Letter from the Editor
There are few pleasures in life that match with travel which involves a fair share of imbibing the best of food and wine. I was in the Loire Valley at harvest time with Clea and her father Asit Chandmal, who also happens to be the wine consultant of UpperCrust, with the singular purpose of driving around this great countryside meeting with some top of the line wine makers of the region, tasting their wines, discussing, understanding, learning. It was a fascinating journey. It was an honour to interact with such famed wine-makers as Nicolas Joly, Guy Bossard, Florent Baumard, Noël Pinguët, Claude Papin and Didier Dagueneau. It was an also a pleasure to see how down to earth they were, and how eager to share their passion, explain in great detail and with utmost patience all the nuances of the remarkable wines they produced. It was a lesson in humility. I hope our recommendation of Loire as an UpperCrust Destination will inspire all wine enthusiasts to go make a visit there this summer and come away as enchanted as we were with the total experience. It's fairy tale time, really. Check out the picture alongside, it’s Saumur, our base town and you get the idea. It's the time of the year where we all search for ways to cool down. We show you how with Shatbhi Basu's summer cocktails. As also the cucumber recipes and if you can lay your hand on them, the falsa. Rare kind of berries, difficult to find, but a sure way of easing the body heat. Though tangy it has got soothing properties. Jaideep Mehrotra comes across as a gentle artist, soft-spoken, quiet, but he is one explosive dynamo in the kitchen. Let's go into his 360° view kitchen overlooking the Bandra-Worli Sealink which is coming up and check him out! And please don't miss our latest find, a child-cook, Altamash Gaziyani. If more children discovered the pleasure of cooking like he has, they will most likely turn out to be very grounded adults. Cooking does that. Our restaurant of this quarter is China House at The Grand Hyatt in Bombay. Sitting pretty in its awesome environs, eating the best of Chinese cuisine you really could be in any top restaurant of the world. So if you haven't been to it as yet, make sure you do so, immediately. Or at least the first time you visit India after reading this issue. Our cover boy Shiamak Davar has only just finished creating not ripples, but tidal waves in the world of theatre with his I Believe extravaganza. It's thanks to his efforts that the bar in India has been raised and Indians not fortunate enough to experience Broadway now know what musicals in New York are all about. Thank you Shiamak and more importantly, thank you Kumaramangalam Birla for believing in him and supporting him with the kind of funds it takes to put up a show of such a stature. Lastly, allow me to welcome to our Advisory Board, its newest member Mr. Vir Sanghvi. I have no doubt that with his true blue foodie credentials, all that UpperCrust can do is - get better! [email protected] |
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