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Thursday, October 21, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
My Villa 39 restaurant review
As soon as you enter Villa 39’s über classy cream and silver interiors, most of your senses are taken on a roller coaster ride of a lifetime. Touting itself as Mumbai’s first ‘home style’ Italian restaurant, Villa 39 that is housed in an elegant heritage building sure looks like a home… that of a very moneyed Italian Countessa! Before your sense of taste is tickled to the hilt, your sense of sight is treated to stunning visual montages. The alabaster bar and intimate lounge at the ground level accessorized with venetian silver mirrors provides the perfect ambience for downing a few of the restaurant’s stellar cocktails, like the house special Mojito 39 made with coconut water and garnished with lychees or the highly unusual Bitter Chocolate Vodkatini that packs quite a mean punch.
A wooden staircase leads up to the fine dining area, which is embellished with silver antique arches and moldings. Beautiful chandeliers extend their charm to this Italian culinary masterpiece with spotlights reflecting the beauty of the wall carvings. But it is the food that truly wows the taste buds. And while Villa 39 does serve classics like the Pesto Pizza and the Warm Chicken Panini at lunch time, the place shines its best at dinner with a menu that has unusual offerings like the Fried Zucchini Blossoms and the superlative Champagne Risotto. Also worth a mention are the various types of pastas like the Lobster Linguine, Lasagna as well as standard Italian restaurant fare like Fettuccini Alfredo with Smoked Chicken Sauce accompanied by the Parma Ham with melon and figs.
Now for the downside. With such a well crafted appetizer and mains menu, it is rather surprising and a tad disappointing that the desert section of the menu lacks imagination and flair with a boring and rather bland Tiramisu and a ‘gelato’ which turned out to be normal ice cream that the waiter fessed up to have come out of a carton and not hand-made as one would have expected.
But overall, Villa 39 is a welcome breath of fresh air that has careened its way over Mumbai’s culinary scene!
--Raul Dias
(First published in the October issue of The Man)
A wooden staircase leads up to the fine dining area, which is embellished with silver antique arches and moldings. Beautiful chandeliers extend their charm to this Italian culinary masterpiece with spotlights reflecting the beauty of the wall carvings. But it is the food that truly wows the taste buds. And while Villa 39 does serve classics like the Pesto Pizza and the Warm Chicken Panini at lunch time, the place shines its best at dinner with a menu that has unusual offerings like the Fried Zucchini Blossoms and the superlative Champagne Risotto. Also worth a mention are the various types of pastas like the Lobster Linguine, Lasagna as well as standard Italian restaurant fare like Fettuccini Alfredo with Smoked Chicken Sauce accompanied by the Parma Ham with melon and figs.
Now for the downside. With such a well crafted appetizer and mains menu, it is rather surprising and a tad disappointing that the desert section of the menu lacks imagination and flair with a boring and rather bland Tiramisu and a ‘gelato’ which turned out to be normal ice cream that the waiter fessed up to have come out of a carton and not hand-made as one would have expected.
But overall, Villa 39 is a welcome breath of fresh air that has careened its way over Mumbai’s culinary scene!
--Raul Dias
B-1 Amarchand Mansion
16 Madame Cama Road, Colaba
Mumbai 400 039
Tel: +91 22 6657 3939
Fax: +91 22 6657 3938
Email: info@villa39.com
Website: www.villa39.com
Meal for 2- Rs. 2,500 (Without Drinks)
(First published in the October issue of The Man)
Squeaky Clean!
A self-confessed hamam virgin, Raul Dias recounts his premiere experience at a Turkish bathhouse in Cappadocia
Let me begin by setting the record straight. I am in no way a spa virgin. Right from having my backside whacked with acacia branches by a sadistic masseuse in an up-market day spa in Nairobi to having heated crystals placed strategically all over my body in Macao to our very own oil-rich desi abhyanga in Kochi, I’ve tried them all. But somehow, the famed Turkish hamam experience had always remained elusive. So, on a recent trip to the weird and wonderful, lunar-like landscaped town of Cappadocia in central Turkey, I decided to see what the big fuss was all about and indulge myself with the exfoliation-massage-scrubbing trilogy that makes up this very unique bathing experience.
After I paid up the fixed rate of 50 Turkish Lira (approximately Rs 1,500), I was ushered into a tiny room to disrobe by an attendant who handed me a tiny red checked towel called a pastemal to cover my modesty with. Wrapping myself up in it, I proceeded nervously into the mysterious realm of the hamam, unsure of what awaited me behind the heavy wooden doors. I was greeted by a moist waft of steam, and by another burly attendant who proceeded to remove off (much to my embarrassment!) a whole lot of my dead grey outer skin with what looked like an oven mitt made from an abrasive fabric that he rubbed all over my body. A vigorous massage followed next which was more stretching and bone crunching than soothing.
Later, I was shepherded over to a basin, sat on a marble step, and doused in soapy warm water, removing my protective pastemal, and returning me to my birthday suit. My hair was then shampooed, before the attendant left me to my own devices for a final rinse off. Squeaky clean and wrapped in fresh towels, I made my way into the next room, where I was served traditional Turkish apple tea. After drying off and changing, I stepped out into the balmy Cappadocia evening feeling a little bemused, a little relaxed and yes... very, very, clean!
(First published in the October issue of The Man)
Let me begin by setting the record straight. I am in no way a spa virgin. Right from having my backside whacked with acacia branches by a sadistic masseuse in an up-market day spa in Nairobi to having heated crystals placed strategically all over my body in Macao to our very own oil-rich desi abhyanga in Kochi, I’ve tried them all. But somehow, the famed Turkish hamam experience had always remained elusive. So, on a recent trip to the weird and wonderful, lunar-like landscaped town of Cappadocia in central Turkey, I decided to see what the big fuss was all about and indulge myself with the exfoliation-massage-scrubbing trilogy that makes up this very unique bathing experience.
After I paid up the fixed rate of 50 Turkish Lira (approximately Rs 1,500), I was ushered into a tiny room to disrobe by an attendant who handed me a tiny red checked towel called a pastemal to cover my modesty with. Wrapping myself up in it, I proceeded nervously into the mysterious realm of the hamam, unsure of what awaited me behind the heavy wooden doors. I was greeted by a moist waft of steam, and by another burly attendant who proceeded to remove off (much to my embarrassment!) a whole lot of my dead grey outer skin with what looked like an oven mitt made from an abrasive fabric that he rubbed all over my body. A vigorous massage followed next which was more stretching and bone crunching than soothing.
Later, I was shepherded over to a basin, sat on a marble step, and doused in soapy warm water, removing my protective pastemal, and returning me to my birthday suit. My hair was then shampooed, before the attendant left me to my own devices for a final rinse off. Squeaky clean and wrapped in fresh towels, I made my way into the next room, where I was served traditional Turkish apple tea. After drying off and changing, I stepped out into the balmy Cappadocia evening feeling a little bemused, a little relaxed and yes... very, very, clean!
(First published in the October issue of The Man)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Raul On The Prowl! (The October column)
The weird-n-wonderful town of Cappadocia in Central Turkey is truly out of this world with its astonishing cave hotels, fairy chimneys and lunar landscape, discover’s Raul Dias
Are you one of those people who have always wanted to trudge along the crater-ridden surface of the moon? Well, I for one have constantly been on the quest for a piece of moon-walking action (and I don’t mean the Michael Jackson kind!). So, on my recent trip to Cappadocia, Turkey I did just that, vicariously feeling what Neil Armstrong might have felt like when he first made contact with terra luna!
The origins of this unusual region nestled in the heart of turkey, can be traced to the Tertiary period some 50 million years ago, when craters and chimneys dominated the landscape. Since then, huge quantities of volcanic material have spewed out of the many volcanoes. Forces of erosion have shaped the incredible and unique Cappadocian tuff-coned landscape. For hundreds of years men have dug into the soft but firm tuff to create dwellings, monasteries, churches and underground cities.
I was lucky enough to visit a few of Cappadocia’s jewels that shine their brightest under the warm August sun. There are many places to “must see” in Cappadocia like the Fairy Chimneys, Göreme Valley National Park and rock churches, underground cities of Kaymakli, Derinkuyu or Ozkonak, Zelve Valley and Pasabag, Avanos with its pottery and carpets, Uçhisar rock fortress, Ihlara valley, Soganli, Sinasos and Hacibektas. But one of the most interesting places is Ürgüp which incidentally was where I was staying.
Ürgüp has the distinction of being one of the first settlement areas of the Cappadocian region. In the Byzantine period it was known as Osiana, Hagios, Prokopios, in the period of Seljuks as Bashisar and in the period of Ottomans as Burgut Castle. Ürgüp was the patriarchate center of the Cappadocia region. The Üzümlü Church, Cambazli Church and Sarica Church in Ortahisar which was one of the villages of Ürgüp are the oldest rock churches from the region. Furthermore the Tavsanli Church and the Church of Saint Basileious truly are spectacular places.
In recent years, Ürgüp has become famous for its cave hotels, wines and hand made carpets. The old cave houses here have been restored as cave hotel without damaging their historic structure. I found myself staying in one such hotel that truly embodies the Cappadocian spirit abundantly. As a member of the prestigious family of ‘Small Elegant Hotels Of The World’, Selçuklu Evi is the pride and joy of Ürgüp. Much more than a hotel, Selçuklu Evi is a historic Seljuk house lovingly restored, arranged in an Oriental style combining authentic charm with great comfort. Neatly tucked away in a small lane and surrounded by gardens and local houses, this quaint little hotel offers panoramic views of rock hewn caves and the old village.
None of the rooms here have numbers and are individually named. My room, owing to the fact that it had an indoor mini hammam was called the ‘Hammamali Oda’ and was just perfect! Right from the wrought iron bed furnished with hand embroidered bedspreads and pillow cases, to the thick Turkish kilim carpet to the huge bathroom that is decorated like a hammam with a gorgeous mosaic flooring, everything in this room was fit for a sultan. And the food here was to die for. Waking up to the aroma of freshly made Turkish pancakes stuffed with goat’s cheese, potato and olives, served alongside tall glasses of a salted yoghurt drink called Ayran. Flattened lemon chicken with za’atar and cous cous with plenty of individual mezze dishes was the highlight at dinners eaten in the hotel’s courtyard, blanketed by the rich black velvety canopy of the night sky, embellished with a zillion twinkling stars. Ah bliss…
Cappadocia is that kind of mystical place, rich in history, yet firmly grounded in the present with a definitive futuristic twist. Past, present and future… all in one place, all at one time!
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