita has been known as the Yummy Mummy with her nutrition-centric recipes at Mummy Ka Magic, especially for children. More so, with her son Agastya being at the center of her world, culinary and otherwise.

Moreover, with a TedX talk to her credit, and a Youtube Channel, Being Amrita - Chef and Beyond, it was wonderful to see Chef Amrita in action too, at the event.

Chef Amrita also mentioned her connect with cooking to be the strongest thanks to her mother and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor and the fact that she could create so magic with so many ingredients.

Speaking about her experience judging the Grand Finale for Corporate Master Chef, Amrita applauded the enthusiasm displayed by the contestants. Also, she mentioned her upcoming venture to be 'Punjab De Super Chef' to be televised on PTC which had her touring the entire state of Punjab over a fortnight or so while relishing the dishes prepared by home cooks - each being a Super Chef in their own right.

On the whole, The Corporate Master Chef finale was held successfully at Select Citywalk and Delhi had a winner adjudged by Chef Raichand with a pat on the back. :)

'Bliss In Every Single Bite' At Mr. Brown...

When it comes to desserts, I do not have much of a sweet tooth. Rather, I am quite selective about my confectionaries. This time, however, an invite was extended to me by a certain Mr. Brown, which is a gourmet family-owned pastry shop that started in the heart of Lucknow and has now extended its wings to Kanpur and Delhi also.

This chain of pastry shops is confined to East Delhi as of now, and their newest outlet has set its base in Indirapuram. It is the outlet to which I was invited, to savor their delectable creations that cater to the contemporary palette with a classic touch to their modern flavors.

The outlet is quite spacious and tastefully done with different sections for their Bread, Cookies, Gourmet Chocolates, Aesthetic Cakes and Savories on display. The sheer variety is overwhelming. Patrons have a choice of either indoor or outdoor seating - with the outdoor one serving as the perfect choice for basking in the winter sun in the nippy chill.

Frankly speaking, I have become their absolute fan, after trying their fare for the first time, in which I could not point a single flaw in any of their preparations. The freshness of ingredients, careful and flavorful preparations, attentiveness of staff, and a lively atmosphere make Mr. Brown stand out as a brand. Add to it, their economically priced specialties and you would be good to go.

We savored the following delicacies:

• Mr. Brown Special Pizza

• Roasted Tikki Cheese Burger

• Grilled Veg Sandwich

• Paneer Tikka Sub

• Vegetable Extravaganza Salad

• Chocolate Shake
• Blue Lagoon

• Garlic Puff
• Almond Flakes
• French Heart
• Baklava

• Apple Pie

• Red Velvet Pastry
• Truffle Pastry
• Fresh Fruit Pastry

• Butterscotch Cake
• Choco Chip Cake
• Fruit Cake

Also, they had a separate Appreciation Wall comprising of post-it(s) proclaiming the mutual admiration towards Mr. Brown shared by many of their patrons, including me, after this visit. :)

To add to it was also a digital display of their personalized, made-to-order cakes that patrons could place an order for to celebrate memorable life occasions.

Their tagline 'Bliss In Every Single Bite' suits them perfect and describes their attention to detail suitably.

I would urge Mr. Brown to move closer to my place, and I would vouch for their quality and be their regular patron for sure. Best wishes to Mr. Brown for another success story with their newest outlet. :)