Twist Bar: Wines with a Twist at Twist

Photos By:: Adil Arora

The number of new restaurants serving wine with food has been going north all over Delhi NCR and it is difficult to keep pace with them. But when a wine loving friend strongly suggested I visit Twist that opened this month, I made a mental note of it and decided to check out the place during lunch time this week, despite extra-heavy workload.

Twist is a 140-cover restaurant with 50 seats outside for alfresco dining-which means no alcohol for them. ‘We specialise in Asian food plated and served in Tapas style so that one can share several dishes as they are served one by one and hot’ says Randip Dhingra, the main man behind the Show, in conjunction with his wife Simran Dhingra and her brother Jasmeet Kochhar. He used to run a restaurant in Greater Kailash when he was still at the university. He has teamed up with his brother-in-law Jasmeet Kochhar while his wife Simran Kochhar Dhingra is the face and arms that run the restaurant.

Delectable Asian tapa food

Simran does a fabulous job of curating her food. The concept is of small plates and different foods that can be easily shared. Every dish on the Menu that I tasted was delicious and even better matched with wine; the Shrimp with spicy Japanese Mayo and the fried Calamari were simply outstanding- delectable, SWAAD, I would say. They were all made with a twist-just like their wine list.

Wines with a twist

What whetted my appetite to visit even more was when I was told that the wines were unique and being imported exclusively and directly by the restaurant. Did the government policy change drastically during my previous overseas trip, or was this the Breaking News? Although the imports were made ‘free’ in 2002 but that was on paper; everyone was allowed to import. The formalities and the rigmarole one had to go through would make it an onerous task for any restaurant to import directly-and certainly unviable commercially. In the past even hotels like Imperial were obliged to order their captive requirement through an importer

That point was addressed even before we exchanged pleasantries. Randip clarified that the wines were purely his selection and exclusive for him but were being imported through Arjun Dhall of Dhall Foods. This also means he finances them completely- making the purchase expensive but totally within the control of the restaurant. He does plan and hope to sell them through the distributor in Gurgaon- Discovery Wine and La Marche.

All-Italian Wines

What impressed me is that he has dared to import only mid-quality and premium wines and priced them reasonably well, given that they have to be purchased duty paid. There is no place for the pedantic Prosecco but only Franciacorta, for instance. And both the Villa Franciacorta Blanc de Blancs Saten Brut (100% Chardonnay) and the Bokè Rose Brut (50-50 Pinot Noir-Chardonnay) are from Franciacorta, considered by many Italians as better than Champagne but universally acclaimed as a region with different terroir and at times offering better value.

Franciacorta, of course makes the bubblies using the Champagne method and the Villa Franciacorta keeps them on the lees for 36 months- more than perhaps the majority of Champagne houses.  It is certainly the only restaurant in Delhi-NCR that serves both variants in magnums.  At Rs. 11,500 the Rose magnum does seem a bit more expensive than the Brut (750 mL) at  Rs. 5,000 but Randip says that is only the cost difference being passed on.

The other 4 wines that make it rather unique are the wines from Alto Adige (Süd Tirol) where more German is spoken than Italian. The cool climate area-formerly a part of Austria makes excellent white wines through a lot of boutique wineries. Cereseto/deVite offer 4 variants between Rs. 3500- 4000 a bottle- not the cheapest of wines but better value than you would normally find in white wines in other restaurants, especially because of the region.

Randip and his wife Simran are extremely passionate about wines. It shows in the beautiful glass walled wine cellar that comes in your vision as you enter the restaurant. Although the air-conditioner designated exclusively for wines was not working properly for some reason but the wines were still at around 20° C. Wines are well stored and the design is tempting for the customer to order a glass.

Wine-by the-glass

Although the wine-by-the-glass are not on the Menu, Randip says they already offer the Cereseto Sauvignon Blanc at Rs. 795 a glass (150 mL)-the price per bottle is Rs. 3500. When I suggested to him to keep it lower at Rs. 695 a glass to encourage people to order a glass without extra cost, he immediately agreed to reduce the price. Hopefully, more labels would be added-certainly a red needs to be in the list.

Another wine that impressed me was the young La Fuga Folonari Brunello di Montalcino 2011 although he stocks a couple of more labels from this producer- Le Bruniche Chardonnay and Nozzole Chianti Classico. At Rs. 7,000 a bottle this Brunello is extremely well priced.

There are of course Barbaresco, Amarone and a few premium wines that are all worth a try. The list is perhaps the smallest at any restaurant which boasts of wines. A wine bar has to have more labels, of course. But as Randip says, ‘we want people to have a unique experience’. He promises this excellent wine experience based on the success of a few restaurants by a friend who has a chain in Italy. He buys these wines since they are very well appreciated by his clients. Randip has picked up a sea of knowledge and is very comfortable with nuances of all the wines he serves and their details.

My Picks

Although I would love to order a couple of different wines during every visit-making my wish list taken care of for the next 6 trips, here would be my picks for those going for the first time:

Whatever you order, remember to clink your glasses (in the middle-never the top near the rim!) when you drink the wine and say...Jai Ho!!

Subhash Arora

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