Fio - Cookhouse and Bar, Epicuria, Nehru Place - Classy Place and Excellent Food

One cannot stop wondering  that Nehru place which was once  famous for pirated software, will now also be considered as one of “the” place where people would love to go out , eat and relax. Epicuria in true sense is one of those amazing food courts where you have food joints like chatter house, flying saucer, benihana and karims. Now it’s one of the most happening places in south Delhi and getting popular.
I have been to epicuria, couple of times, but earlier had never been to Fio. I have been to their garden of five senses, said-ul-ajab restaurant and I totally loved that place. That place is on one of my favorite romantic place in Delhi with excellent combination of Indian and Italian cuisine. Here is my experience of Fio, Garden of five senseshttp://www.mysticfoodiemantra.com/2014/05/fio-country-kitchen-garden-of-five.htmlI came to fio Nehru place to attend their first chef’s table hosted by Vineet Wadhwa, CEO and owner of Fio. He is among those early hotel management graduate of 80’s when we didn’t have many stand-alone fine dining places. Vineet is very passionate about getting the right kind of food with excellent quality ingredients. The different locations of FIO, have a very different style of dinning and he said it was his intension to keep both the places different so that people can feel and enjoy the difference. Fio cookhouse, Nehru place has that classic Italian/French bistro kind of look with very high ceiling which actually gives you very comfortable and relaxed dining experience.
So we started with amuse bouche – wine poached fig with home cheese that set the tone for the day. Amuse bouche, offers a glimpse of chef’s approach and kind of sets your expectation for the day. It was delicious. It was great to share table with Sourish Bhattacharya (www.indianrestaurantspy.blogspot.in) and Vineet himself.The shrimp minestrone soup was very refreshing and delicious, I wanted to finish all of it but then it wouldn’t have done justice with rest of the meal. Home baked fresh breads of FIO were exceptionally good and we had all kinds of breads that they prepare and loved every bite of it.The freshness and sponginess is beyond compare.Their starters were outstanding - be it peri peri olive chicken noisette (hich means hazelnut in French is small round piece of meat) or the pesto sole spiedini (cubes of meat cooked in a skewer) with tamarind sauce or the petis roesti (swiss dish made of potatoes) loaded butter beans, od porto bello and artichoke, caramelized onion and cheese phyllo(of crisp phyllo pastry wrapped around a savoury cheese filling). Every dish was made with perfection and cooked with great flavors and had excellent presentation. I loved the salads - , Fennel, watermelon, bocconcini and balsamic salad and crispy Parma ham, wine poached pear, arugula salad. Both the salads were outstanding. The combination of fresh watermelon with bocconcini(fresh mozzarella cheese) was outstanding and simply bowled me over. I was enjoying and it seemed I didn’t stop at 1 servings and hence when the main course came in, I had to take a deep breath to be able to consume more of goodness. I had slow braised lamb shanks with small portion of spring onion pearl barley risotto - Meat falling of bones, light sauce with excellent preparation. Basil lime steam fish with balsamic butter was equally amazing. And to finish this outstanding meal we were served Sampler platter of desserts (Tiramisu, Viennese chocolate mousse, Summer fruit cheesecake) and it was fantastic way, to finish our epic lunch.It was great afternoon with Vineet and Sourish Sir over some outstanding food, great wines and some interesting discussions. Having said that fio is the one of the place, which makes me visit them often as not only they have some outstanding food, but also great collection of cook books – a different and innovative way to keep you engaged.
FIO Cookhouse and Bar
Epicuria, Nehru Place Metro Station, New Delhi
Nehru Place
Phone:
011 26281026, +91 9971004536