CHEF TANVEER KAWATRA TALKS ABOUT THE FOODS FOR THE UPCOMING SEASON OF FALL
Damn Fine Life : The months of Autumn or Fall i.e September – October, what kinds of food do they remind you of ?
Tanveer Kawatra : Autumn puts the focus on root vegetables like Beetroot, Carrot ,Celeriac, Potatoes, Leeks. I’m a big fan of root veggies, it adds a lot of earthy flavors and aroma to a plate. It is also the time when the varieties of lettuces start to make strong inroads for the rest of the year to come. Veggies like pumpkin do great justice to the menus during autumn
Damn Fine Life : What according to you should be the menu should be for these months?
Tanveer Kawatra : Wagyu beef porcini and celeriac tostada with white truffle oil
Goats cheese tortellini with pumpkin mousse, wild rocket and pinenuts
Heirloom salted tomato salad with burrata and pepperoncino vinaigrette
Spiced 4 hour cooked lamb rack with textures of root vegetables
Sweet potato gnocchi with artichoke 2 ways
Butter poached lobster with creamed leek and noily prat fumet
Beet root risotto with caramelized walnut and gorgonzola
Crispy skin salmon with new potato and olive salad, Bouillabaisse flavors
Tonka bean parfait with coconut and Malibu ice cream
Bakewell peach tart with macadamia nut and honey ice cream
Goats cheese tortellini with pumpkin mousse, wild rocket and pinenuts
Heirloom salted tomato salad with burrata and pepperoncino vinaigrette
Spiced 4 hour cooked lamb rack with textures of root vegetables
Sweet potato gnocchi with artichoke 2 ways
Butter poached lobster with creamed leek and noily prat fumet
Beet root risotto with caramelized walnut and gorgonzola
Crispy skin salmon with new potato and olive salad, Bouillabaisse flavors
Tonka bean parfait with coconut and Malibu ice cream
Bakewell peach tart with macadamia nut and honey ice cream
Damn Fine Life : Your favorite dish? Describe it
Tanveer Kawatra : The philosophy of food at la Riviera aims at creating food with strong influences from this region with a lot of emphasis on the textures and flavors of the produce, food that tastes beautiful and takes you on a journey of different sensations, it’s all about what’s happening on a patron’s palate, this why each and every dish is close to my heart. But since you ask so specifically, it would be a typical Riviera dish Seared scallop and prawn with pistachio puree and noilly prat fumet.
Damn Fine Life : Talk about seafood in La Riviera
Tanveer Kawatra : Riviera’s dictionary meaning is coastline in Italian. At La Riviera we refer to the South of France ie Cote Azure or the French Riviera and the coastline of Italy which is Liguria, therefore seafood is widely used in the cuisine, fish like Loup de Mer or Seabass, Saint Pierre or John Dory, Turbot, Langoustine, Crayfish, Scallops, Mussels, Fin de Claire oysters, Sea Urchins etc
A classic French dish which showcases the seafood from the region is Bouillabaisse served with a crusty French baguette and sauce rouille. It is a hearty stew of seafood with a tomato base and has infusions of pernod.
Damn Fine Life : A staple of La Riviera and the way its done
Tanveer Kawatra : Meat, seafood and game are the staple meats of La Riviera, ala Genovese is a popular pasta preparation, pistou like pesto reflects the flavors, It is basically basil garlic, salt and lemon juice pounded together and finished with a good quality olive oil, some versions might have cheese
Damn Fine Life : Veggies you use or what are the quintessential veggies according to you for the months of autumn?
Tanveer Kawatra : The word veggies, actually reminds me to enlighten the fact that Riviera cuisine even though is Omnivore centric, but it does have a lot vegetarian options on the menu so the herbivores are also well looked after. We use wide variety of veggies, starting from the basics like tomato, onion, shallots, carrot, beetroot to celeriac, Jerusalem artichoke, zucchini flowers, heirloom varieties, varieties of potato such a desiree, russet burbank, purple potato etc. Pumpkin, abundance of lettuces like rocket, watercress, beetroot leaves etc, and leaves like spinach and swiss chard etc.
Damn Fine life : Desserts?
Tanveer Kawatra : We serve a classical crème brulee which our patrons love, we have petit antoine on our menu which has a hazelnut or almond jaconde as the base, dark chocolate ganache and a milk chocolate mousse, it is accompanied with a cherry and kirsch ice cream. Apart from that, we always keep a parfait on the menu and a selection of homemade ice creams, not to forget, affogato which also features on our dessert menu.
Damn Fine Life : Name a source or sources you totally rely on and highly recommend
Tanveer Kawatra : Sourcing is quite a task especially when one is trying to cater to a restaurant of such specific nature, it keeps changing and our materials department puts their hard yards to get the best available stuff. We do import fresh artisanal cheeses from France like :
Abondance
Gruyere
Bleu d’Auvergne
Fourme de ambert
Brie de Meaux
Brie de melon
Cherve tomme de chèvre
Chevre
Morbier
We also have a wide selection of charcutiere that we import from France, it includes Rosette de Lyon: from the Lyon region in France, it is a french pork sausage cured and made from pork leg, also called Saucisson al’ ail: french cured sausage with garlic. Jamon de Bayone : dry cured ham or parma ham or prosciutto from the city of Bayonne.
Abondance
Gruyere
Bleu d’Auvergne
Fourme de ambert
Brie de Meaux
Brie de melon
Cherve tomme de chèvre
Chevre
Morbier
We also have a wide selection of charcutiere that we import from France, it includes Rosette de Lyon: from the Lyon region in France, it is a french pork sausage cured and made from pork leg, also called Saucisson al’ ail: french cured sausage with garlic. Jamon de Bayone : dry cured ham or parma ham or prosciutto from the city of Bayonne.
