Solomon, the wise!

THE FOOD CLUB

People who know him well have nothing but praise for Chef Ananda Solomon, and I find myself becoming an admirer too.

In a period of our gastronomic history when it is fashionable to open either pan-Asian restaurants, high-end, authentic Chinese restaurants, or Japanese eateries, Chef Solomon has had the courage of his conviction and re-opened the Thai Pavilion.

I was a trifle sceptical when I heard about the re-opening of an old restaurant with a slightly dated concept: the bowing and scraping of petite Thai beauties and ethnic Benjarong pottery artfully arranged in glass cases along the walls have had their day in the sun.

However, I should have guessed that Chef Solomon had an ace up his sleeve. He belongs to the school of thought that I admire: unlike the new breed of chefs, Solomon throws himself whole-heartedly into the cuisines that he masters.

By definition, therefore, he cannot learn all the cuisines of the world. The two that he knows, however, have made him something of an authority: Konkan (his own cuisine) and Thai.

I remember my amazement when he told me a few months ago that most of Mumbai's coconuts come from the east coast, notably Orissa, but they were not suited to cuisine from the west coast. That is the kind of detail you would find in a fastidious family home, but seldom in a hotel kitchen.

But then the whole of the President Hotel is Chef Solomon's palette. Lounging on my bed watching TV late one evening, I ordered room service: vada pao. It was the first time that I saw a room service menu put together with flair, yet the thought niggled: how can a hotel kitchen manage to serve up the same stuff that you get on Mumbai's streets?

When the order came, I was astonished: either the kitchen had procured the vada pao from the nearest street stall and brought it up to my room on their own crockery, or they had indeed managed to get the real McCoy. At breakfast the next morning, the buffet managed not to be predictable by having not only fresh honey, but an entire honeycomb, wire cutter and all.

The renovated Thai Pavilion has not a trace of ethnicity in it. In fact, it resembles China Kitchen and China House and may have been done by the same architectural firm. For the menu, Chef Solomon has chosen to showcase royal Thai cuisine.

Suddha Kukreja of a slew of South-east Asian restaurants in Delhi explained the concept to me. Apparently Thai society is divided into two: the commoners and the aristocracy. Not only the food but their language too differs.

Thai Pavilion serves refined food with subtle rather than sharp tastes. It is a cuisine that is constantly evolving and so Solomon has taken liberties by adding ingredients like foie gras into what is undoubtedly the finest dish on the menu: Duck Liver Foie Gras with Sea Asparagus in Mango Sauce.

(marryamhreshii@yahoo.co.in)