You know, there’s a surprise at the bottom of that dish,” says Matteo, signalling the Crème brûlée. “When you’re scraping the bottom, you’ll find…” He stops mid-sentence mostly to take in my cynical expression. It’s rather cocky of him, I think, to guarantee that I’ll be licking the dish clean, what if I don’t like his Crème brûlé? He smiles at me, “Trust me, you will definitely be scraping the bottom of that dish!”
Apologies for starting with the end of the meal, but when dessert is the highlight of the lunch, it does make sense to begin there. Especially when dessert comes at the end of a three-course meal at The Leela Palace Mumbai’s newest restaurant – Le Cirque Signature. It is the second Le Cirque restaurant in India and the second Signature restaurant in Asia. From its eighth floor vantage point in Andheri East it looks poised to take on the local epicures.
A giant on the culinary landscape of New York, Le Cirque is the brainchild of Sirio Maccioni, the success of whose first edition spawned a chain of the circus-themed Italian-French cuisine restaurants around the world. While the original remains the holy grail of gourmands, the geographically bound can sample their expertise at the ones in Delhi and Mumbai, both at the Leela Palace hotels.
The 65-seater restaurant is empty when I walk in for a preview lunch days before its official launch, but the kitchen is as busy as it will be once it opens, I am told. At the helm of the Mumbai edition is Italian-American chef Matteo Boglione, imported from the brand’s flagship restaurant in New York. As we sit down to lunch with the chef, who refuses to eat but promises to talk us through the meal, what strikes us is the childishly cute monkey, circus balls and colourful tents that adorn the plates. Its name literally translates to “the circus” in French, but the restaurant itself is rather sombre with simple, unfussy décor and the view from the eighth floor promises twinkling city lights when patrons come in for dinner.
Tasting time The meal started off with a Caprese 2.0, Boglione’s duet version of a simple mozzarella, tomato and basil salad. While the chef seems to consider it a ‘girly’ dish, for its light flavours, the modern version finds favour for its tomato purée and whipped cheese, the same flavours in a whole different texture.
I dilly dally over the second course, unable to choose between the Lobster risotto and Pumpkin tortelli, finally settling on the latter. Well, the true test of a restaurant, that isn’t Indian, is more often than not how well it can do a vegetarian dish that’s not a salad. The Lobster will have to wait for another day. Thankfully, sinking my teeth into the warm tortelli, butternut squash melting in my mouth, it was a worthy choice. I admit it passed my mini-test too, with flying colours.
For the third course I choose the Grilled chicken paillard. I’m told that this is one of the best-selling dishes in the Delhi Le Cirque, and it is easy to see why. The chicken is grilled to perfection, the morel mushrooms sauce (from Kashmir, where they grow excellently, Matteo tells me) is spiced with sage and rosemary, together making for a dish that’s flavourful enough for the Indian palate while retaining its character.
Other dishes one can look forward to tasting are the signature dishes like the Dover sole with almondine, Florentine-style T-bone steak and the Paupiette of fresh halibut in red wine sauce. To wash it down you can choose from the impressively stocked cellar that features over 250 Italian and French wines..
Crème de la crème Now my expectations are sky high, considering how Le Cirque is credited with making this classic dessert of uncertain origin an American staple, and I’m curious to taste the famed dish.
Between the delicate balance of sugar, the risk of an eggy aftertaste in the crème anglais and the difficulty of getting the burnt sugar crust right, a Crème brûlée is the easiest of desserts to go wrong with. Even at our table, of the five ramekins served, four are sent back to the kitchen by Chef Matteo himself. Apologising for the delay but insisting that he will not serve until its perfect, he excuses himself to the kitchen while four of us are left to eye the one dish that passed inspection. The sheet of sugar burnt to a caramelised gold, even and browned perfectly, glints and we all realise we’ve been staring at it only when the head waiter brings us the restaurant’s other speciality – the Mille Foglie (Italian version of the classic French mille-feuille) with white chocolate mousse and a crisp, flaky disc that the chef insists isn’t pastry. “Guess what it is!” My brow furrows in concentration as I help myself to another spoon (for research purposes only, not because the white chocolate mousse and dark chocolate are making my tastebuds dance in joy). I give up and the answer is surprising – to say the least – thinly sliced eggplant caramelised to a crisp! Surprising how eggplant just went from my least favourite vegetable to a memorable dessert.
Four other dishes finally arrive and as Matteo looks on approvingly, I happily take to the glass-like crust with the back of my spoon, and scoop out the delicate creamy pudding with a bit of the caramelised sugar: it is love at first taste. One bite and you understand why both the Spanish and the French claim to have invented this dish, but the American eatery has clearly mastered it.
As predicted I am scraping my dish clean and surprise, surprise – at the base of it is printed the recipe for the dessert! Unlike most chefs that are secretive about their recipes, at Le Cirque restaurants, there are even cookbooks released by the Maccioni family that welcomes guests to try out the recipes for themselves.
With a menu that’s tailored to take advantage of the seasonal produce, it still retains the core elements and signature dishes that made Le Cirque the formidable name in dining. The restaurant is definitely a must-visit in Mumbai. It only remains to be seen whether in this city where there is no dearth for gourmet options, Le Cirque can continue to hold its own.