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The Olive Bar and Kitchen in Mehrauli was shut down by the cruel hands
of law a year ago when the sealing drive was the most happening thing
in the capital. AD Singh was perturbed; so were hundreds of loyalists
who used to frequent the ‘place with the Mediterranean touch’
where you could relax among friends.
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| A relaxing AD Singh |
AD is a fighter and a survivor. Down but not out, he set upon looking at
other opportunities when it appeared that it would take longer than the
wishful thinking. One of the many projects that he sifted through, fructified
into the Beach- the Olive Beach. The fans of Olive and the hep foodies
already knew about the Olive Beach in Bangalore that opened a couple of
years ago and was an instant success. Chef Manu Chandra who had landed
up from New York came up with outstanding food with international ingredients
and made it into a brand making the restaurant being voted as one of the
ten best restaurants in India.
Olive Beach captures the essence and magic of a Mediterranean beachside
within the rustic charm of the Olive philosophy. Located in the back of
Hotel Diplomat in the posh Chanakyapuri locale at S. P. Marg, it is subtly
hidden behind curtains of greenery. The approach through the board walk
and white pebbles gives you the feel of walking by the beachside.
Sunday became a particularly lazy afternoon with a spread of sumptuous
food, wines including the welcome bubbly and a host of martinis which
added significantly to the national hard liquor consumption. The glitterati
included fashion designers, page 3-9 persons, socialites, expats, restaurateurs
and surprisingly a lot of pregnant women (I hope they were not drinking
too many martinis, though a glass of wine would not have hurt any!)
The fashion frat was well represented. Ritu Kumar, Ashish Soni, Manish
Arora, Sunit Verma, JJ Valaya, David Abraham, Aparna Chandra, Bina Ramani
and a band of others were strutting around like models and sipping martinis,
bubblies and other wines and relishing the anti-pasti, pizzas, grills
and oodles of desserts.
There were also ambassadors from Finland, Lebanon and Cuba. Pia Singh
of DLF, Shireen Paul of Park, Peter Punj, Chetan Cigar Shah, Simar Duggal,
Ambika Soni and many other regulars, friends and family members were enjoying
the afternoon, many with their families.
AD Singh seemed particularly happy and was laughing more than usual.
‘After the painful period that we have had to go through, I am glad
that we have come to this beautiful and serene place where tranquility
is supreme. Of course, in keeping with the location and the neighbourhood,
we are more sober here. The emphasis is more on the casual fine dining
with even more emphasis on wines, though our martinis with coffee, apple
and what not, have become very popular in the short period. The 80-covers
are less than we had earlier but we hope to get the license soon for the
outside area,’ said AD.
His wife Sabeena who had flown in from Mumbai for the launch was visibly
very happy. ‘ Hopefully, I can see more of him in Mumbai as his
project is on track.’ She is apparently not aware of the other two
restaurants he is opening in the foreseeable future, beyond the moving
kitchen which is a special catering service olive started when the restaurant
was shut.
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| Italian Chefs Giuliano Tassinari and Max Orlati
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Giuliano Tassinari, the new Italian chef who is looking after this restaurant
has been in love with Delhi since he arrived 3 months ago after ‘meeting’
on the Net the Olive Mumbai Chef Max Orlati. He s a celebrity chef of
sorts and has appeared on several TV and radio shows. He has cooked for
the likes of Prince Andrew, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Sarah Fergusson
and Naomi Campbell.
He is a specialist on Mediterranean food and has added quite a few meat
and pasta dishes. What else has he done since he joined them in October,
I ask? ‘For one thing, we emphasise a lot on our vegetarian clients;
30% of our customers are vegetarians, and have already added quite a few
dishes from them’. Apart from that, ‘we have gone into making
fresh cheeses, sauces and pastas on a daily basis.’
For hundreds of olive fans, the Olive Beach would be Homecoming- with
more serene surroundings and better food and wines. Watch out your purse
strings!
Subhash Arora
January 15, 2008
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