One of the best F&B ideas that I have come across recently, at least?while dining in the capital?happens to be not in snooty South Delhi or in the still up-and-coming Gurgaon, but in Janakpuri. Once upon a time, a distant, middle-class, residential hub in the ?wild west?, but lately bustling with the Metro and multiplexes, not to mention international hotel chains. The Hilton group, for one, chose this unlikely locale to open up their first, all-frills hotel in India some time ago. But while, I have had a few reservations about their restaurateuring attempts, last week, I was completely smitten by the fabulous tea lounge that has come up at the hotel to accompany the new Chinese restaurant (that despite its Sichuan and Cantonese specials, takes care to keep its clientele happy).
The tea lounge serves 18 varieties of tea, surely India?s national beverage. And though executive chef Theodor Rudiferia, a happy and chatty Italian, who spent time in Beijing before this, raves about his experiences with masala chai at small tea shops and dhabas (as opposed to a $ 40 cuppa at a hotel), the tea at Chynna lounge is totally different from the over-brewed elaichi-milky concoction that most of us are used to.
For one, the lounge serves primarily Chinese teas, no Assam, no Darjeeling, not even the super-exclusive Makaibari silver needles to make Indian concessions and connections. Instead, here you will find the likes of the ?yellow tea buds?, one of the rarest variety of tea in the world, of which just 20 kg is apparently produced in a year, an exotic white tea from Fujian, smoked and green varieties, a Formosa ?blue? and the one where 24 carat gold dust is sprinkled onto a few leaves.
You can go to the bar, study the extensive menu, smell the varieties of tea, perhaps heed the advice of a tea sommelier (there is one!) in attendance, and make a selection. The selected tea is then brought to your table, either in the lounge itself or in the neighbouring restaurant, left to brew for exactly two to five minutes (timed by tiny sand clocks kept on the table) depending on whether you like your poison strong or weak and served exactly as tea should be: warm and without killing any of its flavours, unlike what we tend to do in India. The different types of tea are all exclusively imported from the Singapore-based company TWG, keen to spread in the vast Indian market.
There are fantastic stories, too, to give a luxurious spin to the entire experience. The yellow tea, a note tells us, was apparently picked only for the Chinese emperor, in Sichuan, and so on. But even without this, the experience is fabulous. The Hilton, however, is only capturing, albeit in a very sophisticated way, what has been emerging as a new trend in the Indian F&B industry. While the caf? culture has exploded over the last decade, its tea bars and lounges seem to be the new flavour. Unlike the general cafes, which now cater to the masses, every one from college-goers sharing a single cup to dating couples and even people being interviewed for jobs?tea lounges are now being pitched as more exclusive experiences for the discerning clientel.
It is no coincidence that apart from the Hilton, two other super luxurious new hotels in the capital are acquiring a (strictly word-of-mouth) reputation for their ?lobby services? with tea being the highlight. At the yet-to-formally open Leela Palace in Chanakyapuri, touted to be India?s most expensive hotel ever, the highlight is a tea ceremony in the lobby (where beverages are served 24X7), with several exclusive (and expensive) varieties of mostly Indian tea included in the selection. The service involves not just beautiful tea cups and kettles, (essential to the entire colonial experience of tea, no doubt) but also the little sand clocks which will tell you when exactly to pick up your cup. At the quiet Aman, one of the best kept secrets is the afternoon tea that you can order in the lobby lounge for a mere under R 500 per person. And even smaller restaurants like Blanco in Khan Market and Fu in Greater Kailash now have interesting tea menus managing to serve not just a perfect cup of light Darjeeling, but also specials such as Thai tea.
Globally, hearty English tea (with the eats, thin cucumber sandwiches, hot scones, you get the drift?) are on a comeback. Will we see such a revival in India too? It will be interesting to watch this space. But whether or not we go the whole hog, fact is that already, a number of new cafes and informal diners that are coming up are focusing on tea and not coffee. Interestingly enough, and perhaps, naturally so, this is a trend that seems to be largely confined to Delhi. In the south, even in a cosmopolitan city like Bangalore, it is impossible to get a good cup of Darjeeling, should you want it. Hyderabad has the sickly sweet Irani chaikhanas that are tourist magnets despite the condensed milk (and some say, egg white) used to make the concoctions. And Mumbai, India?s other food-loving metro, too, seems stuck to its cappuccino.
The Apeejay-owned Cha bars were the first in India to think up the concept of tea bars, something that should have occurred to many more chai-drinking Indians much earlier. This was almost six to seven years ago. But it is only now that tea has moved out of the ?cutting chai? or ?Irani? and ?masala? formats to more contemporary experiences. For a tea-drinking nation that?s quite ironical.
?The writer is a food critic
Know your tea
CTC: Cut torn curled; the strong Assam staple in all our homes.
Black, oolong, and green tea: These categories refer to the processing that is involved. Processing involves everything from wilting to oxidising the leaves and the difference in the categories is the level of oxidation. Black tea, for instance, is one where the leaves have undergone full fermentation and oxidation. Green tea is not oxidised or fermented while oolong is partially oxidised.
White tea: An exotic variety of tea produced in both India and China on a very limited scale. Here, the tea leaves are the least processed. Buds are picked and dried before being packed. Obviously, you should not kill this mild tea with milk.
Pearl tea: This is green tea and takes the name from how the leaves (two leaves, one bud) are hand rolled.
Herbal tea: Technically, all such varieties such as the calming chamomile or those from sweet peas, hibiscus and so on are not tea at all. For that, leaves should come from the tea plant!