ITC Grand Chola, was a blessing to Chennai. It brought with it conferences of scales that Chennai has never witnessed before and while hotels around the area were in jitters, they’ve all benefited from ITC Grand Chola. When ITC Grand Chola runs of out space in their 600 plus-room tiny property, everyone else gets going. It brought audiences from around the country and around the world and introduced them to the essence of the Chola architecture. People who didn’t know or care about the history of Tamil Nadu were interested in peeking at its marvel. But there was one blot. While it had great food, all those visitors had to do with Italian and Asian and North West frontier cuisines and despite all of its Chola dynasty architecture, there was no South Indian food. Guests could marvel at everything but if they wanted South Indian food, they had to make do with some a-la-carte at Cafe Mercara or whatever was available in the buffet at Madras Pavilion.
Come 2017 and they’ve erased that blot! And how. Work-in-progress for almost two years under the watchful eyes of executive chef Ajit Bangera, Avartana (pronounced Avartan) is probably the world’s first modern progressive South Indian restaurant. It takes a lot of guts to open up something like this in conservative Chennai but for those in Chennai who are not fond of spending big bucks for South Indian food, this offers fresh perspective with familiar tastes. The preview dinner for five of us left us craving for more as the chef-de-cuisine, Harish Rao, a South Indian cuisine superstar himself presented every course with dishes, stories and memories.
Rasam poured over herbs, brewed like tea and poured over a martini glass is your first course! Fantastic rasam, true to its tangy flavour in a whole new avatar. This was followed by lamb brain in a dumpling. Two pieces of absolute bliss. Again, new avatar, but same but slightly subdued flavour. Brain is very common in South Indian cuisines and down south, brain is served in most places where lamb is served. The flavour here was similar, but definitely subdued, just perfect for a setting that is a modern progressive take on something.
This was followed by fried karela (bitter gourd) with some pickle in the form of a powder. The bitterness of karela was evident, but brilliantly subdued enough to give you the flavour but not the unpleasantness. And a chilli lobster from Andhra. Spicy. Really spicy but extremely flavourful. Like classic south Indian, the flavour of the lobster was fully overpowered by the spices. That finished our appetisers and we were given some pineapple sorbet with lemon froth as a palette cleanser.
Idiyappam (string hoppers) with stew was presented in a large soup bowl with loads of french beans and the stew being poured in it. You may not spot the idiyappam, but once you dig in, the flavours are unmistakable. No subduing of anything here and the soft idiyappams with the rich coconut based stew will lead you to comfort. This was followed by another classic, parotta gravy. Of course, it was presented with lots of spicy mutton gravy topped off with a crisp parotta and a merengue. Throughout the dinner, that merengue was the only thing out of place and I don’t know why it was there. It didn’t add anything to the dish. The vegetarians got idly with gravy and it looked very appetising, so I got a photo of that. I didn’t get a taste because our vegetarian friend refused to share. This was followed by Mutton Conge with raita. Now the mutton conge was a typical mutton sadham (mutton gravy rice), but the brinjal raita that it was served with was the hero here. The tanginess of a boondi raita with loads of freshness was beautifully complemented by the mutton rice conge. The drink I had to sip on all through dinner was the paneer soda (rose sparkling water).
Making the humble thair sadham into a modern progressive dish was amazing. Butter noodles with pickle in a dropper and buttermilk poured into the large soup dish reminded me of the thalicha thair sadham (tempered curd rice) with all flavours intact. The pickle in a dropper made sure it was there but in a modern (though cliched) avatar. The modern interpretation of the semiya payasam (sweet vermicelli kheer) was fabulous. Crunchy vermicelli arranged like a nest with ice cream inside like eggs with cashews and raisins beautifully recreated the original. Even the beeda (paan) was modern and with true flavours of paan and gulkhand (rose mix) it was refreshing in its cold avatar.
Retrospectively, the decor beautifully represents the food. Understated luxury with a vast open kitchen and a modern outlook with beautifully spaced tables makes it inviting and pleasing to the eye without being in-your-face.
There is no a-la-carte, here, but multiple set menu options starting at Rs. 2000 plus tax upto Rs. 4500 plus tax. Ours was a Rs. 2000 menu and it had about nine courses. The food is rich, but unlike even good quality South Indian restaurants, didn’t leave my stomach burning all night with all the spices.
Spending a lot of money for your cuisine is never easy. Big names like Alex Atala who struggled giving modern Brazilian food to Brazilians and chef Massimo who struggled to give modern interpretation of Italian to Italians have had to sustain for a while before making it big. Going by the current wait list and fully sold out opening day, ITC Grand Chola might have hit bulls eye with the timing, though their guts to open this up in Chennai instead of a million other places is to be appreciated. If this works here, it will work anywhere. Actually, it will work anywhere else and I sure do hope it becomes a runaway success here.

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That night was magical. While, it felt like entering a fort with its high walled security entry, the moon light on the bridge that runs through the property was truly magical. It was serene. The view of the pool from the bridge was intriguing. Like a blast from the past.....I mean well past, like a few civilisations past. The pool like the Harappa and Mohenjodaro pool. With the moonlight on it.

Some things change for better, I guess. After a long long wait for the property to be up, the sprawling resort on ECR is up, but in a new avatar as the Intercontinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort. While not really a beach resort, the beach is walkable. The place has an intriguing feel because of the way it is built. It feels like it has too many characters. The lobby is eclectic. With straight stairs going up to the extremely well planned out bar with a spacious outdoor space, a royal indoor space and a modern side to it, the lobby and bar alone seemed to have multiple personalities.

The rest of the hotel is even more confusing. Built around squares, it has a really ancient feel to the design but an extremely modern feel to the decor. The pond almost entirely covers one half and the swimming pool and garden form the other half, split by a walkway. The bridge is on top of the walkway. That night, courtesy the moonlight, it was magical, but I wonder how this place will look at daytime. I have to go back there to stay to find out.

We were here for the food. What's so special in a resort's buffet, I thought. It wasn't the buffet. It was a 7 course meal. Who does that in the all day dining? Well, here they do. Aimed at those staying for long and don't want to do a buffet everyday and those willing to drive down from Chennai to celebrate a special occasion or to impress the woman of their lives (or hope to be), this was a showcase of Chef Ashish, who is here from Anandha, Himalayas. When I saw the words 'Ash potato' on the menu of the day, I was wondering why they didn't notice that mistake and was actually looking forward to the mashed potatoes.

Freshly baked bread with the dips were so good, that we took refills all along the way. It looked great, it felt great and tasted excellent. This was followed by an amuse-bouche, a melange of vegetables. Then the excellent scallops and duck with cauliflower puree, but I am rushing to the next course, the soup. This was a green peas soup, full of flavour served in tiny coffee cups with a wafer of bread with parmesan. This was just fabulous! It was small enough to keep us wanting for more and reminded me of the mushroom cappuccino served in similar portions at a favourite restaurant of mine. This though, was a cold soup and that added to its complexity. Loved it.

This was followed by an excellent prawn dish. Poached in orange juice with curried pop corns and miso, this was a melange of flavours. All familiar, but not together. The tinge of orange with the miso and the little bump of pop corn was excellent. This was followed by the baby Sea Bass, with a citrus salad, that wasn't on my favourites' list. But then, I am not a big fish fan, so that opinion to be taken with a pinch of salt!

This was followed by the spelling mistake. Tenderloin with potatoes, but there was no mashed potatoes. The chef came on to explain how he got the 'ash' on the potato. It was indeed Ash potato with the beef!!! Flummoxed! While I loved the potatoes and the beetroot puree and the beans, I didn't fancy the beef so much, that day! The next course, dessert more than made up for it. Five textures of chocolate with the fabulous banana ice cream was a feast for the eyes and palate.

Buffet is priced at Rs. 1499 and 1799 plus taxes for lunch and dinner, while a 7 course meal like what we had is priced at Rs. 2500 plus taxes, with a few hours of advance notice. A friend said that their breakfast was excellent, but I am yet to try any other meal there. Waiting for the other restaurants to open and then plan a mini holiday there. Will update on how the stay and rooms are, real soon!

Intercontinental Chennai Mahabalipuram Resort is on the way to Mahabs, about a dozen or so kilometres before Mahabs! 

When my colleague walked into my room with a full box of sweets, I was surprised.

"Why is the box full?"

"Employees are striking."

"What?"

"Yeah." A junior walked in.

"Why nobody took sweets?"

"We don't want sweets sir. We want only Biriyani."

"Oh."

"Yes, sir," he said, smiled and left my room.

"Dude, we need to serve biriyani,"my colleague said.

"We served it for our company day, a few months back."

"But apparently both of us did not serve it for many Ramzans and Bakrids and for a lot of our personal stuffs. We better serve it quickly or else it is going to be trouble."

"I don't really celebrate Bakrid. Even I didn't have biriyani."

"Do you think they care about that?"

The junior walked in.

"Dey. Shall we get biriyani Bismi?"

"That we can go there and eat, sir. We want something that is home made or made in bulk. Nice chicken biriyani."

"Idhellam too much."

"No, sir. Not too much."

"But why chicken biriyani man? That is like vegetarian sushi. Biriyani has to be mutton."

"Lots of us don't eat mutton, sir. Get chicken biriyani and most of us here can eat. Most vegetarians in our place eat chicken biriyani alone."

"Ada paavigala. OK, we will get you the biriyani. Now take the sweet that he brought from his hometown."

"No, sir. Biriyani first," as he left my room.

My colleague smiled. I was flummoxed. In our 5 year history, this has never happened.  And that is how and why, I had to call Nigar Sultana. Frantically. Urgently. "Do you do short notice biriyani, Nigar?"

"For tonight, no. For tomorrow, yes," she said. Confirmations within an hour and we were all set!

Biriyani arrived in her famed buckets. Smell was heavenly. Office was buzzing. One bucket was set aside for the the field guys. My college and me had to eat a portion from that. My partner was fasting. And cursing us. And immediately asking God for forgiveness. Curse. Forgiveness. Curse. Forgiveness. An hour later, a smiling junior walked into my room wiping both his mouth and his smirk.

"Thanks, sir." Smirk.

"How was the biriyani?"

"Very different, sir. But very tasty. All buckets empty." Smile. Smile then broadened. He knew he had to leave or risk me making fun of him, so he left with the smile.

For 6 buckets that served almost 50 people, my colleague and me shared the total damage of Rs. 6k. We only wished, some sweet was a part of it, even if it meant paying a little more.

End of story!