I had a hunch the first time I laid eyes on Amelie's that this was going to be Alwarpet's answer to Amethyst. A nicely done-up bungalow smack bang off the usually cop-infested Kasturi Rangan road, lots of lights streaming off the trees up front and no parking worries.
Add to it the comfort continental fare that we've come to expect from places like Writer's Cafe and the Zara of yore (I still can't come to call to Sera, somehow) and you've got yourself a space that will call out to you and your weekly read every Sunday afternoon.
As we walk in, the high ceilings and the detailing of the place impress you right away. And that's such a rarity these days - with more and more foodpreneurs preferring bling over class. Amelie's is heavily tilted towards the latter.
In fact, you know it's a place that you'd like to spend time at when the seating is exceedingly comfy and the walls are laden with books and epicurean artefacts tastefully perched on the walls. Even the pouffes around the largish dessert display case do little to dent that opinion as they blend in nicely with the green-and-grey walls. So far so good, we say, as Rajesh Bysani, who runs this food enterprise in partnership with food mogul M Mahadevan, rolls out the welcome wagon, to the three week old restaurant.
We dive straight into the three fold menu, and I've got to say it's refreshingly limited with just about four dishes to each section, "Honestly, what we've done is try and keep the menu simple by focusing on continental food that people will like to sit down and savour," he explains, "We did a lot of research in Europe because we wanted to give people food that they would like instantly but was still different from our other restaurants," he adds. With a track record that includes the first Bombay Brasserie, KNK's Mana Andhra and Writer's Cafe, this food combine has a reputation to beat.
As I admire the attention they've paid to the cutlery and the specially curated china, the curvy, swively kind, a nicely skewered Paneer block stuffed with capers and doused in balsamic vinegar arrive. I take it a tangy sign of things to come and lay into the selection of pizzas that arrive next. Mind you, we're not exactly the kind who prefer our pizzas to be anything but round and overloaded, but the BBQ chicken that sat atop our flat oval hard-baked pizza evened things out.
One of things that really set Amelie's meals apart are their generous portioning and their penchant for using fresh, lettuce-laden salads on almost all their offerings. Makes the difference between a 'so-so' meal and an 'up there' meal, that does. The meat is limited to chicken at this point, so there's not much game for people craving their pork or beef fix, but the Teriyaki Chicken with some French beans on the side was the absolute bomb. That's comfort food for a lazy Sunday lunch. "There's a little bit of Asian and Mexican on the menu just for people who need that little bit of variety. We're probably going to refine it a bit more as we go along because we only want to serve food that people are excited about," explains Rajesh, as we breeze past the other mains on offer.
The chefs at Amelie's had been talking up their desserts ever since we got there so there was a fair bit of anticipation that went into our picking what we wanted off the display counter up front. And that's when it arrived - our highlight of the evening - a delicately crafted dark chocolate mound with a smattering of sea salt and a whiff of olive oil. If you've always wondered what chocolate would taste like when paired with its polar opposite, believe me, once you go salt-on-chocoate, you never go back. One thing that's admirable is the most expensive thing on the menu is just a shade over Rs 300, which is smack bang in the affordable price range.
So the next time you need a place to unwind, just sit and introspect about life at large or just want a good sandwich without worrying about the crowded table next to you, head to Amelie's. You won't be disappointed.
Average price for two is Rs 1,000. Details: 48567767.