Swiss Tragedy

WHILE 2016 was straight out of a horror film, the food scene in India was one of the few redeeming features. By some strange alchemy (and a lot of venture capital funding), popular restaurants this year sprouted in many avatars in different cities. While this attack of the clones might not end a rebellion, it certainly helps the dissemination of interesting and well-curated menus across India’s culinary landscape.

Heading the list is Massive Restaurants, the industry behemoth headed by Zorawar Kalra, which opened multiple brands across cities after a highly successful 2015. In that year, they introduced Farzi Cafe, which melded scientific cooking techniques with the bold, unrestrained flavours of regional Indian cuisines, while 2016 was all about expanding the brand consciousness. With outposts of Farzi opening up in Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Dubai, it was a massive year for, er, Massive Restaurants.

They also expanded the footprint of their Made in Punjab and Masala Library by Jiggs Kalra brands in — Noida and Bengaluru, and Delhi, respectively — as well as opened the hedonistic Masala Bar on the hip Carter Road in Mumbai.

Their most exciting venture, however, came just before the year ended with the opening of Pa Pa Ya, in Delhi. A wild re-imagination of Asian food with 150 dishes such as tuna tartare pizza and a superstructure of sushi and sashimi called the Matrix meant to be eaten by hand, Pa Pa Ya was first opened in Mumbai in 2015.

The success of another brand is the kind that can only happen in India. After Parsi and Irani bakeries, and chai shops were allowed to die a quiet and ignominious death in Mumbai, its basic concept was distilled into a new restaurant in Gurgaon’s Cyber Hub. Sodabottleopenerwala (SBOW), which opened on the eve of 2014 under the umbrella of the Olive group of restaurants, resurrected classic Parsi dishes, served in a space with interiors as eccentric as the people its inspired by, and an in-house bakery and sweet shop.

“Gurugram was the first market we opened in, and then signed on the next outlet at Khan Market. We waited for both properties to settle THE WORLD’S BEST chef, according to French Foreign Ministry’s La Liste, Benoît Violier committed suicide on January 31. Chef-owner of the three Michelinstarred Restaurant de l’hôtel de Ville in Switzerland, Violier did not leave a note