Making foodies at Delhi’s first restaurant week (Eating out with IANS)

DELHI - They soak in the plush settings, gently enquire about the right way to eat their sushi and then tuck right in! If the idea was to make cost conscious foodies step into big ticket restaurants, then the Delhi Restaurant Week has sure done it.

For seven hearty days, seven of Delhi’s most luxurious restaurants with cuisines ranging from Japanese to Mediterranean to Chinese are doling out exquisite three-course meals at a fixed price of Rs.1,000 per person.

And foodies are surely game for it.

“There have been a lot of first-timers during this week,” says Ashim Rastogi, manager of Japanese restaurant Sakura at the Metropolitan Hotel. Sakura is one of the seven participating restaurants in the Jan 31-Feb 6 food marathon week.

So, if the idea of a sumptuous meal ignites your taste buds, but a quick estimate of the post-indulgence damages stops you from heading towards that high-end restaurant, then the Delhi Restaurant Week is your culinary prayers answered!

A quick glance through the restaurant week website shows that all the seven restaurants are booked to capacity till Feb 6 and only a last minute back-out by someone can win you a berth.

“These are quite time-consuming tables as they like to go into the details of the ingredients in their sushi. They like to know the proper combinations, way of eating,” says Rastogi of Sakura.

The other participants are Varq at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Indian Accent at The Manor, Smoke House Grill, Olive at The Qutub, Tapas at Aman and Taipan, the Chinese rooftop restaurant at The Oberoi.

The concept, a foreign import, dates back to 1992 with New York leading from the front for the cause of food lovers. The restaurant week made its Indian debut in Mumbai last year and was quite a rage among gourmet circles.

This year the restaurant week is on a two-city trip with Mumbai as the next destination.

“We are simply trying to bring a good concept to India. Restaurant Week is about generating excitement about great culinary experiences. It’s like an excuse to dine out at some fantastic places several times a week,” food critic Mangal Dalal, one of the brains behind the initiative, told IANS.

The food on offer is exotic to the core. Be it the magic mushroom soup of Smoke House Grill, or Belgian endive, beet root and pear salad appetizers of Olive Qutub, or homemade paneer lasagna with smoked eggplant, peas, goji and berry makhani of the Indian Accent.

The participating restaurants have been picked with delicate hands, keeping in mind the fine balance of cuisine, service, ambience and location.

“We shortlisted restaurants that had the overall experience we were looking for - not just good food, but excellent service, a special ambience and a luxurious experience,” Dalal said.

Sakura has dedicated 26 of the total 74 seats for the restaurant week for a lunch and two dinner slots on a daily basis.

According to Kavita Ghai, the marketing head of the Metropolitan Hotel, Sakura made “around 50 covers the first day (Jan 31) itself from the restaurant week”.

“The idea is to attract those who have inhibitions about Japanese cuisine and who don’t visit authentic places for the fear of shelling out huge amounts of money,” she says.

But will the price-conscious foodie come back?

“If customers enjoy their experience, we are certain most will go back - be it rarely or more frequently. The week allows restaurants to engage with a more diverse clientele. There will, of course, be some people who look at this as a one-off deal,” Dalal says.

As Namita Aggarwal, who visited the Indian Accent restaurant for the first time, says: “The kind of modern touch they add to traditional dishes is simply amazing. I’m surely going to be one of their regular customers from now on.”

Most of the participating restaurants have created a special menu for the restaurant week with a fine spread of tantalising assortments.

On any given day, a meal for two at these food havens would set one back by a good five grand. But at the week, a meal for two would cost Rs.2,000. Throw in another Rs.1,000 each and there is alcoholic beverage too.

By offering such a hefty discount, “we just break even”, Ghai says.

For the future, Dalal says: “We want to have two weeks in a year, make it a time that people look forward to and try new places.”

(Mohita nagpal can be contacted at mohita.n@ians.in)