On Food Capitals and Places to Visit

Am attaching a couple of pics of our wonderful students at Vanguard Business School

 PGPB01 & PGPB02

A recent class discussion with these guys :

PGPB02

Reminded me of places that I wish to visit and restaurants that I want to eat at ( most everything reminds me of these two things). Usually I want to Visit places simply because i have heard of a few good restaurants at said location. Given below are a few cities and reasons why, as also listed are the  (very few :D) good restaurants in Bengaluru that Manali and self  haven't yet had a chance to sample the fare at.

Cities to Visit -

#1 : Tokyo  - With 247 Michelin Starred restaurants and being the home of Sushi/Sashimi and a chance of Fugu perhaps (I dare say that's a must for me if Tokyo happens) and hence the official food capital of the world

#2 London/Paris/NewYork - Not the recent hindi film starring Ali  Zafar and Aditi Hydari but the three most visited Metropolises in the world. Museum/Art /Theatre buff that I am the reasons for visitng here aren't restricted to food BUT some of the best restaurants in the world are here for sure. And having been pampered with the finest French & Italian cuisine in west Africa while I was there ( Trust me very very few restaurants in India understand good Italian and French Cooking) definitely Paris seems the gastronomical pick of the three ( incidentally Paris is also the city with the second most Michelin starred restaurants after Tokyo - so there!) BUT London has the Savoy Grill (a mecca for any Wodehouse fan) and the Fat Duck ( Anyone who has enjoyed food at Caperberry in Bangalore ?) and I'm sure New York is home to some of the finest restaurants as well

#3 Melbourne/Sydney - You've seen Masterchef Australia, mate? - That's why!

#4 Sao Paulo / Rio de Janeiro  - Ok no purely food motives here. Just want to go to Brazil (ideally in 2014 and 2016)

Restaurants in Bangalore -

#1 Shiro - No idea why Manali and I haven't yet been here !

#2  Jamavar / Zen / Zanotta - The Leela Palace is too out-of-the-way but have heard good things about these three restaurants so maybe a detour is in order and on the cards ?

#3 Rim Naam - Heard good stuff about this restaurant as well

Update:

We've been  to Shiro recently and it totally deserves its star billing/ reputation.

On Namma Bengaluru

It has been close to nine months since I've moved to Bangalore, from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso (my previous pit stop). So how have the three-quarters of a year past been - professionally it has been nothing short of mind blowing - doing as I am at Vanguard Business School stuff that my dreams are made of makes it so much fun, BUT there is a small caveat. That caveat is my cyclic love-hate relationship with Namma Bengaluru.

The fact is that about a day into my arrival in Bengaluru I fell in love with the seraphic weather of the garden city.A week into my stay I had made peace  with the City's traffic and the sad fact that it slept at 10 p.m. and was dead by 11:30 p.m.( Not that I was at all thrilled with this development). A month into Bangalore, I began to literally hate the city's guts from the deeps of my soul. Now, that  abhorrence has given way to a dull numb sensation somewhere left of my right shin. I am now ready  for the next emotion on this roller coaster ride to take hold of me - only - even I don't know what that emotion is going to be.

Enumerating my Bangy Blues a bit further, I seem to find  I can safely classify my positives in one category and my negatives into two, viz. :

Positives - Weather
Negatives - Traffic, Sleepy Town

Bengaluru Weather

'Agar Firdaus bar ru-e zamin hast. Hami asto. Hami asto. Hami ast' - Jehangir on Kashmir

If there is a  Metropolitan City anywhere in the World with perfect weather then this is it, this is it, this is it. Nitpicking pundits of the Anti-Bengaluru camp will rush in here to point out the severe pollen infested nature of Bengaluru's climes and how it debilitates any asthmatic the moment he enters Bangalore's airspace, but, at this juncture I clarify, I am not asthmatic, and I couldn't care about the handicaps imposed by this aspect of Bengaluru on people bronchially, alveolically or asthmatically challenged, because to me  the Weather here is supremely refreshing and rejuvenating.

In fact the weather here is so so good that it partly nullifies  the two huge negatives I am about to enumerate below. People who know me will know the tremendous currency I place on having decent options for entertainment post working hours, which for me is THE definition of a good city to live in. The fact that  I am not detesting every ticking second in Bangalore means that yes, in short, the weather is that good !!

Bengaluru Traffic


Back when there was nothing but primordial goo , even back then, two things existed - Angry birds and Headless chicken.

Now, living Bengaluru traffic is a special combination of Cars,Truckers, Bikers, Pedestrians, Traffic Cops, and- wait for it....Bengaluru's specials - The tractor hitched pull cart that could carry anything from Iron Rails to Grass to Water , the perambulating Bullock/cow, and of course the Jaywalker. Each of the above mentioned elements to Bangy traffic (except the serenely supreme Cow who is a respected and loved entity for precisely this reason) is part Angry bird and part Headless chicken, the exact proportions may vary but then a more detailed description of each category will only increase my stress levels so I'll let it go...

The non-living components of Bangalore Traffic involves weird one-ways, dangerously ill-lit roads, poorly placed and illegible signposts, road dividers that cause more accidents than prevent them, and there's also that ethereal sense of bewilderment that faces most Bangalore newbies when they ask bystanders for directions ( this one's my favourite Bangalore peeve by the way - that 3G navigation tools are selling like hot cakes in India is largely due to this in Bangalore at least!)

But while still on traffic woes I recently read THIS pretty funny blog by George Thomas on his recent experience of Pune traffic, and i want to underline that Bangalore Traffic is by far worse, much more most worstest !!

Sleepy Town Bengaluru


Namma Bengaluru is fast asleep at 10 p.m. This fact of Bangalore (which is reputed to be a pretty fly place for partying , and  was in fact the first city to boast of a massively touted pub culture) depresses me so much that you'll excuse me if I don't write too much on this and  brings things to a quick close on this front.

What's Ahead, Bengaluru ?


If Bangalore can get it's traffic act together (the recent Metro inauguration augurs new hope although that hope is at least another 5 years coming because the current opened metro stretch doesn't really mean much to Bangalore's traffic woes) and find a way to stay awake beyond it's rather tame curfew limit of 10 p.m. i could learn to love this city a lot. Coming from Mumbai (which I have always considered my home and barring miracles/ cataclysm will always in the future continue to hold as my home) it's unlikely  Bengaluru will catch up with Mumbai's frenetic and unbelievably varied nightlife very soon BUT I'm afraid a couple of all-night biryani joints doesn't count for much and Bangalore needs to get its act together in this department before I can unreservedly call Bangalore my home away from home

On the Festival Of Lights

Today marks Diwali, possibly  THE most important festival in the Hindu calendar. Diwali marks mythologically the slaying of Narakasura, a powerful villain who reigned unrivaled for long eons until Krishna decided to declare war on his impregnable fortress and eleven akshauhini of troops single-handedly ( or with Satyabhama as some versions note) atop Garuda that formidable steed of Vishnu. Narakasura's death at the hands of Krishna ( or Satyabhama as some versions note) came along with the boon to have his death day celebrated  for all posterity as the festival of lights and hence Naraka Chaturdsahi or the festival of lights a.k.a Diwali became a real big do in Indian tradition. Interestingly, Narakasura's defeat also resulted in Krishna's wife count swelling by 16,100 wives as a result of the fact that Narakasura had 16,100 princesses imprisoned in his castle/ fortress.

Here's a pic proving that Diwali was celebrated, if not with class and style, at least with infectious joy and enthusiasm at Mantri Tranquil ( This place is currently home for Me & Manali)

Diwali trivia apart, was having dinner at TGIF's earlier tonight and saw India decimating the English  batting line-up with some pretty impressive spin bowling and a really sharp fielding performance. Dhoni and his boys just clean whipped the pants of the English tourists and have just reignited my dormant cricket interest bug ( which had gone into extra deep hibernation mode post the very first Test in England). Also in the house was  none other than Shreesanth our mallu pace wonder / dancing reality star. Walked up to him with Saili, and shook hands with him and mentioned how awesome it was to see him there. Decent chap that he is, he agreed, and patiently (almost) smiled as Saili took a photograph with him. I'm sure he would rather have murdered me on the spot, as he vacantly looked past my shoulder at jubilant scenes of Indian victory as I clicked the pic (below) :

Finally, tomorrow marks a long expected holiday outing to that  queen of all tourist spots on offer in and around Bangalore - Wonderla! ( Whatay  name :D ) also Dad is expected to land in Bangalore late afternoon/ early evening tomorrow, and both Manali and Me look forward to that as well...