Mumbai: The New Gourmet Capital
From the high glass walls of Ziya in Mumbai, the Queen's Necklace looks striking, the ocean spectacular. More so, if you happen to be swirling wine with this interesting a name Goats Do Roam, which is from South Africa.
The food at this restaurant in The Oberoi, Mumbai, is no less striking. There is goat cheese smoked cashew gujiya, which is savoury and not sweet; pav chenna pinwheels, inspired by Mumbai's pav bhaji; pomfret with sabudana khichdi; dahi bhalla ice cream, where the flavours of dahi bhalla are captured in ice cream; Chocomosa or chocolate samosa, with a filling of chhena and almonds. Indian food, in short, has been re imagined. Chefs in gourmet circles call this a 'deconstruction'. At Ziya, it is Michelin starred chef Vineet Bhatia's doing; he has been a culinary consultant at the restaurant for eight years.
When Ziya opened in 2010, Bhatia who had earned fame in the UK as an innovative Indian chef, struggled to make people in Mumbai understand the twists he would come up with. Mumbai wasn't used to thinking of samosas being sweet or gujiyas being savoury. Other metros such as Bangalore and Delhi were ahead on the curve, and high on theatrics. Restaurants in these cities were indulging
