Four months ago when Amit Vaidya took over as executive chef of MRP in Dadar, he decided to do away with the sobriety in the appetiser menu, and introduce drunken chicken wings to entice young guests. "I thought what better than Old Monk to do the trick, because when dark rum marries chicken, it leaves a heady, caramelly cadence that is instantly inviting." Vaidya gives us a demo when we meet him at the restaurant on a rainy weekday morning. The 60 ml of Old Monk that he has set aside is poured over as finishing touch onto the wings once they are fried and pan-tossed. "You cook it for five minutes so that it blends with the chicken, and then serve," he suggests. When the dish is brought to the table, predictably, it's the aroma that hits us first - full bodied, sweet and smokey. We are sold.

Chef Milan Gupta adds finishing touches to the gosht nihari with khas ki jad at Taftoon, BKC. PicS/Sayyed Sameer Abedi