Date: 30 Dec 2020, 2:00 pm onwards
Though 2020 was a year of trials and turbulences for all, thankfully it ended for some members of West Bengal Hotels & Restaurants Council of WICCI on an ecstatic note, thanks to the wonderful spread out of Chef’s Table enriched with elements of molecular gastronomy and intricate plating by culinary wizard Chef Chanchal Datta, in the suave ambience of Refinery 091, a uniquely designed and refine pub & restaurant of Kolkata.
Being the President of the aforementioned WICCI Council, I was ecstatic to receive the New Year Eve’s Lunch (well almost) invite by Chef Chanchal Datta for a limited seating of 5 people, as molecular gastronomy cooking and plating is quite intricate and tedious and thus it cannot be done in bulk.
Always in pursuit to promote hotels & restaurants industry and assorted talents and experiences associated with the same, naturally I accepted the aforesaid invite and reached Refinery 091 with four of my foodie Council members, on the decided date and time.
The array of mind blowing dishes that was put forth on our table comprised of –
– Gunpowder Idli: 5 medium sized idlis were tossed in fine gunpowder spice mix, arranged in a single line, topped with roasted cashew and served with a decor of big droplets of a tangy chutney and a creamy dip.
The dish was like a warm-up for the upcoming complex dishes and their platings. It tasted nice.
– I am Not A Cigar: Laden on a bed of spiced foxnuts, the dish came placed inside an oval hole in a bamboo like structure, as a dehydrated desi saag cigar roll, infused with chilli paneer and nuts and garnished with a small mound of apple ginger chutney.
The presentation of the dish was quite eye-catching and consuming the medley of winter saags as a roll was quite amusing.
The dish tasted excellent.
– Dahi Kebab in Coal: 5 active charcoal coated smoky dahi kebabs were served on seperate dahi-peri spoons, which came placed atop a circular dish filled with muri mixture. The kebabs were garnished with some sweet & tangy chutney and micro greens.
The dish tasted good.
– Paneer Cannelloni Tikka: Paneer cylinder infused with water chestnut and cheese and topped with ghee-cheese fondue and green chutney foam, came placed atop an inverted bowl!
The plating was pleasantly shocking. The dish tasted quite good.
– Leather Chaat Cupcake: Tikki papdi chaat in it’s full glory came placed inside a torn bowl shaped tomato-tamarind leather, along with an artwork of assorted chutneys and curd spread around in a careless fashion.
This dish also came placed atop an inverted bowl, albeit of a different color and shape.
It tasted very good.
– Spiced Mushroom and Truffle Dimsum:
5 dimsums stuffed with a mix of straw and button mushroom spiced up and tossed in truffle oil came placed atop a thick and cheesy gravy.
The dish was quite lip smacking for all the mushroom lovers amongst us.
– Steamed Kachori Bun: It was a totally different and healthy take on desi kachori-sabji, wherein the kachori was not fried but steamed as a bun stuffed with aromatic spicy masalas. It was served with coriander pesto and tamarind gravy. Alongside some actual sabji was provided in a small glass.
Both the concept and taste of the dish were fantastic.
– Burmese Fried Rice with Curry Tofu-Corn Chowder Meal-Bowl: As suggested by the name, it was a Burmese combo of fried rice and tofu plus veggies in a dairy infused gravy.
The combo was more of a filling comfort food for us. It tasted good.
– Tres Leches: It was a lovely dessert comprising of a cube shaped and softened sponge cake, soaked in vanilla milk and topped with swirls of strawberry cream.
The dessert was relatively light, flavoursome and tasted excellent.
Refinery 091 hosted the entire meal. The courtesy and hospitality of their staff was top notch.
Chef Chanchal Datta curated and supervised the entire lunch and was sweet enough to make rounds to our table during every course to explain it’s intricacies!
All in all, it was a fabulous and educative lunch, prepared with great effort and consumed with lots of love and gratitude.
Thanks to this lunch, we ended the troublesome 2020 by humming in our heads ‘all’s well that ends well’!
As a gesture of appreciation, later on we sent four gift hampers of Ganguram Mithaiwala’s savouries for the Refinery 091 team.
Vegetarian Food And Reviews 