Chef Sujan’s Magic Continues at Olive

By Maneesh Srivastva @urbanescapades
When the Indian market opened in the early 90s, numerous food brands flourished - McDonalds, Dominos, Pizza Hut were amongst the first to expand their footprint. The initial success of these foreign chains inspired few entrepreneurs to bring global food to India. Rahul Akrekar’s Indigo and A. D. Singh’s Olive Bar & Kitchen were among the first few Indian stand-alone restaurants that started with the thought of serving authentic International cuisine.
They were the first to democratize gourmet pizzas, pastas and burgers. Over the years, both these brands have established a loyal fan following.Within couple of years of opening in Mumbai, A.D. Singh brought Olive to Delhi. An old Haveli overlooking the historical Qutub Minar in Mehrauli was converted into a classy French look. I was charmed by its ambience during my first visit last year, which was for the summer menu tasting. The fond memories of last summer’s amazing creation by Chef-de-Cuisine Chef Sujan Sarkar recalibrated my tastebuds as I entered Olive couple of weeks back. And this time there is more to Olive. The GreenHouse on the Ridge is a small intimate place where celebrity chefs cook home style and modern European dishes in front of you. It becomes the laboratory of Chef Sujan every Thursday where he pushes the boundaries. In “The Tasting Lab” Chef Sujan brings science, nature and gastronomy together to produce an explosion of taste. Then there is a cocktail bar – DIRTY MARTINI set in the 1920s that creates one of the best cocktails in the town.We had the perfect start to the evening with Parsnip Soup. It had a creamy froth like cappuccino. For the starters, we had Beetroot, Goat Cheese & Walnuts. Slow poached wine marinated beetroot was served with house churned beetroot sorbet, goat cheese croquettes and caramelized walnuts. Though I am not a fan of beetroot but I thoroughly enjoyed the complex flavours. But my favorite element in it was the beetroot sorbet. We also had Tuna Tartare, Egg Yolk & Avocado (raw tuna served with crispy fried, poached egg yolk, pickled summer vegetables & diced potato).
Salad for the evening – a)   Munchkin Pumpkin (wood oven roasted butternut squash and baby pumpkin with quinoa marinated in orange mimosa cocktail, French beans, orange segments, granola and mascarpone labneh). b)   Bacon Salad with charred vegetables. For the mains we had Artichoke & Ricotta Torteli (served with grilled artichoke, emulsion of sunchoke aka Jerusalem artichoke, pine nuts and parmesan) , Vegetable Steak,  John Dory en Pappillote (served with baby potatoes, fennel and caper beurre blanc sauce) and Belgian Pork Tenderloin (served with pork belly piccalilli puree, kale and mash). The desserts we had were Manago Panna Cotta (served with fresh mangoes, honey, pieces of meringue, mango jelly and mango ice cream) and a Chocolate dessert (served with chocolate cigars, edible ash, macron, homemade chocolate ice cream and wine poached cherries).We also had Olive’s Specialty cocktails which were beautifully paired with our food. The Wood Apple cocktail served with the starters and Cherry cocktail served with the chocolate dessert were simply brilliant. The unusual yet interesting pairing of various flavors had been the highlight of the evening.

The summer menu, created by Chef Sujan & Chef Dhruv Oberoi, is inspired by the sun. It is fresh, light, vibrant, colourful and visually stunning. It reflects the cooking trends of modern French and European cuisines. It combines a variety of ingredients picked from various farms from all over the country to create distinct and robust flavours. It’s one of the finest European menus we have experienced so far. Over the last 20 months, Chef Sujan has transformed the food ideology of Olive to make it one of the finest food destinations in the country.
Fact Sheet
Meal for two:
Lunch: 1500++
Dinner: 2200++
Address: One Style Mile, Haveli no. 6-8, 
Kalkadass Marg, Mehrauli, New Delhi – 110030
Phone no: 01129574444 / 3, 9810235472
Website: www.olivebarandkitchen.com
Facebook: Olive Qutub
Timings:
Lunch: 12pm - 3.30pm
Dinner: 7.30pm - 12pm
All day menu: 3.30pm - 7.30pm
Sunday Brunch: 12pm - 4pm

The Dirty Martini bar: Wednesday through Sunday, 7pm - 12am

Disclaimer - This review was done on an invitation from the establishment. Views expressed in the review is entirely ours and without any bias. Pictures of the dishes are not the standard portions, they are sample portions.