In honour of this year’s international woman’s day, The Oberoi pulled out all the stops in hosting the ‘Eve-Olutionary’ dinner, a seven-course special by Chef Nimisha, a young and upcoming chef.
In partnership with Australian wine producers Penfolds and La Cave Fine Wines, New Delhi’s celebrated wine store, the dinner celebrated the revolutionary power of women from various walks of life: health, cinema, literature, politics, royalty, women who have overcome all odds in patriarchal fields, and of course, the everywoman who holds the threads of society together.
The kasundi salmon
and prawn filo pastry
The seven-course meal offered both vegetarian and meat options, and each dish was based on famous, illustrious women: Vidya Balan, Rekha, Maharani Gayatri Devi, Arundhati Roy, Dr. Rukhmabai, Razia Sultana, and more. The elegant décor of Le Jardin had framed portraits of these women in black and white adorning the walls for the evening, and the invitees included familiar faces from the city as well as Bengaluru’s partygoers.
Madhulika Dhall, aka Madame La Cave, was there to introduce the gathering to the wine selection. The night’s sommelier in attendance, Devita, presented the wines that were paired with each course. The wines ranged from a crisp Reisling, a fruity Chardonnay, a peppery Shiraz Cabernet, a full-bodied Shiraz, and ended with a mature, aged Cabernet-Sauvignon.
If the wine that poured upon demand was an oenophile’s delight, the food was an Indophile’s dream. Each dish was made with mostly Indian ingredients and were reincarnations of familiar fare but presented in tasteful ways that honoured India’s rich tradition with food and the celebratory aspect of a meal made for a gathering or to mark an occasion.
From the appetiser to the penultimate course, the spiciness was kicked up a notch (or several), making my taste buds tingle all the way home (and beyond), but the dessert was the undisputed empress of the evening, inspired by Maharani Gayatri Devi: little, uneven honeycombs of ghewar served on ribbons of kesar rabri, with a scoop of pistachio ice cream and plump raspberries, garnished with edible flower petals.
Live music set to a carefully selected playlist of some of the most memorable songs from retro classics to the late ‘90s added a dollop of charm.