C O L U M N S

High Life

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Because of my current high-protein fixation, I ordered what the menu described as a small portion of spare ribs. When the order arrived, I stared at the ribs in wonder. The Chinese restaurant had sent over six whole ribs, each one nearly 10 inches long. The only way you could eat them was by grabbing them in your hand and gnawing away at the meat till your teeth hit bone.

Who but the Flintstones would regard this as Chinese food? And essential to its appeal was that you had to eat the ribs caveman style. Neither chopsticks nor a knife and fork would be effective against such a dish.

Eventually, I wearied of the caveman food and decided that my desire to avoid the foodie places was turning me into a Neanderthal. Almost on impulse - and because I was wearing a suit for Manmohan Singh's press conference - I phoned my favourite New York restaurant and my favourite fish restaurant in the world: Le Bernardin.

I've written about Eric Rippert's food before but I'll say this again: Le Bernardin is possibly the finest and most influential fish restaurant in the world. Before Rippert took over as the chef, nobody - not even the chefs in his native France - did such wonderful things with fish. Now every chef of consequence is influenced, in some way or the other, by Rippert's way with fish.

New York restaurants can be hard to get into. But I was pleasantly surprised by Le Bernandin's response. I phoned after Manmohan Singh's press conference to ask if they had a table for lunch. They took my name and declared, within seconds, that I had been there before. Obviously, they are very computer savvy. Yes, of course, they had a table, they said, and they would keep it for me. How long did I have to get there, I asked. Not to worry, they said, the table was mine for the afternoon.

If I had been one of those high rollers who brought large parties for dinner, and downed bottle after bottle of Montrachet, the excellent telephone manner might have been explained. But I only go to Le Bernadin for the cheap lunch (fifty dollars per head) and drink wine by the glass. So, they had no earthly reason to be so nice.

The meal, of course, was perfection itself. The delicate fish dishes were as removed from the Flintstones as it is possible to imagine. The sommelier - new, having just moved from Daniel - outdid himself in finding new pairings for each dish and even threw in a glass of Montrachet at the price of a standard house wine. When I left, the sommelier, who had bothered to learn my name from the reservation book, was at the door to say goodbye.

For those of us in India who are used to fancy restaurants where the staff brown nose you when you are a famous or rich person but ignore the ordinary diners, the service at Le Bernardin should be an example. At present, it is, according to Zagat, the best restaurant in New York. But it treats every guest as a VIP, no matter how much or how little he spends.

There is a lesson in that for Indian restaurants.


Vir Sanghvi is Editorial Director of Hindustan Times.

Courtesy Brunch, Hindustan Times