What: Daily lunch and dinner buffet at Seasonal Tastes
Cuisine: Indian and international
Timings: Open 24x7; lunch buffet 12.30pm-3pm, dinner buffet 7pm-11pm
Pocket pinch:
Buffet: Breakfast Rs 1,000, lunch Rs 1,250, dinner Rs 1,500. Taxes extra. The hotel is offering a 20 per cent corporate discount on lunch buffets on weekdays.
A la carte: A meal for two would cost around Rs 3,000.
Extras: Unlimited bottled water as part of the buffet, complimentary bread basket, boneless meats, Villeroy & Boch plates.
A long shot of the 90° buffet layout at Seasonal Tastes, the all-day dining on the 10th floor of The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat (near City Centre New Town). The exposed height above the layout — up to the 22nd floor — lends this area a sense of openness.
Munch happily on this complimentary bread basket. The Tomato Crostini is the star — tomato and buffalo mozzarella on bread smeared with duxelles (mushroom paste) + olive tapenade + garlic. “The tomato is blanched and kept in a hot box for two hours at 45°C, which keeps the moisture intact,” said chef Ravish Mishra. It is then seasoned with cold-pressed olive oil and sea salt. The dish also comes as an accompaniment with the Tomato Basil Soup ordered a la carte.
The Chicken Breast has two pieces of white meat cooked differently. One is slow-cooked for a good 90 minutes in French butter Elle & Vire and covered with grated pecan nut. “The concept of sous vide is to retain the quality and enhance the flavours of the ingredients,” said chef Ravish. The other is a fried confit chicken leg topped with an egg yolk. Adding the final touch is pea shoots, asparagus and foam of chicken veloute, a traditional French sauce.
The dining area seats around 120 and has unobstructed views of a developing New Town through the tall glass windows. Dandelion yellow, peony pink and grass green colours lend it a happy vibe.
The salad bar, selection of cheese from Gruyere to Brie, grazing platter of meats from mortadella to Parma ham, dessert counter of 30 items and more!
The yummiest dessert — according to t2 — is the Chocolate Tart. The tart has three layers — milk chocolate ganache, dark chocolate ganache and salted caramel. “Single Venezuela origin chocolate is used with around 72 per cent cocoa,” said the chef, which makes it extra rich. It is served with a molten chocolate mousse, and crumbs of walnuts and cookies. And yes, it deserves two pictures!
Four kebabs — two veg and two non-veg — are offered as part of the buffet. The Malai Chicken Tikka is succulent and the Paneer Gulab Gulnar Tikka comes with a beetroot filling.
A CHAT WITH EXECUTIVE SOUS CHEF RAVISH MISHRA
What did working for Carnival Cruise Line for three years teach you?
First, you can see the world and second, you realise how much you can push yourself. There are no off-days when you’re working on a cruise line and the contract can be as long as six-eight months. Then you have to work and serve 4,000-odd people every day, so you learn bulk cooking in a systemised way. You have to handle staff from different nationalities, which is a challenge. It’s tough but teaches you a lot.
You joined The Westin Kolkata Rajarhat for the pre-opening last year. What is your strategy for the F&B of the hotel?
Our focus is on Italian food and the desserts. The ingredients we use in the dessert are phenomenal and we have an experienced pastry chef in Prasenjit Jana. We are very active about the buffet — being a Marriott chain hotel — and adapt to new concepts and trends. For example, you won’t find any chafing dishes (covered dishes) on the buffet.
We’ll be opening the Lounge shortly and in six-eight months the vegetarian restaurant Vedic and then the Pan-Asian restaurant EEST, and finally Kue Bar for the young!
One of the biggest challenges?
Behind the success of any restaurant are the ingredients and the quality of the ingredients. Being in Calcutta that is a challenge. Some things we get here are good, like fish, but almost everything else comes from other parts of the country or is imported. For example, most of the greens and vegetables come from Mumbai and Delhi. Apart from the local brass vessels, all the equipment is imported.
What are guests asking for?
People who are coming here are well-travelled and they are inclined towards healthy food. That does not mean oil-free food; it’s food that’s organic and grown without pesticides, or food that’s “fresh”, not too much cooking. People also inquire, “What’s the theme for your next Sunday brunch?” They want to know what, who and how before taking a decision.
How do you plan to get footfall into Seasonal Tastes?
The concept we follow is that ‘less is more’. You do less but you do it in a unique way. For example, our dessert buffet is lavish but everything is handcrafted and picture perfect. We serve Baskin Robbins ice cream on the buffet and going forward we will have homemade ice cream. All our chocolates are imported and with high cocoa content. In the Western section, all the meat is boneless unless it’s something like Lamb Chops.
Tell us a kitchen secret!
Few people know that the kitchen here has a view that’s as good as the restaurant!
Text: Karo Christine Kumar
Pictures: Arnab Mondal
