Le Poisson Rouge may sound intrinsically French, but this
version of French restaurant in Goa is offering a signature and creative
Indo-French cuisine, ever since it opened doors at Arpora a decade ago, making
it a pioneer of contemporary local cuisine. “The enigmatic essence of Indian
cuisine melted with the refined classic French technique, resulting into a fine
dinning concept – Le Poisson Rouge. It is a chic al fresco restaurant where the
ambience is intimate and perfect for quiet dinner and where the cuisine is
delicate with subtle fusion of French knowledge and flavours from the Goan
land,” explains Gregory of his maiden venture in a land he is now proud to call
home. “We chose Goa firstly because it is such a charming place and secondly
because it’s tourist-centric with a sizeable European clientele,” he elaborates.
The lack of products initially may have seemed a deterrent
for any chef, but to Gregory it offered a challenge and a unique opportunity to
cook up the right cuisine fusion. “ Ten years ago when we arrived in Goa, the
availability of products was quite limited, but we did have a nice selection of
fish and a decent array of vegetables. As a cook, I’m curious about local food
and flavour, so I was inspired by local flavour as karripata, tendli pickle,
lemon chutney, cafreal, trifola bay, coconut oil and many more. My basis as a
chef is French classic and I have integrated these flavours in my cooking. This
is how we gave birth to creative Indo-French cuisine with some elegant dishes
like river crab and coconut tempura, Aldona duck ravioli with hokum vinaigrette
and Goan pesto or Chicken cafreal parmentier to name a few. Only three of our
products are imported. The others are all grown locally,” reveals this chef who
not only had the privilege to collaborate in several Michelin starred
restaurants in France, in the US and in Ireland, but also travelled throughout
the world from Chile to Hong Kong and Morocco to soak in the varied global
flavours. The imprints of these experiences are now borne in his nouvelle
fusion cuisine.
What is even more encouraging for this Chef is that his
cuisine attracts a mixed clientele of people from both India and overseas. “Our
cuisine is adaptable to both palates as it is exotic for foreign clients and
our Indian clientele will recognise some local flavours reinterpreted,” he surmises.
The charm of Parisian cafés back home for this Normandy
Frenchman was to give rise to a unique lifestyle café with organic produce –
the Om Made Café. “It is a lifestyle café, where the philosophy is fresh food
with a beautiful setting. We created them from A to Z- all furniture and every
other detail has been selected by us. We are different because we have invested
a lot of energy and care to ensure that the ambience and décor make one feel at
home and closer to us,” avers Gregory.
Encouraged by the response Om Made Café will now open a spot
TESO Waterfront in Siolim and at Paperboat Collective in Sangolda. While he
cites the Siolim venue as one of the most beautiful spots to enjoy all day
long, from breakfast to dinner, with a speciality fish bar, the one at Sangolda
is a perfect spot for a quick snack or a fresh salad.
To this chef who considers it a real pleasure to be living
in India’s great awakening, contributing to it has only doubled the joy.
