Taste test

New bistro food at a restaurant inside an old textile mill

Wine is the only alcohol on its menu and yet Riyaaz Amlani’s Tasting Room, in Lower Parel, has crowds waiting patiently to be seated. “We barely have any guests storming out due to long waiting lines, especially on weekends,” says a maître d’.

Just three years ago, the Impresario Group (which owns the Mocha, Salt Water Cafe and delItalia restaurants in Mumbai) snapped up the Tasting Room, until then run by Sula Wines. Since then Amlani and his chefs have run the restaurant.

The decor includes a palette of shades of maroon that blend comfortably with old factory fittings — the restaurant is housed inside an old mill — and voluminous sofas, all of which help you forget the bustle of Mumbai. The Tasting Room is within Good Earth, an upscale lifestyle store, and there patrons can sip wine and sample bistro food.

 

This relatively affordable wine restaurant has just revamped its menu after three years. Amlani says, “I just let [Gresham Fernandes, Impresario’s group executive chef] loose. And he came up with a straightforward comfort food menu that hits the right notes.”

The Impresario Group started as a coffee shop, which grew into the Mocha chain. Tasting Room is not aiming to expand in the same manner, yet. Amlani explains, “It is a mood space complete with a wine-only menu and all-day café food. This brand is not going outside Mumbai.” He expects a 30 per cent spike in business after the new menu launch, and says that Tasting Room already sees about 300 walk-ins a day. “That should keep us in the green,” he says.

The new menu grew out of experiences chef Fernandes had around the globe. The Chevre Pine Nut Phyllo Bake, for instance, is served with a spiced guava glaze. “I had this fruit reduction at a bakery in London. Since Mumbai does not have many instances like this, added it as an appetiser,” he says. He adds stories as he discusses salt-and-pepper prawns with jalapeño, a caper salsa, or the Asian-inspired tenderloin carpaccio.

Since the restaurant caters to a global palate, the new menu recognises dietary preferences and even religious sensibilities. Healthy and organic are the buzzwords; home-grown produce and the raw-food and low-calorie movements rule the culinary roost — so Fernandes admits all those elements via cold soups and other items.

“We have added quirky soups like our take on the traditional French soup in the creamed French onion, or the iced gazpacho done the Spanish way,” he says. “For the calorie-conscious, salads such as the cumin-and-orange-marinated beetroot and the roasted chicken and soba noodle are just what the dietician recommends.”

The Tasting Room, Good Earth, Raghuvanshi Mills, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel. Call 022-65285284