Sole to soul

Restaurateur Chetan Malik loves food and automobiles equally.

It is impossible to run out of conversation when one is discussing food and automobiles, especially with an aficionado like Chetan Malik. Malik has managed to blend his two passions quite seamlessly into his coffee shop-cum-restaurant, Café $tyle, in Noida’s buzzing Sector 18 market.

Very early, it is clear which passion Malik places above the other — though he won’t admit it. The immaculately restored yellow-and-white 1962 Lambretta Innocenti at the entrance to the café is a giveaway. Look outside, if you need further evidence: on the porch, a shiny black 1947 Morris Eight Series stands proudly. As soon as we sit, Malik says: “I have a 1954 Matchless upstairs.” That is enough to get us racing up the stairs to take a look.

Soon we are engrossed in conversation about locating classic automobiles, in different parts of the country, and restoring them. “You know, actually it is a buyer’s market,” Malik says, puzzling me with that statement, as I consider these machines “priceless”. “You have to look in places other than the cities. I have got most of my vehicles from Gujarat. The secret is to not say ‘Wow’ when you see a priceless piece. You can then drive a bargain,” he says.

Malik drives a jeep that has been modified to his taste. He has, however, set his sights on a 1952 Dodge, and says he is close to acquiring it. These vehicles always get attention, and Malik describes the experience of taking the Lambretta to Delhi’s Khan Market. A side-effect is that strangers come up with offers to buy his vehicles. “It happens often in my restaurant too,” he says.

The café, Malik says, was an idea that originated while he worked as a French fine-dining chef with the Radisson group of hotels in the UK. He says he wanted to express himself through his own enterprise. Café $tyle began operations about five months ago. It is a coffee shop that also offers three-course meals, and sells T-shirts. Malik has chosen to mix and match different foods. Starting with seafood rasam, the menu is full of exotic combinations.

Does the food disappoint? Definitely not, as I soon find out, when Malik stirs up some fish with beer and cheese soup, and homemade bread.

FAVOURITE RECIPES

BEER AND CHEESE SOUP
1 tbsp Emmenthal cheese
1 tbsp Gouda cheese
1 tbsp Gruyere cheese
275 ml double cream
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
25 ml beer

Heat the cream on a double boiler and add the cheese. Cook it till it melts, and mix thoroughly. Add salt and mustard to taste. Add the beer and mix well. Serve hot with onion bread.

SOLE FISH WITH SAUTÉED VEGETABLES
Fillet of sole
100 gm fresh spinach
4 red bell peppers
5 to 6 garlic cloves
75 gm broccoli
Half a yellow pepper
Half a carrot
Beans
10 gm fresh rosemary
10 gm fresh oregano
Salt and pepper
15 ml each of red and white wine
30 to 40 ml vegetable oil
150 gm herb butter
1 lemon

Make a marinade with wine, chopped rosemary, oregano, garlic, three tablespoons of oil and a dash of lemon. Marinate the fillet for at least four hours in a fridge. To make red pepper coulées, pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Dice the red pepper, add garlic, herbs and salt. Put it in the oven to roast for 15 minutes and keep an eye on it. Let it cool. De-skin the peppers and put the mixture into a blender.

Keep adding vegetable oil till the mixture has a sauce-like consistency. Take out and strain. In hot water boil the vegetables with salt. Put the fillet on a grill and sauté the grilled vegetables in herb butter. Sauté the chopped spinach again in herb butter and arrange in a plate. Put the grilled fillet on top of the spinach, pour red pepper coulée and add the sautéed vegetable. Garnish with fresh parsley.