Meal on the run

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: At first glance, cricket and lunches have little to do with each other. But in this age of maximising one’s time, if the former has introduced power play, the latter has been as prompt in power lunches, designed to keep you raring to go for the rest of the day.

“The Power Lunch at Chef & I is based on the same concept, says chef Wang Li of Uppal’s Orchid in Delhi. “As soon as you have been seated at your Power table in our Power section, you are served with Power beverages, — a red bull, a fresh juice, green tea or a macho shake. Power crackers, our fat-free organic munchies, get you cracking to an excellent opening spell. Power starters get your business talks going. A Power soup follows, while Power grub is power packed to top up your nutrients. Power dessert comes in a Power trolley, leaving room for our fresh roasted Power coffee; a tall café late or a quick espresso.”

This may have already tired some, but the corporate world seems to be lapping up specially-designed lunches for them. Food and beverage establishments across the metros report a spike in sales when it comes to ‘business’ or ‘executive’ or ‘corporate’ lunches.

What exactly makes for a business lunch varies, but the sector agrees to the last F&B manager that it is needed. Whether it is chains like Nirula’s or Rajdhani or top-end hotels, most put speed at the top of the crucial factors chart, followed by quality, health and value. “The faster you can serve them the better it is, says Dinaz Madhukar, GM, Taj Connemara. “They have the right balance of proteins, carbs and also taste,” says Arindam Chakraborty, assistant F&B manager, Shangri-La. “In today’s world, even lunches have become working lunches,” says Abhijit Mukherjee, director F&B, Hyatt. “All our conference rooms come with options of working lunch packages, which the clients can have in their meeting rooms. Typically, the cost for 10 people would come to about Rs 20,000 to 25,000. Health reigns. “Our hip lunch has a pre-selection of four dishes, soup and dessert and forms 80% of our orders,” says Madhukar. Indian is passé, while oriental, with its conception of being light, is very popular, goes conventional wisdom.