Recently, while cruising through HK, I made my pilgrimage visit to Otte e Mezzo, one of the finest Michelin-starred Italian eateries—perhaps the only three-starred one outside of Europe (well, Italy). They have a bar to match the hype and Devender Sehgal provides the comforting Indian connection here. Having seen him in his early fledgling days when he was still finding his feet as a flair bartender to today when he stands strong and proud (yet gentle and humble), manning the drinks menus here, it’s a moment of pride for the entire country. This time, he told me of the new menu he was planning and a curious inclusion was a drink called the Optimist. This was the drink that, many years ago, had given him his first big break when he won the Bacardi legacy India round and went on to represent the country on an international-level competition. His drink may not have won then, but he hasn’t given up believing in it.
“We took so much pain and put in so much time to create it and promote it; it wasn’t just for the competition, it was a matter of belief. It was, and is, for life!” With these emphatic words, Sehgal made me realise that the real essence of these competitions is to build the brand and to showcase it in the best possible way, not just at the competition, but for cocktail-lovers at large. In that respect, Sehgal had served as a true brand ambassador for Bacardi. It also made me realise that loyalty and belief are essential ingredients in the recipe for success. And humility. We should work on acquiring all these. Good looks like Sehgal’s help too, but there’s only that much one can wish for.
Another interesting learning this week dawned on me while visiting the newly-refurbished rooms at The Lodhi, a hotel which has been revived from the precipice of utter abandonment by their new GM, Vikram Aditya Singh. The new mini bars aren’t mini any more: they stock full bottles of a good few premium beverages, from Glenmorangie to Belvedere and Jack Daniel’s (and even Old Monk!), but here’s the best part: the pricing is almost in line with retail prices in the city. So anybody checking in can effectively open up a bottle and help himself to it over the course of his stay and then take the bottle with him. And they have a snack bar stocked with all the local snacks that one can crave for in the middle of the night. The universal mini-bar pinch, resulting from a late-evening binge, would be a thing of the past hereon.
Moving on to things less potent, I also got to try the TWG range of teas and, in one word and without allowing for any hyperbole, they are spectacular! Who would have thought that the best teas in the world would come back to us via foreign brands, from Fortnum and Mason to Dammann Frères, and now TWG? They have access to the best tea estates around the globe (well, at least in China and India) in a quasi-monopolistic manner, so Indian tea-lovers have no choice, but to buy great teas while travelling abroad. The irony of it never escapes me.
Neither does the cost one has to pay for these exquisite sips. I just hope that our local wines become popular in Europe and it’s their turn to crib every time they have to shell out for a bottle of an Indian wine, thereby allowing us the last chuckle.
The writer is a sommelier.
