The Tangra Project - Chef Vikram's Homecoming


I  guess when chefs finally 'settle' after years of going around and gaining experience, that restaurant will have the best of their creations over the years. Which is why I was excited when Vikram, a chef I've been following since 2012, finally got his own restaurant, The Tangra Project, a beautiful kitchen view restaurant with a variety of seating - from cosy sofas to high chair to a private dining room (the only one where you can't  see the kitchen). 

Parawal Guacamole

Litchi Sondesh

Caramel Chocolate Tart

Over all these years, Vikram has served me some of the best meals I've had in my life. He has pushed my culinary boundaries in ways I cannot imagine, got me to like foods that I've hated all my life and got me out of my comfort zone to enjoy foods that I normally wouldn't. I've had my own prejudices with food. While I've eaten fugu, the world's most poisonous fish, kudu, alligator and ostrich on my own accord, I've had trouble enjoying oysters and carpaccio and even the humble Upma. He actually got me to like and enjoy these in a variety of ways. 

A few weeks before TTP (as they fondly call The Tangra Project), I had lunch at his 'Secret Kitchen', where he again doled out some exquisite stuff ranging from a concentrated soy broth to dal makhni that could put many to shame. The deal with Vikram though is this - he has an uncanny way of making sure you enjoy the meal, but you'd hardly remember the individual dishes. Maybe because over the last 9 years I've had so many different dishes from his kitchen, and while I do remember some iconic dishes, almost always I remember the meal more than I remember the dishes. So, when he finally 'settled', I was looking forward to seeing, eating and refreshing my memory of his best dishes over the years. 

I was in for a rude shock! 

There was not EVEN ONE dish from the past. Not one. There was no frozen rose breaking over dessert, there was no edible flower pot with edible soil, no Upma with Mutton, nothing. I read the name of the restaurant again, and yes, this was The Tangra Project. I had forgotten that this was dedicated to the food of Tangra, a region in Kolkatta which was home to many settlers that has its own cuisine. 

And Vikram was back to what he does best. Food from his past stay there. This was new. Entirely new. 

A Parawal Guacamole. It is everything that a guacamole shouldn't be, but everything that it is. Confusing? Yeah. So, guac is made with fresh ripe avocados right? This one is made by cooking the crap out of parawal (pointed gourd). 17 hours to be precise. But when you take those chips, dip and eat it, you'll forget things like what dishes should be or shouldn't be. Just bliss.

Take the haleem on toast. A version of haleem, quite different from its Hyderabad counterpart, apparently based on Tipu Sultan's family version (the family of Tipu Sultan was exiled to Calcutta, so some of their food like haleem, probably had a Kolkata version based on what was available locally). On toasted sourdough. Now, I've never even imagined having haleem on toast. But it works. Just works. And being masters of lacto-fermentation (and evaporation and condensation and I-don't-care-what-sation and whatever other fancy science word is there), TTP makes its own ginger ale. Take my word and just try it. You will not regret it.

For a chef who spent a large part of his career in a cuisine like Japanese that serves a fruit as dessert, Vikram doles out some of the finest final courses in the country. I remember the time he wowed the ladies with a frozen rose, when he served a vanilla crusted salmon and the likes for dessert. At TTP, it is no different. A Kerala inspired Tender Coconut soufflé paired with, hold your breath, mustard topped with a Vikram style balloon filled with smoke bursting to let you smell before you dig in brings back memories of his gimmicks. The chocolate tart with sea salt and the Sondesh with litchi will ensure that if you had any plans of going easy on dessert, then, like thinking you'll get some old Vikram dishes, this plans will be squashed.

TTP is the brand new brain child of a chef who spent time doing chemistry with Heston Blumenthal, trained as a Japanese chef in Japan and wowed diners with his Asian food but has finally come home to his mother's cuisine in a fantastic avatar. And you don't even have to go into the mall to get there, the restaurant is strategically placed so you can get straight in. 

I can't wait to go back and devour every single item on the menu!


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Grub Waz: The Tangra Project - Chef Vikram's Homecoming
The Tangra Project - Chef Vikram's Homecoming
Grub Waz