An invitation to a chef’s table at the month-old La Vie, a nice little café in Khan Market, rekindled some fond memories of my college days. I fondly recall that hardly a kilometre away from La Vie is Alliance Francaise de Delhi off Max Mueller Marg — the place I spent three precious years of my life. And one phrase one heard a lot from every French person was c’est la vie , which, my friend, means “that’s life”.
So La Vie excited me a lot because of its French connection. To be a part of the chef’s table I went there expecting a nice five course meal to be served where the chef would take me through a nice culinary tour of French delicacies.
I was introduced to the menu of the day by the owner of the café Anirudh Gupta and all my expectations went for a toss. There was hardly any French dish on the menu which had mostly Italian delicacies to offer. I am sure many of my French friends working right across at the French Cultural Centre will be disappointed when they visit La Vie expecting it to be a French café. But then, that’s life!
Once I was in, I decided to hang out and try their Italian preparations. First to start with was the hot tomato basil soup which was so tangy and tasteless that I couldn’t go beyond two spoons and that too after daylong fasting. The two bowls of chicken Caesar salad went round the table of eight, which included my fellow critics, and by the time it reached me had hardly had any chicken left. Able to taste only the greens I should say they were crisp and fresh.
The bread I liked the most was the in-house rosemary garlic variant which really went well with the chilli infused olive oil and a sprinkle of balsamic. The spinach ravioli a la pesto was worth trying but slightly under seasoned. The star attraction of this chef’s table menu was the six foot long assembly of assorted pizzas. Chef Naresh did a commendable job with the pizzas. Even though they were joined, still the sight of a six foot long pizza laid out on the table was a worthy one. I liked the barbecue topping on one of the portions and enjoyed it till the end.
Meal for two: Rs.1500 plus taxes
