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Cocktails and conversation

A glittering dinner was the occasion for the launch of The MetroPlus Food Guide 2006/07

Chief guest Suriya cuts the cake as Rashmi Uday Singh looks on

It really depends on what you feel like. Maybe it's tall, chilled flutes of champagne or sticky glasses of sweet lime juice on the beach. Perhaps you feel like a long, relaxing drive followed by a languorous grilled dinner. Or perhaps you would rather wolf down sizzling parathas on a warm pavement. You could be craving for an aromatic Thai green curry or dreaming about ghee-drenched Udipi dosais. Whatever you want to eat, wherever and whenever you want to eat it, there's a diminutive, but pretty comprehensive guide now available to take you by the hand and lead you to the table.

N. Ram (right), Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, with guests

The MetroPlus Food Guide 2006/07, a one-stop solution to the dilemmas of dining out in Chennai or ordering in, was launched at an animated, glitzy function at the Park Sheraton on Wednesday night.

Suriya with a young model

Actor R. S. Suriya, the chief guest for the evening, surprised and charmed everyone by arriving right on time. Between signing autographs on the just launched book, and obligingly posing for photographs with fans, Suriya — who has just turned vegetarian — appreciatively discussed how useful the book is. N. Ram, Editor-In-Chief, The Hindu, spoke about how the city's "gastronomic scene has undergone a sea change over the past decade." Rashmi Uday Singh, celebrated food columnist, who wrote a section of the MetroPlus Food Guide, said the book is a memorable achievement in the city's culinary landscape.

Hoteliers and restaurateurs attended the party

The rest of the guests comprised socialites, designers, hoteliers and, of course, some of the city's most talented chefs. The elaborate Dakshin dinner, conjured up by Chef Praveen Anand, was a delectable representation of the four Southern States. Defiantly traditional, it featured 16 varieties of kosambari (a southern dal-based salad) made with ingredients such as raw banana stem, mangos and ripe banana. The picturesque salad bar was balanced on a boat, stocked with vadams, pickles and the obligatory bowl of curd rice, spiked with crushed pepper and dry ginger. The menu also featured unusual items such as idiappam biriyani, quails spiced with crushed pepper and poppy seeds, and millet dosas accompanied by six kinds of chutney. And dessert, a delightfully bewildering assortment of both the familiar and unfamiliar, included everything from a rich jackfruit payasam to date toffee. The book, priced at Rs. 150, is available at all leading bookstores. So, now your nose alone doesn't have to be responsible for leading you to the best food in the city.

Rashmi Uday Singh chatting with friends

The food was defiantly traditional, in an innovative way

A section of the audience listening to the speech PHOTOS: S.R. RAGHUNATHAN

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