Meal for the kings is what the members of the Delhi Wine Club were promised at the Degustation Dinner at Olive. Well, there had been an oversight. It was a meal for the queens too. And the menu was selected so everyone present could feel like a king or queen, with a concern about one's health and wealth.

The sit-down dinner on July 31 for 14 was an extremely pleasant, relaxed  and exotic meal experience. The 12-course menu has been pre-selected by the chefs at Olive. The use of carbo-hydrates like bruschetta, focaccia, lavash or any bread rolls is frowned upon and   is avoidable.The servings were individual rather than the set of 3-4  dishes served at a time at the usual taster's menu. Emphasis was on the Mediterranean style rather than Italian.

The rain in the courtyard organised by Olive was another exciting (you could call it romantic, if you  saw a couple having dinner, decided to continue sitting under an umbrella for the few minutes that the showers lasted as a side attraction) feature. The food was of an excellent quality, each dish served at timed interval, perfect to savour.

What wines do you order in a restaurant when there is a group of people each having different dishes? Well, the accepted norm is for the host to choose one or two wines after a quick glance of what the guests have ordered. Usually in a group of fourteen, both white and red would need  to be ordered. Chardonnay and Merlot have the most common denomination factor. Since the Casillero Cabernet is a highly rated wine ( view http://www.delhiwineclub.com), we had gone ahead  and planned with  Casillero Chardonnay and Cabernet.  Personally, I wont like to have my Cab with the Menu of the evening  excepting New Zealand rack of lamb, which would also go equally  well  with a Merlot. On its own, the soft and juicy tannins of this medium body wine made it very palatable on its own so the members were really charmed by this red.

Limoncello, the Olive house specialty liqueur  was a delicious downer at the end of the meal. Service was exceptional. It is nice to know that the Olive has arrived, even in its wine service. One can see the service philosophy is at work. The direct and indirect supervision by  Mohit Balachandran who is also a corporate member of the club was very visible. It was evident from the smiles on the faces of the serving staff that they were enjoying the service as much as we were our meal. Was this a special treatment for the Delhi Wine Club members? I won't know. Try out for yourself at Rs.1695 per head ( +22.5% taxes and service charge) and feel like a king (or a queen!)

Subhash Arora

The same event was repeated on Aug 1 (13A/93) and Aug 6 (13B/93). Participants changed. The protagonists were the same. The food and wine did not change, the staff was the same. Experience was as eclectic.

Since the service can be a constraint with this Menu, we had to break up the event in 3 groups of a maximum of 12 on each day.

Warning: Do not succumb to the bread or bruschetta before or with the meal. You may not have inclination for the main course. Savour the various dishes- the colour, smells, the texture, the flavours and of course the pairing with the wine. Most members found the Cab too tannin and powerful for the Salmon ( a Pinot Noir or a Merlot would hav been a better choice. A fuller bodied Chardonnay from burgundy or the more elegant and concentrated Amelia from Concha would have been a  better choice.

But the Cab was the heavenly choice for the lamb as our member Arun Dang and commented and everyone agreed.

The Evening at Olive is best expressed by one  member who attended the evening. Chintamani Rao writes, ‘Thanks for a really enjoyable evening. Sitting around in a small group of interesting people with good food and good drink is a fine way to spend on evening!'

Subhash Arora