Food lovers in the city are in for a treat at Toast & Tonic: East Village Style, the newest international restaurant and bar. Themed on the East Village in the south of Manhattan, the New American dining hotspot was off to a spectacular start on February 15. Under the guidance of Chef Partner Manu Chandra, Toast & Tonic captures the soul and spirit of world cuisine with a balance of local Indian ingredients and freshly made products.
Manu Chandra, Chef Partner also for The Fatty Bao and Monkey Bar and Executive Chef of Olive Beach, is thrilled at the new venture. Manu says he is always excited about opening something new. “It is a new brand, a new positioning and a new product. It is a fresh menu with a fresh concept and an idea that’s been at the back of my mind for quite some time. It was a matter of putting it together and this seems to be the perfect platform for it. I never claim to do anything path-breaking or avant-garde. Good food, good service and a good space grounded in my belief of using local ingredients and products and presenting them in nice fresh ways is at the heart of Toast & Tonic.”
With house cured and house made sausages, smoked meats, mustards, syrups, breads and kimchis blended with cooking methods that range from sous-vide and modernist techniques, Toast & Tonic offers a variety of culinary cultures for the holistic gastronomical experience.
Lunch is from March 1 onwards. A meal for two including drinks priced at Rs. 2,000 plus taxes. Toast & Tonic is located at 14/1, Wood Street, Richmond Road, Ashok Nagar. Make reservations at www.toastandtonic.com.
DIG IN
Soups
Chicken and coconut soup with sweet potato leaves, chilli, coconut and gondhoraj lemon oil; pork tea, black fungus, pickled ginger and pork tortellini
Small eats
Young jackfruit and smoked goat cheese tostada, white bean puree, guacamole and jalapeno cream; smoked Cochin mackerel on sourdough toast with charred green pepper, garlic and orange salsa. Chilli tossed tuna poke bowl with seaweed, sticky gobindobhog rice, beet picked egg, passion-fruit pineapple vinaigrette, fried onions and chai seeds. Spicy Korean pork sausage, cheddar, grilled scallion, smokey pork flatbread; freshly baked lamb merguez, roasted cherry tomato, tomato butter and bandel cheese flatbreads.
Main course
Gobindobhog and kasundhi risotto; carbonara inspired spaghetti with meatballs and sharp triple crunch mustard and drumstick leaf persillade
Desserts
Expression of Jaggery (jaggery pot du crème, banana jaggery cake, noren gur, coffee cardamom ice cream); apple tarte tatin (cinnamon, brown butter, mascarpone and rosemary ice cream). Artisan coffees from Coorg - sunkissed, aromatique and parama from flying squirrel
