Most of you will know Ashvita as the cafe off Radhakrishnan Salai which is known for being a lovely space, but little else (unless you count their store "Masala Chai" that has an interesting collection of knick-knacks). The Ashvita folks have set up a bistro in Abhiramapuram, around the corner from the E-4 Abhiramapuram Police Station (and on the same road as the recently ever-so-slightly relocated Wonton).
Ashvita Bistro (as it is called) has introduced a 'concept dining' experience known as The Chennai Supper Club. A group of us from Chennai Food Guide were invited to experience The Chennai Supper Club and write about it. This happened several weeks ago, and I am woefully late in writing up my experiences, but what the heck, let me get on with it.
The concept as explained to us by Ashwin, the owner of Ashvita, is to have a small group (20-25) of invited people, on a particular day of the week, where the bistro will be closed to the public at large, to be served an extensive fixed menu of freshly prepared food, with high-quality hand-picked ingredients, cooked in small quantities (in an almost home-like approach to cooking), accompanied by live entertainment of some sort. I am not sure the pricing for this has been fixed yet, but I recall hearing something in the range of Rs. 1000-1500 (but I am open to correction from Ashwin or anyone else on this).
The evening of our visit was rained out, so it was not exactly optimal conditions under which to experience the supper club, because Ashvita Bistro has both indoor and outdoor seating and while the indoor areas are cozily, if somewhat haphazardly, done up, it's the outdoor areas that give the space most of its charm. But the rain did hold off for a bit and gradually the outdoor area became usable. For entertainment there was an acoustic duo singing songs by John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz (and other artists, including those whose names don't begin with a J). The duo were efficient and tight, nailing the harmonies and providing the perfect backdrop for an event of this nature.
The menu (curated and prepared by Chef Kuki Ravindran) was extensive and in the weeks that have passed since then if I've forgotten some of the items, then it's only because there were so many. But let me take you through the stuff that I remember. We started off with a Walnut and blue-cheese soup, which was much too salty for my tastes. I could tell that the nutty, blue-cheesy flavour of the concoction would have worked for me if it hadn't been so salty. Other appetisers included cherry-tomatoes stuffed with gorgonzola (if i recall correctly) and new zealand bacon. This was superb. Little bite sized portions of sheer delight. The fresh tomato flavour worked perfectly to tame the sharpness of the cheese and the complement the flavour of the bacon. I consumed more of these than I care to remember (there was also a vegetarian vesion of this without the bacon, which was also very good). There was also norwegian smoked salmon with cheese and cucumber, which was excellent mostly on account of the salmon being excellent. There were some shrimp bites which were reasonably good. There was also a lamb cutlet/kebab type thing which was also reasonably good, but not particularly memorable.
Moving on, there were several courses of the heavier stuff. There was a pasta course, a long, flat, soft pasta , served with a dry pesto and sprinkled with parmesan. Usually i prefer my pasta al dente and I didn't like this very much, but I can see how on another day, in another mood it might just work for me. Next there was a shrimp stir-fried in sherry and spices which was excellent, but didn't pair very well with the steamed rice served along with it because there wasn't enough of a sauce to lend flavour to the rice as well. Next came the star of the evening, the pork chops. The meat was excellent and grilled to perfection, marinated in a subtly-flavoured marinade that complemented the flavour of the meat without overpowering it; it just hit the spot. Some of the others felt it was a bit dry, but this is exactly how I like my pork chops. There was also a grilled chicken that i took a couple of bites but did not enjoy very much.
For dessert there was a superb pecan pie, where the chef managed the perfect taste and texture. I gobbled up two portions of this. There were also some excellent flambeed bananas with ice cream, which I helped myself to quite generously as well (don't look at me like that!).
In the time that has passed since the visit and this writing, I am fairly certain there are dishes that I missed out because the spread was more extensive than what I've described. The menu was decidedly hit-and-miss with a few items working exceedingly well and a few others not quite so. As an invited reviewer I had a blast because the things that worked worked well by themselves would have constituted a first-rate meal at a first-rate restaurant, but I would imagine that a more consistent level of polish would need to be achieved for the Chennai Supper Club to become a viable, thriving product. That said, it is an inevitable downside of a fixed menu that not everyone will like everything, so perhaps some of the bits that I didn't quite enjoy can be attributed to that. All told, this is a splendid effort and the combination of the food, the entertainment, the conversation (the vibe was very informal and convivial) and the space has the potential to be a standout product on the Chennai eating out scene.
Ashvita Bistro (as it is called) has introduced a 'concept dining' experience known as The Chennai Supper Club. A group of us from Chennai Food Guide were invited to experience The Chennai Supper Club and write about it. This happened several weeks ago, and I am woefully late in writing up my experiences, but what the heck, let me get on with it.
The concept as explained to us by Ashwin, the owner of Ashvita, is to have a small group (20-25) of invited people, on a particular day of the week, where the bistro will be closed to the public at large, to be served an extensive fixed menu of freshly prepared food, with high-quality hand-picked ingredients, cooked in small quantities (in an almost home-like approach to cooking), accompanied by live entertainment of some sort. I am not sure the pricing for this has been fixed yet, but I recall hearing something in the range of Rs. 1000-1500 (but I am open to correction from Ashwin or anyone else on this).
The evening of our visit was rained out, so it was not exactly optimal conditions under which to experience the supper club, because Ashvita Bistro has both indoor and outdoor seating and while the indoor areas are cozily, if somewhat haphazardly, done up, it's the outdoor areas that give the space most of its charm. But the rain did hold off for a bit and gradually the outdoor area became usable. For entertainment there was an acoustic duo singing songs by John Mayer, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz (and other artists, including those whose names don't begin with a J). The duo were efficient and tight, nailing the harmonies and providing the perfect backdrop for an event of this nature.
The menu (curated and prepared by Chef Kuki Ravindran) was extensive and in the weeks that have passed since then if I've forgotten some of the items, then it's only because there were so many. But let me take you through the stuff that I remember. We started off with a Walnut and blue-cheese soup, which was much too salty for my tastes. I could tell that the nutty, blue-cheesy flavour of the concoction would have worked for me if it hadn't been so salty. Other appetisers included cherry-tomatoes stuffed with gorgonzola (if i recall correctly) and new zealand bacon. This was superb. Little bite sized portions of sheer delight. The fresh tomato flavour worked perfectly to tame the sharpness of the cheese and the complement the flavour of the bacon. I consumed more of these than I care to remember (there was also a vegetarian vesion of this without the bacon, which was also very good). There was also norwegian smoked salmon with cheese and cucumber, which was excellent mostly on account of the salmon being excellent. There were some shrimp bites which were reasonably good. There was also a lamb cutlet/kebab type thing which was also reasonably good, but not particularly memorable.
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| The Pasta (Will upload more pictures in a bit) |
For dessert there was a superb pecan pie, where the chef managed the perfect taste and texture. I gobbled up two portions of this. There were also some excellent flambeed bananas with ice cream, which I helped myself to quite generously as well (don't look at me like that!).
In the time that has passed since the visit and this writing, I am fairly certain there are dishes that I missed out because the spread was more extensive than what I've described. The menu was decidedly hit-and-miss with a few items working exceedingly well and a few others not quite so. As an invited reviewer I had a blast because the things that worked worked well by themselves would have constituted a first-rate meal at a first-rate restaurant, but I would imagine that a more consistent level of polish would need to be achieved for the Chennai Supper Club to become a viable, thriving product. That said, it is an inevitable downside of a fixed menu that not everyone will like everything, so perhaps some of the bits that I didn't quite enjoy can be attributed to that. All told, this is a splendid effort and the combination of the food, the entertainment, the conversation (the vibe was very informal and convivial) and the space has the potential to be a standout product on the Chennai eating out scene.
