Arti Sarin of Verve and Chef Neeraj
With only 2 seats left for us, and women still making an entry at the event organised by Verve Magazine with Executive Chef Neeraj Choudhary ( Thai Pavillion, Vivanta by Taj) at the sophisticated hub Arttd’inox ( India’s premier brand of stainless steel tableware accessories and modular kitchens ), the place was buzzing with women chatter. It looked more of a casual relaxed kitty-party warm afternoon than an event organised. But Arti Sarin (The Head – Corporate Communication and PR) at Verve said, “All women love it…a casual atmosphere, some fun chit-chatting time and good food).Located on the 2nd floor of Global Foyer, Gurgaon, Arttd’inox looked quite an open store with a range of Modular Kitchens and Kitchenware, with the main focus on “Style with Steel”. Natural Lighting, a glass of wine served, and watching Chef Neeraj talk about the art of Thai cuisine in Layman’s manner made it a perfect place to be! A very humble Chef Neeraj, who added a touch of humor mentioning his nervousness amongst so many women, wanted to teach/cook something that we all could take back home! He is open-minded and flexible enough to adjust to the taste of the customers, and is in tune with today’s demands of food.
The event started with Chef Neeraj making the first dish of the day – Raw Papaya Salad. The interaction between the women and Chef was interesting enough with the Chef taking active participation in showing all the ingredients and the process step by step to all the women and answering all their queries with patience. The ladies were as keen and enthusiastic about the recipes and kept popping questions when they had a doubt at hand.
Thai food, as the Chef said is a mixture of sweet, sour and salty and bitter. So the preparation is always light and easy, with the stress on the aroma and spices. The next recipe of Thai Chicken in Green Curry followed by the Dessert (Made from Water Chestnuts) followed the same method. Over a period of 45 minutes, 3 dishes were already done! Guess that’s the advantage of Thai cuisine or we have to give credit to Chef Neeraj and his assistant Raghu who made it sound so easy and actually proved it.
raw papaya salad
The buzz continued throughout the event, with the lady sitting next to me commenting, “What do you expect when you have so many women at one place?” Guess it just gives a good feeling to the organiser that people are enjoying and feeling at home. And then was the tasting time!! We loved the mini samosas, the Hummus with Pita Bread, The Raw Papaya Salad ( which the chef told us, can also be made with Raw Mangoes – Special Thai mangoes that don’t ripe or turn yellow), and The Green Curry served with Rice. But for us, the dessert was the dish of the day. And guess for everyone, one serving was not enough!
We were greeted goodbye with a warm hug and loads of smiles and of course, a goodie bag from Verve and Arttd’inox. We truly enjoyed this experience and feel such events are not only enjoyed by women for the social meetups but the one on one interaction with the Chef truly makes it memorable! Kudos to the whole team !