Patissez, Chennai

When two chefs with Michelin-starred backgrounds collaborate, M&N Consultants happen. Chef Manikandan Vijayakumar and Navin Prasad, consultants behind some of Chennai's best eateries, just launched their own cafe, celebrated Australian franchise Patissez, dutifully adapted to the desi, although guests are often Chennai's expats. Best-sellers are those obscenely extravagant Freak Shakes Patissez is synonymous with (try strawberry cheesecake Cheshire Cat) but we prefer their tidier, tamer cousins, notably, the Espresso Salted Caramel Neat Shake.

So why would Mani who worked at Vineet Bhatia's Rasoi in Geneva and Navin from Atul Kocchar's Benares turn to shaking shakes? Especially when Mani was hand-picked to cook for the British High Commissioner to America? Because his Scottish guru Chef Gary Robinson advised, "A cat in a dog's house can never be a dog." So Mani headed home and mercifully too because Patissez dishes perfect-with-a-capital-P pastas and pizzas. Now, now wrinkle not your noses, the simplest things, as we've reiterated, go easily wrong. Patissez' secret is quality ingredients and deft touch that make marvels of margarita and spaghetti pomodoro- you'd think you're in Tuscany, but the decor is just too cool.

Chef Navin brings complexity and novelty to the menu with his kebabs. Presentations are Michelin-starry, corn tikkis tickle but Kumbh Ka Mela, which explores textures, swings from a  technically fascinating gravelly scrambled mushroom to a podgy stuffed number. The adventurous Ghewar Chaat conceptually negotiates a chaat-salad duality (and Chef Navin can expatiate on the cerebral zeal behind it). The ensemble is, however, stout and the mushy, sweet Indore-inspired mango chutney topping makes for an uncomfortable ménage trois. We like creativity but we prefer cutting-edge technique and palatability. Chef Mani, who thought the British High Commissioner's wife irksome, found us more exacting still and was heard expostulating, "Romba fussy client" (VERY difficult to please). Even Jindal (THE Jindal), who insists M&N cater for his private functions, is easier to please!

Address: 142, 2nd Floor, Phoenix Market City, Velachery Road, Velachery, Chennai 600042
Mob: 97006 88757
Meal for two: Approximately Rs. 800