Column: The Good Life: for Mint Lounge
For Gourmet magazine on yoga
SHOBA NARAYAN KEY NOTES: SHREYAS YOGA RETREAT, INDIA 09.10.07 Step through the gates of this lush retreat and you could be anywhere. Outside is the cacophony of India, inside, all you hear is the humming of birds. The scent of wild herbs (lemongrass, basil, thyme and sage) permeates the air. The dècor follows the Zen Balinese aesthetic that seems to be the rage all over Asia. Dark wood, infinity pool, a profusion of flowers, minimal furnishings, and the occasional understated Buddha-head or brass lamp: it could be Bali or Phuket. Set up by an investment banker based in London, Shreyas [...]
Taj CC Africa: Tiger Lodges. For Gourmet magazine
Would you pay a $1000 to spot a tiger? The Taj Group is betting you would. The India-based luxury hotel chain has tied up with CC Africa to establish 10 wilderness lodges throughout India. Four are already open. The facilities are first-class. 12 cottages each with a private courtyard, open shower and best of all, air conditioning. 5 staff per guest ensures that requests are fulfilled almost before they are vocalized. The ethnic chic décor harks back to a time and place that is the stuff of dreams: hand-plastered mud walls, rough-hewn beam ceilings, ceramic roof tiles and furnishings in [...]
Mozaic Restaurant, Bali. For Gourmet magazine
We couldn't get reservations at Mozaic during our first visit to Bali. It was the lean season and we were just two cuoples, but they were fully booked, they told us. The next time, we made reservations right after booking our airline tickets. Like most high-end restaurants today, Mozaic is both global and local. The décor-- tropical plants, rattan-and-bamboo chairs, silk upholstry, stone sculptures of Hindu Gods-- is Balinese. The culinaire and cook-shop near the foyer could masquerade for a hip boutique in the Meatpacking district. In the open kitchen, American chef-owner, Chris Salans barks orders in Balinese, swears in [...]
Mama Lil’s Pickles: for Gourmet magazine
Mama Lil's pickles Shoba Narayan Ten years ago, Howard Lev, then a screenwriter, drove across the Cascade Mountains from Seattle to the Yakima Valley on a camping trip. At Kruegar Farms in Wapato, Washington, he discovered some Hungarian goathorn peppers that tasted even better than the ones his Jewish mother from Rumania had been pickling in Youngstown, Ohio for as long as he could remember. The Valley's combination of hot days and cool nights elongated the growing season, producing firm peppers that turned from yellow to orange to red. "When you get all these colors together in a jar, it [...]
Christmas in the Maldives
Christmas in the Maldives I spent Christmas in the Maldives which is sort of surreal for someone who has spent the last 15 years enjoying a white (or gray) Christmas in the Northeast. The Maldives is a toy country, a group of atolls really which is geography-speak for tiny islands speckled across the Indian Ocean. The capital, Male has around 70,000 people and is about the size of say, JFK. The people are mostly Muslim but progressive and the streets are orderly and clean. Most tourists however don’t even touch Male. They get into a speedboat and go directly to [...]
Why tasting menus are a rip-off: enjoyed writing this piece for Gourmet magazine
SHOBA NARAYAN MATTERS OF TASTE ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 2003 They offer diners the chance to sample many dishes. They offer chefs the chance to show off. But before you order that tasting menu, you might just want to read on. Daniel Boulud never orders them when he dines out. Neither do Alice Waters, Danny Meyer, Drew Nieporent, or Bobby Flay. Mario Batali once said they were “for wimps who don’t have the guts to order off the menu.” And a prominent Boston chef has taken to calling them “fleecing menus.” What is it about tasting menus that everyone who’s anyone [...]
The Year in Travel for Gourmet magazine
Gourmet asked all its correspondents (including me) to fill up the following questionnaire, which they then posted on the site. SHOBA NARAYAN 2006: THE YEAR IN TRAVEL 12.28.06 What was your most memorable trip this year? The Yunnan province of China was amazing. We flew into Kunming and then drove up and up close to the Tibetan border. This is one part of China that is not cookie-cutter; native tribes are allowed to flourish. They preserve their heritage and flaunt ethnic costumes. Lijiang is a quaint World Heritage Site that looks like Old China. The closer you get to Tibet, the [...]
Udipi Sri Krishna Bhavan for Gourmet magazine
SHOBA NARAYAN AN AUTHENTIC, ALBEIT EARLY, INDIAN LUNCH 08.17.07 In my eternal quest for simple authentic Indian restaurants serving regional cuisine, I sought out an 80-year-old place in a crowded narrow street in Balepet, Bangalore, that old-timers told me had food to die for. It took a while for my auto-rickshaw to navigate the narrow roads and find Udupi Sri Krishna Bhavan. The name itself is a throwback. Modern Indian restaurants don't have four-word names. They call themselves "Sunny's" or something equally snappy. Inside, waiters in blue shirts and sarongs served steaming dishes ordered from a painted menu that hasn't changed in [...]
Dosa-do and Dosa-don’t for Gourmet magazine
The worst dosa I ate was at the Hampton Chutney Company in Amagansett some fifteen years ago.
A Delhi Food Tour: for Gourmet magazine
Delhi Journal PDF Links here SHOBA NARAYAN Delhi Journal: Part 1: Fried is Fine 06.18.07 I am not sure that I would eat the food in Chandni Chowk, but I know Americans who have and survived. They follow the rule: If it is fried, it is fine. The shops are tiny, but they offer all kinds of small delights. There is fresh paneer that will make its way to the city's top hotels by noon. There are countless dry-fruit stalls selling mounds of almonds, pistachios, walnuts, figs, and dates. Delhi homes serve these on winter afternoons, salted and fried [...]