Date Night in Mumbai

No romance is necessary at the Maximum City’s new standouts

AAt the entrance of CinCin, you’re greeted by the sight of freshly rolled dough in various shapes and sizes. Guitar-stringed chitarra or the thicker pappardelle—what they refer to as “hand-rolled amore”—is kept to dry on pasta hangers placed strategically in the window of the kitchen’s open section.

Prior to its launch last month, KA Hospitality, the outfit that brought the popular, Michelin-starred Yauatcha to Mumbai, had envisioned CinCin as the city’s answer to a Venetian bacari bar— serving only cicchetti, Italy’s answer to Spain’s tapas. But small plates haven’t caught on with Indian diners.

“When they go to an Italian restaurant, the people of Mumbai look

for large portions,” says chef Romina Lugaresi, collaborative chef, CinCin. So the piattini or small plates menu has been supplemented with a far wider range of foods representing several different regions of Italy.

We’re not complaining. There’s little fault to find in anything that leaves the kitchens of Lugaresi and executive chef Sameer Karkar. Vegetarians must try the strozzapreti ala norma, with eggplants and smoked scarmoza, while the pappardelle with lamb ragu is a good choice for meat-eaters. Lugaresi recommends the capaletti with ricotta and nutmeg, which is typical of the region of EmiliaRomagna, where she grew up. The cicchetti menu is quite extensive, but the delicious creamy burrata is a good place to begin.

The burrata is one of the few ingredients sourced locally; almost everything else is imported from Italy. Lugaresi believes that’s what helps them recreate the original flavours of the ragu served in Bologna or the Carbonara made in Rome. The latest treasure: black truffles that Lugaresi brought back from her trip back home in Italy. No surprise then that a special truffle-inspired menu has been created.