Middle of Nowhere

Bazaar Rd, Collector Nagar,

J J Nagar, Mogappair East

Chennai 600037

Mob: 0 96771 40625

Meal for two: Approximately Rs1600 + taxes, without alcohol

This cosy, family-friendly, far-flung restobar just turned one. To commemorate, Celebrity Chef Sarvanan changed the tripartite menu presenting offerings you find Nowhere (except here), esoteric fair you find Somewhere and popular food you find Everywhere. The last category,  our educated and epicurean chef despairs of. His ambition is to refine palates and create hunger for the unique. Yet, having remarked that Chennai undergoes obsessions as for sushi, steaks and now South Indian, this discerning chef authenticates regional specialities from the Deccan belt not usually available in town. They are unabashedly meaty but Chef doesn’t snub vegetarians, recreating Madurai Mutton Kola or delectable Dindigal Lamb Biryani perked with Samba rice deploying jackfruit, tempeh and the like. Cottage Cheese & Cashew  Nuggets are dangerously addictive and a subtlety amidst an otherwise feisty fiesta of fried starters expected at a bar.

What you don’t expect at a bar is designer dessert like dry fruit-stuffed exquisite poli in gorgeous Mylapore rose milk. But this adroit chef whose talents were sophisticated during a decade abroad specialises in fine Continental cuisine and curates gourmet suppers for Chennai’s well-travelled A-list for which he invokes Peruvian asparagus and rare Brazilian portobello (even Alba white truffle doesn’t satisfy the chichi Chef Sarvanan). When not being pursued by TV channels he masterminds degustations with tremendously tender tortellini, coffee liquored shots to swig after extravagantly delicate creations including delicate nest-like stuffed pouches, the array of culinary finery culminating in nimble-handed dark chocolate mousse.

The disarmingly simple owner, Anand JB, wants simply for families with children to feel comfortable here and savvy Operations Manager Charleston ensures it. But after a few crisp, sharp cocktails from Karthik, surely amongst Chennai’s top three mixologists, who can sustain sobriety? It would insult this supremely skilled and uncannily intuitive mixologist’s art!