In association with one of Dubai’s newest Indian restaurants, The Crossing, Masters of Marriott Bonvoy brings yet another evening of food, beverages and more to Bengaluru. Set in Riwaz, one of the restaurants at Ritz Carlton Bengaluru, the event promises some of the finest regional delicacies of India. Co-founder of The Crossing and chef Ankur Chakraborty talks about his signature creations, unexplored flavours and regional dishes of India.
What led you to recreate the charm of your famous restaurant in Bengaluru?
The Crossing is an independent restaurant in Dubai and is set with a mission to bring regional Indian cuisine to the forefront. The flavours associated with Indian cuisine have been restrictive and an entire array of unexplored flavours and regional associations are yet to be introduced to the world. When the association with masters of Marriott Bonvoy came about, it was an exciting opportunity for us to show how the perception of Indian cuisine has been differentially drawn outside India. This might’ve been the first time in the history that an Indian restaurant from outside India has been invited to showcase in India. We have been able to source out the ingredients from around Bengaluru to show the diversity Indian food has to offer.
Tell us a little about the menu curated for the event?
We created a six course crossing journey reflecting flavours from across India, in some courses we kept the flavours restricted to just salt and cumin and allowed the protein to shine. The Crossing is about subtlety and minimalism. We open the course with an ever relevant chaat, which is done delicately with a shiso leaf crisp with pickled chickpea and chutneys, the focus on this dish has been on chaat masala and tamarind chutney and these recipes are very unique to our restaurant. The next courses follow with a cold teaser of home made china rolled in a khandvi cannoli, next come the shrimps from Bay of Bengal stir fried with a signature gunpowder podi and garlic confit. We then move on to the east where we bring the Kalimpong Dumplings in a broth, followed by a simple lamb chops. On the menu you will see an Anglo-Indian bottle masala and finish it off with a malaiyo from Varanasi — my home town.
What is the signature dish of The Crossing? What do people love about it?
Amongst a few of the signature dishes it is very difficult to pick one. However, the chaat and the Gucchi Pulao are both going to be served as part of the menu here. The dish uses hand foraged morels from Kashmir and a combination of some other local mushrooms, giving the rice an intense earthy aroma.
You are focused on creating new sustainable and scalable F&B concepts in the dining sector. What measures do you take to achieve this goal?
We are focussed on creating concepts with environmental sustainability. The menu reflects the sourcing which is almost local with imports from origins which guarantee ethical farming practices. We also encourage GI-tagged ingredients from India to reflect on the menu.
How did you come up with this concept of curating a menu with non-commercial Indian recipes from home kitchens for The Crossing?
This was something we needed to fulfill as ambassadors of Indian food to the world. Indian food is well beyond the rich, greasy and colourful curries which have more than notes of chilies and garam masala. We set out to bring the delicacy, the minimalism and the love these recipes come with. The food we eat anywhere in India is different due to the sheer size of the country and the diversity on offer.
How long did it take to curate this menu and to find such infamous recipes for The Crossing
Between chef Sunil and I, we had been brewing this idea of the concept for years and once we got the location, we tested most of the recipes and the food trials were on for almost 120 days before we could showcase the food to a focus group to sample. However, this is something we had been thinking about for very long time, even from the days we both were running some commercially successful restaurants.
It is said that the food you create always pairs well with international grapes. How do you conceptualise these pairings?
The pairings with international grapes has been seen as a difficulty with Indian food majorly due to the heat levels involved. However with flavours, the right acidity or mineralogy of the wines work magic. We take the route of creating the dishes and then matching them with the grape varieties available.
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