Lights, camera, feast
The Park Chennai pays homage to Gemini Studios through a cinema-inspired menu to celebrate its 22nd anniversary
Chennai’s The Park, located by the Gemini
yover in Nungambakkam, is 22 years in the business. As homage to the land’s previous occupant, the famed Gemini Studios, a cinema-inspired menu has been introduced to mark the celebrations.
“We watched several movies here to put together the menu for Chef’s Cut. Each of these dishes is of great signicance to the movies, but we present them with a twist,” says Ashutosh Nerlekar, executive chef, The Park Chennai.
The menu, which opens out like a lm reel, features 11 dishes from Indian and international lms. While there are predictable picks like Pixar’s
Ratatouille and
The Lunch Box starring Irrfan Khan, the list also features lms like
Tampopo, a Japanese lm which released in 1985. Each page features a few lines about the movie along with a short description of the dish. Our meal begins with a hearty bowl of pearl barley cherry tomato and burrata risotto with earthy baby spinach, crunchy chestnuts, and a balsamic drizzle, olives and micro greens. This dish is inspired by the movie Burnt starring Bradley Cooper, which released in 2015. The pearl barley serves as a wholesome alternative to rice, soaking up the creamy and slightly tangy sauce.
Next, we try The Lunch Box-inspired paneer tikka terrine. Tender slabs of paneer sit in a bowl of tangy and subtly-spiced tomato and methi-based cream with a bright dollop of bu alo mozzarella on top. It is served with a u y braid of masala brioche.
Although the menu is a homage to Gemini Studios, which played a signicant role in the development of Tamil cinema, the list unfortunately does not feature any Tamil movies. Instead, Chef Ashutosh brings us the
Tampopo-inspired ramen bowl that is reminiscent of a rasam made in a Tamil household. A tangle of Somyeon noodles sits in a bowl of peppery tomato and curry leaf broth with steamed baby bok choy,
u y mini Mysore bonda, and a thick prawn thokku with a hit of chilli.
We are then served a big piece of rib-eye steak with buttery lion’s mane mushroom and a thick Bordelaise sauce, based on the 2007 romantic comedy
No Reservations.
Finally, we get to live every movie lover’s dream with a golden ticket from
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory that comes in the form of a silky French chocolate cake, topped with a crunchy peanut crumble and vanilla-whipped rich
ganache.