17 Nov 2019 | 04:21am IST
THE GOAN BOYS ARE HOME, AFTER CONQUERING KITCHENS OF THE WORLD
This is a story of two Goan boys who moved out of India. One of
them is back to look after his ageing folks in Siolim and has turned the family
compulsion into an opportunity to create two work of art restaurants.
The other from Divar, is arguably the rock star of Young Indian
Chefs to have emerged from Goa, literally carved a reputation across India,
Australia and Germany, opened and revamped menus of iconic restaurants and
chains, has opened a Vietnamese beer garden with eclectic oriental cuisine.
Last week, the meandering paths of this column, that lead to
places and people who keep Goa’s tryst with all things culinary alive , arrived
at the doorsteps of these Goan boys, ‘at home’, each having brought the world
to them.
Both are fine chips of Goa’s old culinary block, where the
kitchen was the sanctum sanctorum of Goan homes, where moms and aunts ruled
home and hearth, and bound families and friends together through what they
cooked. These boys are from homes where long dining tables were the platforms
of not just food, but life.
Through their journeys across continents and cuisines, in
kitchens in corners of the globe, they whipped a bit of home” into their
culinary assets making food talk, creating identities of not just their
preparations and dishes, which became iconic and served as their signatures but
for themselves. The fact that one chose to come home and the other decided to
spend significant amounts of time here, running one restaurant just opened and
another signature one is indeed heart warming.
Savio Noronha awakes in Panjim or in his ancestral home in
Siolim each day to check on his fresh produce. He does check if the fresh bacon
and other pork produce is ready, all grown locally and organically, to be
served fresh each day at his Route 66 Restaurant in the heart of Panjim’s Rue
De Ourem. Though Route 66 has been in operation for a while Savio’s recently
launched breakfast spread, is a part of Panjim’s tradition of starting the day
with a good breakfast, But Savio’s spread is big. It’s America on a breakfast
plate. And the best of his farm and other sourced stuff is served, a medley of
pork beef and eggs, with freshly baked bread and decent coffee. At the other
end of town in Anjuna he runs Tin Tin very close to where he grows all his
produce, another go to place for tourists and locals for years.
The other boy, Picu, is from Divar. And like many Divadkars who
have moved and spent most of their lives abroad, he has held on to the flavours
and aromas of home, even as he has expanded his international repertoire
manifold.
Picu is formerly known as Rahul Gomes Pereira and one of his
uncles Aloo Gomes Pereira or ‘Aloo Uncle’ to yours truly, has been one of the
architects of Goa’s travel trade and one of the most prominent resident of Sao
Tome- Fontainhas. And that connects Chef Picu to even closer home.
However, little known to many in Goa, he is indeed one of
India’s top ten young chefs, with an ivy league equivalent career portfolio.
Head Chef of Delhi-based Pass Code Hospitality, Sazerac, Jamun and the bar PCO
of the group have been run by him. But Delhi and arguably India really noticed
him when he revamped the menu of the very high end private dining club A Ta
Maison, in Delhi or ‘ATM’ for short. What followed was phenomenal. Stand out
international dishes had his signature and stamp like the duck confit served
with millet risotto and a red-wine jus and his Scallop ceviche- fresh carpaccio
of scallops with kombucha and capers. And to those chefs and remarkably well
exposed diners, mention the dish saffron and tellicherry pepper risotto and
you’ll hear Chef Picu. But he didn’t leave his Goa behind even here, with his
Chorizo crepe, with fresh chorizo sent to Delhi from Goa Apart from his
continent blazing international career, and across the Oberoi group in India,
which is where he was chiseled from a talented chef to a master and hailed by
some of the best known world chefs like Chef Alan Passsard, Rahul Gomes Pereira
is indeed one of Goa’s gems. In Goa, off the main CHOGM road at Sangolda,
there’s a sharp turn to the fields. Right there in an old home with a garden (
formerly the venue of the Mustard restaurant) is Chef Picu’s latest love, the
Pings Bia Hoi. It’s a mix of a beer garden, in a laid back whacky setting and a
stand out bar designed, we are learnt by legendry bar designer Anirudh Singhai’s,
Speedx. Here the menu is oriental, with a lot of Thai and Vietnamese, riveting
in the street flavours of the orient. While we shall delve into the details of
the menu in another space and time after a few more experiments, here’s a
sampler. The Philadelphia cream cheese with water chestnuts, the wok tossed
guylian (goan water spinach) with mushroom garlic chilly and soy and the
Edamame and corn dimsum are vegetarian specials. And if an absolute meat and
seafood aficionado like this columnist, lingers and harbours over a vegetarian
medley like this, the Chef is truly special. And he’s preparing to launch
Jamun, another high end Indian style restaurant in Assagao, which is a mini
extension of Delhi anyway.
It was a
midweek afternoon. As one left Pings Bia Hoi, after a meal, Chef Picu, was on
his scooter, laughing and joking with his mates before he sped off into the
fields and the palm trees of Sangolda. As he vanished into the lap of nature,
he looked like just another Goan boy who had conquered the world but was
happiest at home
