Chaithanyaa Coffees - Bangalore

Been quite some time since I update the blog ... have been travelling a bit ... well my agenda for this quarter of the year was to standardise important ingredients on my menu .Not that it wasn't standardised ,but wanted to have one supplier , a uniform rate ,uniform quality and specifications etc .... ingredients like coffee , chocolate , cheese etc .... So i set out with the team in search of the first ..i.e COFFEE....

I had met Suresh Babu ...proprietor of Chaitanyaa Coffee - Bangalore at a trade exhibition in Mumbai a couple of months back ....This company was officially promoting coffees grown in India . After meeting up with him and he explaining to me about the coffees grown in India . i realised we were sitting on a gold mine ...Never did I ever think that we produced so much of coffee. I did know that we in India produced a lotta coffee but didn't know the quantum we exported .

o Sudhir (Talent sourcing Mngr -Mocha) , Clyde ( Asst. Training Mngr-mocha) & ,myself set out in search of setting one of our basic products right...Our ESPRESSO BLEND ... and some speciality coffees like the Monsoon Malabar ,Indian Pea Berry and some speciality coffees from India grown from the Coorg , Chickmanglur ,Waynad etc regions of India

Sudhir & Clye @ Chaithanyaa Coffee

After landing into Bangalore early in the morning we knew we were gonna have an over load of Caffeine .... but we were kind kicked about it ....

At the shop Suresh Babu had made a dessert for us named .."EAT COFFEE"..... It was kinda a coffee extract set like a jelly and slightly translucent .An okish product for my palette and not some thing I would die for ....

Suresh Babu has been Trading coffee since the last 40 + years ... The business had been set up by his dad and he has been taking care it since the last decade .He has an understanding with the Coffee Board Of India to promote coffees grown in India under the new scheme of the Coffee Board .... Coffees of India.http://www.indiacoffee.org/indiacoffee.php?page=CoffeeRegionsIndia

Mr. Babu is quite a traveller ... and his love for coffee has taken him to quite a few coffee growing regions across the globe. Whislt travelling he brings along a lot of coffee . This time around he had kept aside single origin beans from Guatemala , Peru, Brazil and some decaffeinated coffee for us . He has a small batch drum roaster in which he roasts smaller quantities of coffee .

Single origin Beans

The coffee Business in India though big is a small community .What I liked was the business practice they followed . If supplier had a problem the rest would come to help ..but most importantly they would never eat or poach into the others business.
Since our quantities were large , Mr.Suresh Babu decided to take help from his friend /competitor Mr. Surya Prakash who runs the 2nd generation Coorg Coffee Supplies Pvt Ltd in Bangalore . Mr Surya Prakash was a walking dictionary of coffee. He is the chairperson of the tasting panel of the Coffee Board Of India and his Knowledge about coffee was amazing . we were glad that we had him help us develop a blend , a particular roast for our Espresso Blend .

601 @ The Park Chennai

During my stay in Chennai ..Samir ( our Chennai Franchisee) treated us to 601... Chennai's hot and happening place to be on a Sunday at the Park . The gang that set out to rape the buffet brunch consisted of Cedric (ops head - mocha) , Andrew (exec chef - commissary Kitchens -mocha), Samir( our Chennai Franchisee) and Janak Merchant aka.Janak Bhai (our Bangalore Franchisee).

The place was flooded with people ... whole load of Firangs( a synonym for Foreigners) as the Chennai Open was under way .

Andrew and my self headed straight to the sushi bar ..and started hogging at the counter itself... The spread had a sushi counter , Indian Chaat Counter, a Veg / Non veg cold cut counter(which had terrines ,diff types of ham ,salami and sausages . A visual Treat .

Samir stayed safe with the Indian Chaat but pushed himself to some sushi . Janak Bhai stayed safe with the veggies . Ced, Andrew and myself were on the prowl.

Once seated we sipped on the the unlimited champagne and beer .

After the initial starters ... we headed to the grill station which was buzzing like any noisy kitchen . Chefs screaming from one end ,pick up staff screaming for their orders from the other end ...Was fun to watch cause after a long time I was on the other side of the kitchen ...

The Pizza section withs its wood fire oven was next to the grills . Meat offered to grill were lamb chops , chicken breasts & beef steaks . I asked if they had some pork ribs but no ....

Never the less the pizza orders ...Extra thin crust with toppings of anything pork ... we got 6'' pizzas loaded with pepperoni and regular streaky chopped Bacon .( would have preferred some smoky bacon instead).... The grill station also had a fish section with Ghole steaks , squids ,prawns and cray fish . I opted for the classic Butter Garlic squids and lemon butter grilled crayfish .

For the meats we ordered lamb chops ....

Whilst piggin on the pizzas we were treated to a magic show . Andrew watched keenly and related every move to the Tele series "secrets of magicians"... but was eventually conned into all the tricks .....

Our grill Platter arrived ...disappointingly all was loaded on to one plate .... lamb and fish and just thrown on the plate .. marinades not seeped into the meats nor the fish ... squids overdone and rubbery .. I just had one cray fish and left the rest ....

The buffet had a whole spread of main courses ..The Indian section had biryani's and meat gravies , while the Conti section had Grilled fish and Parmesan crusted Chicken...( I had seen the similar menu the previous night at the Award Function ... so refrained from having anything cause the mind said that it might be recycled .

The dessert spread was almost over when we went cause we kept on drinking ... the pastries were over and the was left with Gulab Jamuns with rabdi , Baklava and another Indian dessert called Barfi...

A stuffed afternoon ...lead us to a quick snooze on our drive to the Airport for our flight back home .

The Food Oscars -Chennai 2010

The Food Oscars happened in Chennai last week . Well we at mocha have been nominated and kinda been on the winning spree for the last few years in the category "Best Coffee Bar". We have already received this award in cities like Delhi , Bangalore ,Pune and of course on our home turf ..Mumbai. Our office wall dons about 16 such awards won in the above mentioned cities.

The other brands that compete are Barista ,Cafe Coffee Day , Costa Coffee , Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Coffee World ... All nominees are judged on level of service , ambiance, menu offerings and consistent guest feed back ... Well luckily we head all ...hehhehhehahahaha.

Winners are announced 2 weeks in advance. and all award winners are supposed to display their best at the award function. This function also has the Launch of the Times Food & Night Life Guide for that particular city . So actually on the day of the awards one can taste the best food of the city and bump into all the leading chefs & Restauranters.

So Chef Andrew (our Executive Chef of Commissary's) and myself flew down to Chennai to receive our priceless possession. Along with our props we had some of our mise en place done in Mumbai itself so that we don't waste time in Chennai.

We were to do an extremely simple menu ...nothing lavish as we had o be in Chennai for only 1 day before the awards . So out menu comprised of

Cup Cakes

Carrot Cake

Cake Lollies

Lemon & Apple Pie Shooters

Strawberry Canapes

Air sprayed Chocolate Mousse

Gooey Walnut Brownies

Brownie & Krischwasser Pears

Blue berry Cream Cheese torte

Strawberry Canapes / Air Sprayed Chocolate mousse .

Cup Cakes /cake Lollies/Apple & Lemon Pie Shooters /Strawberry Canapes .

j 2 mousse cake /Brownie & Kirschwasser Pears /Cup Cakes / Carrot Cake with Cream cheese Frosting .


60% Dark Chocolate Ganache torte /Walnut Brownies /Blueberry Cream Cheese Totre

A lot of of other restaurants did showcase their food ...but I remained busy for the rest of the evening entertaining guests at our counter ...

The Better news is that I just got a call yesterday that we had won the best Coffee Bar in Mumbai too and also our Italian Restaurant "Delitalia" won for the best stand alone restaurant .

To the Mumbai Star studded food Oscar night will be with full gusto and I shall be back with more pics ....

Congrats team Mocha....

9 Ft High - Chennai

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Went to this beautiful looking restaurant in Chennai yesterday night . Was out with my colleagues and my Franchisee Sam. The only options to drink in Chennai is to go to either a 3-5 star hotel because serving alcohol in the state of Chennai is banned . So Sam suggested he take us to a really beautiful place..

Driving to the crazy Chennai's traffic (wasn't missing mumbai's traffic much) was peace full cause I was driven around vis -a -vie me driving bck home in mumbai. Went past Adyar ( a suburb of Chennai) we we driving on the famous ECR ( East Coast Road) ..this road lines the second longest Beach stretch in the word .5-6 km driving sam took a detour towards the beach.. went past beautiful bungalows of the affluent of Chennai. then drove on a sandy stretch past Krish Shrikanths house ( famous Indian Cricketer) to this beautiful beach front place called Tangy .

It was drizzling in Chennai and the weather was beautiful.

We were guided by the restaurants manager who obliged us by giving us a table on the upper deck .

The crowd surprisingly was 98% male (which was a downer) and some kiddie females . But we were here to drink ;) .

Music played by a Dj was techno and house with a lille retro thrown in . After getting a table we were hurriedly asked to place the order as 2230 hrs is the last order for the food. You could get your booze till 2330hrs. We were suggested by the order taker to indulge in the non -veg and veg platters ... Portions were good but nothing really fancy about the food . The Non-Veg platter had 2 crumb fried chicken wings , crispy honey sesame chicken threads( over loaded with honey) , 4 small triangles of sesame prawn toasts, chili chicken and Fish Fingers.

The Veg Platter had a spring roll cut into 4 , batter fried corn , Paneer(cottage cheese) chilli and some more which i didnt have because it was polised by hungry hounds (lol).

for the main course we ordered Chettinad chicken with buttered rice , Asian Noodles with chicken and Rodehouse Steak .

The chettinad chicken gravy was good and the best of all that we had ordered. The Asian Noodles was like any other Bastardised Chinese Noodles that we would find in a Grade A restaurant. The Roadhouse steak is avoidable . It was a lump of unevenly minced meat pan fried to a patty ...served a peppery brown sauce ,buttered rice ,some buttered veggies and some french Fries.

Prices were like 300INR for the Steak ,INR250 for the Chettinad Chicken & the Noodles .I did not see the menu for the beverages so don't know the price of the booze as I was not allowed to pay.

I would definitely go back for its ambiance and most importantly to click some pics as I had forgotten to carry my Cam from the Hotel.

Strawberry Fields Forever.............

An Easy recipe that can be whipped up in no time ... Try variations like using mango , kiwi ....

White Chocolate & Strawberry mousse
Serves 2 prep time : 30 mins Setting time : 3-4 hrs
Ingredients :
White chocolate : 200 gms eggs : 3 nos milk :120ml , sugar : 60 gms Vanilla Essence :3ml Gelatin : 25 gms , Whipped cream : 150 ml Strawberries : 8-10 nos
Method:
In a stainless steel vessel break the eggs and add in the sugar , milk and vanilla essence. Place this vessel on a double boiler and stir continuously till it forms a thick custard . the custard is thick enough when it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Cool this mixture. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave till smooth . chop 3-4 strawberries and puree the rest. Hydrate the gelatin (as per the manufactures directions). Add the pureed strawberries , chopped strawberries and white chocolate to the custard . pour the hydrated gelatin on a thin stream stirring continuously and fold in the whipped cream . Pour in moulds and set for 3-4 hrs . Demould and serve
Hint: a dash of reduced balsamic vinegar drizzled over the mousse will give it a gourmet touch.

Hotal Guru Mauli .... :)

Had visited this restaurant en route to Goa . Was driving down with wifey and my lille son. No doubt the location of this restaurant was kickass. It was on a small hill lock towards Malwani (a small coastal hamlet famous for its sea food and spicy gravys). I initially stopped because it over looked the vast beautiful Arabian sea . Zeke my son was just a year and a half old and we had to do a pitstop for his afternoon feed .

As soon as we entered we were greated with warm smiles . Plastic chairs were wiped before we sat ( a behavioral pattern shown in some village restaurants as a sign of welcomeness) .

When the menu arrived I was glued ...must be knowing why by now..... Carolyn (my wife ) had already started the motherly chore of feeding Zeke and she suddenly looked at me and asked why was I starring at the menu ...was there something interesting that I would want to implement the restaurants I worked for ...I just could not stop gigling but had to control as the restaurant's manager (i guess was also the owner) was hovering above me to place the order .

This multi cuisine restaurant had everything ...from the bastardised Chinese we get in India to the Local fare . The sweet dish section had Navratan Korma ( a dish classicaly recognised as nine jewels ..veggies in a medium spicy Gravy ) , Aubergines , Mushrooms and Lady Fingers .

The Tanduri section (Tandoori) had Chikan and you could have that Hap or Ful.

Amlette (omlette)was also avaliable . We didnot want to try any Chines cuisine and opted for the safest - Thali .( a large plate with an assortment of dishes in it )(more like a buffet in a plate).

Suprisingly the my Chikan Thali tasted good ...had to just pour the 1/2 litre oil that floated over the gravy out . Hot Chappaties (flat Indian Bread) straight from the griddle plate to eating plate went down smoothly . Carolyn (my wife opted for the Fish Thali (under the category Deluxe thali) was served 2 slices of batter fried surmai(king fish) the size of my palm. She being a fish lover just kept feasting .... so much so we even Parceled away 3 plates of the fried fish home to Goa. What kept intriguing me through my onward drive to Goa on how I had judged the restaurant on the first look of the menu. A lesson to be learnt .... the look of your menu could sell your restaurant ....but not always ......

My Love for HAZEL......

I have a kink for hazelnuts. its an obvious marriage with chocolate . Here is a quick recipe to satisfy a Hazelnut and chocolate craving............

Chocolate & Hazelnut mousse

with toasted hazelnut and vanilla ice cream
Ingredients :
Serves 2 prep time : 30 mins Setting time : 3-4 hrs

Ingredients :
Dark chocolate : 200 gms

Eggs : 3 nos

Milk : 120 ml ,

Sugar : 60 gms

Vanilla essence : 3 ml

Gelatine : 25 gms ,

Whipped cream : 150 ml

Hazelnuts : 50 gms

Nutella : 150 gms

Method:
In a stainless steel vessel break the eggs and add in the sugar , milk and vanilla essence. Place this vessel on a double boiler and stir continuously till it forms a thick custard . the custard is thick enough when it coats the back of a wooden spoon. Cool this mixture. Melt the Dark chocolate in the microwave till smooth and add in the nutella. . chop 5-6 hazelnuts and add it to the chocolate and nutell mix .Hydrate the gelatine (as per the manfactures directions). Add the chocolate mix to the custard . pour the hydrated gelatine on a thin stream stirring continuously and fold in the whipped cream . Pour in moulds and set for 3-4 hrs . Demould and serve with chopped hazelnuts and vanilla ice cream on the side.