A few months ago there was a tiny stall at a food exhibition that emitted some damn good smell. Intrigued, we walked in and sadly very few items were left. Clearly, the aromas reached more nostrils than I thought. Baked Parota. Lasagna styled Parota. Paya Ramen. Mexican Bhel. Clearly the guy who is doing this was nuts, I thought. We got the baked parota and as we dug in, we couldn’t wipe the smile off our faces. Soaked in a ‘salna‘, a form of thin gravy found in South Indian households, the parota was fabulous. Plus it had a smoky cheesy notes that probably came from the oven in which he baked something else before our dish.

Three days back, I met the guy behind this. He is nuts. What else can explain a finance company’s CEO with no chef training going around creating confusing flavours that is supposed to be the exclusive property of molecular gastronomy? As Manoj and The Park hosted me for dinner, course after course, came dishes with varying influences connected by two things. A story and no compromise on flavours. Everyday Exotics at The Park, curated by Manoj is an exotic take on every day dishes, but each one has been loved by somebody before going on the menu.

Like the Bombay Toast stuffed with chicken and pickles. Uh? Yes, uh! A sweet bread dish with pickles and chicken? Inspired by his son’s breakfast. That is the story. A Panko fried idly with spicy molaga podi (spicy chilly powder mix). Idly and Panko? Like really? I missed the Mexican Bhel at the exhibition, but thankfully it was on the menu here. All things Mexican tossed in Indian Bhel puri style.

Jack Slider. While I would call any vegetarian burger as Vada Pav, Manoj’s burger made me eat my words. A beautiful vegetarian slider. A Thai inspired burger, it had jackfruit in it and the lemongrass in the bun. In the BUN! So the flavour of lemongrass was unmistakable and overpowering, like it should be, but the jackfruit held its own as the patty. This is a vegetarian burger! Something that doesn’t have to be called the Vada Pav.

A vegetarian paya. Simply, that cannot exist. Cooked the ramen style, this had top ramen noodles in a paya. While they have the mutton paya, the veg paya was able to bring the soothing elements that the mutton paya brings. I almost wished I had fever, to relish it. Since a paya goes great with idiyappam (String hoppers), the stringy noodles were able to do justice.

The baked parota. Yay! As I was digging in, I could not but notice the smoky cheesy smell. I looked up. Did he bring the same oven? Or did he cook another dish that the parota took up the flavour? Apparently not. Apparently, it was intentional. To have a smoky flavour? A parota lasagna is creative enough, but to add a smoky BBQ flavour to an already Indo-Italian fusion? Are we aiming for World war here? So, Manoj keeps visiting Nagoor Dargah and in the streets of Nagoor, apparently they dole out parotas using stones that have been smoking for over two or three decades. And that infuses a smoky flavour into the parota that he wanted to recreate. Now, I want to go to Nagoor and eat that parota. More importantly, I could sleep. The baked parota at the food exhibition wasn’t a borrowed flavour.

I was too full for dessert, so I just picked a spoonful of the beautiful saffron ice cream and the chocolate, but was too overwhelmed to judge it. Maybe I will go back and have that. And the jack slider. And maybe the parota as well. Let’s see.

On till the 31st of July, Every Exotics is available both as a four course degustation and a-la-carte. At 899 for a four course degustation, it is ridiculously priced. A 5 star four course for under 1k? Awesomeness.

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When someplace is new it town, it gets me excited. When someplace is new in town that has a different cuisine that is not in town, I get super excited. When someplace is new in town claiming that it cooks chicken in a first-time-in-the-world method, then, well, that has not happened in Chennai town, so I didn't know how to react to it. Actually, I did know. I had to visit it asap! And then I got an opinion from a friend. And to contest that opinion, I went again, this time with two other foodies. My opinion didn't change, their opinions were the same as mine and the friends opinion was his.

So they infuse the chicken. Period. What's so special?

Problem is that the what you get on your plate is entirely your fault. OK, bad choice of words. What you get on the plate is entirely your choice. OK, not good enough. What you get on the plate is what you were destined to get. Hmmmm...nope. OK, there are so many ways to get the chicken that the choice may be good, if you get it right and bad if you get it wrong. I am not going to try to get that words right, again.

So my first visit. Friday evening. Two of us. Packed restaurant. 5 minutes wait to get seated. I order. Grilled chicken. Chicken burger. Simple, isn't it?

'How would you like your chicken?'

'What?' Isn't that question asked for beef and in some fine dines, for fish and lamb? I've never heard that question for chicken.

'Sir, you need to choose the marinade.'

'OK. What's good?'

'They are all different, sir.'

I looked at the four choices. Waiter thought I was deciding. I was doing a inky-pinky-ponky. This happened to the stuffing too. And then the spice levels. Then the same cycle repeat for the burger. I mean for the burger too? Yeah, for the burger too! Just to see if I can order something in one word, I asked for a rice crepe (also called as DOSA). Spicy. That was a one word order. Only the chicken ordering is essay writing. Sorry, essay reciting.

So ordering took longer than the food. Not. But it felt that way. The chicken landed first. And disappeared first. The dosa came in, spiced like Andhra was on fire! Ate the whole thing. Super spicy, but super tasty spicy. It was like addiction. I know my stomach was crying, but the tongue was crying and craving! I loved it. And I hate spicy food, so that was something. And then the burger arrived. I checked if that was a double burger? Or jumbo burger? Or jumbo jumbo burger? Apparently not. That was the regular burger with boneless chicken inside. Huge. Juicy. Soft. Yummy.

Bill was Rs. 750 something. That was round 1. Opinion round was from a friend. He hated it. He hated the flavours and he said he chose 'safe' flavours. Round 2 was with the foodies, a week later on a Tuesday evening. Packed restaurant. One large round table for 6 was free. 3 foodies. One 8 feet tall. One 8 feet wide. One normal size. So I presumed we looked like six, so we were given the table. OK,  we took that table and seated ourselves. Ordered the exact same thing as I ordered the previous time. A small part of the chicken was undercooked. Left that part aside and pounded on the rest. Burger was praised like crazy.

So there you go. The only place I've come across asking me how I'd like my chicken. What you get on the plate is what you decided to get on the plate. Good luck.