Oh Calcutta!

And so finally after two decades we went to Kolkata We went ostensibly to attend the ldquoInternational Vine amp Food Experiencerdquo curated by the acclaimed Sommelier Keith W Edgar and hosted by the Taj Bengal but also because having lived in and loved the city when wersquod been residents of it many years ago we were curious to experience Kolkata first handRitu Kumar andSabyasachi MukherjeeHad it as we had been told truly lsquoimprovedrsquo beyond recognition as far as civic amenities went Would it still retain its lsquomost sophisticated city in Indiarsquo title in our opinion And how come it was churning out one brilliant fashion designer after the other Anamika Khanna Ritu Kumar and Sabyasachi Mukherjee before one could finish saying Rosogolla It was time to examine the Calcutta chromosomeMeeting old friendsJust as well then that the next day after we heard Michel Drappier of the legendary house of Drappier Champagne and Vishal Kadakia of Saint Clair Family Estate wines New Zealand we excused ourselves from the festival to dine with old Kolkata friends Rakhi and Eetu Sarkar and Naresh and Sunita Kumar at the hotelrsquos ChambersNaresh and Sunita KumarAll four individuals after all epitomised Kolkatarsquos refinement elegance and warmth for us Rakhi the wife of Calcuttarsquos preeminent publisher Aveek Sarkar had long been one of Kolkatarsquos most prominent patrons of art and her gallery CIMA launched in the early nineties had become one of Indiarsquos foremost Ably assisted by her sister Eetu she had been one of the earlier champions of the soon to be established Kolkata Museum of Modern ArtThe Kumars are easily the cityrsquos most elegant couples were also art and culture aficionados conversant with the best in the world and had been close friends and confidantes of Mother Theresa Tata titan Rusi Modi and MF HusainWe lunched on an asparagus soup delicately flavoured with roasted pine nuts a truffle risotto and an excellent basa fish as we spoke of art the Kolkata art market had been more resilient than Mumbairsquos because of its inherent conservatism and the astonishing number of designers whorsquod emerged out of Kolkata And even as we spoke we were told the Kolkata bred and born Priya Narang Sunita and Nareshrsquos daughter was carrying on food tasting in London at Anton Mosimann establishment where each year she cooked an Indian meal for his cherished guestsKolkata as Indiarsquos leading city for fine dining and livingSet game and matchMaster Classes with the expertsThe Taj Bengalrsquos stately Crystal room banquet hall the headquarters of its first lsquoInternational Vine amp Food Experiencersquo was abuzz when we entered it Almost 30 national and international wineries had put up stalls to offer their finest produce for tasting Mumbairsquos own Cecilia Oldne global brand ambassador of Sula had already spoken on the subject of lsquoItrsquos better with bubblesrsquo as had Abhay Kewadkar Chief Wine Maker but Alessio Secci from Fratelli Winersquos and Sumedh Singh Mandla CEO Grover Zamparsquos were still to comeCecilia OldneWhatrsquos more there were foodies and wine experts wherever one turned We spoke to Sommelier magazinersquos attractive founder publisher Reva Singh chatted with celebrated British chef Shaun Kenworthy who had left England to make the city his home met Tuscanyrsquos wine grower Laura di Collobiano whose robust reds appeared to be the biggest hit of the evening And queued up for Canadian Master Chef Marc Thuetrsquos most drool worthy bitesized portions of duck lobster and mango which had made us exclaim lsquoAh Kolkottarsquo instead of the more familiar epithetClearly Kolkatta was even better than Irsquod expected it to beLife the great scriptwriterCan there be a better scriptwriter than Life itself Waiting our turn at the Indigo counter we overhear a heated discussion between airline personnel and two hapless passengers Whatrsquos the problem we enquire The problem we are informed is that the two gents are trying to smuggle a container of what else but Kolkata Rosogolla out on their persons How is this national emergency going to be resolvedldquoNormally bhi do not allow liquidsrdquo says the friendly man behind the desk ldquobut for rosogolla bhi make an excephshonrdquoOne doesnrsquot have to make these things upIndiarsquos food and wine destinationSo Friday evening saw us grappling with the issue of Kolkatarsquos claims to becoming a food and wine destination with an annual wine festival After all the city that first post of the East India Company had enjoyed a rich and nuanced relationship with European cosine and post independence its residents had dined on the fare of the great Park Street eateries such as Skyroom and FirposK MohanchandranFinally of course there was the refined Bengali palate to consider one that could discern the most delicate flavours of fish and fowl it was rumouredThe Taj Bengalrsquos dapper GM K Mohanchandran whose brainchild had been the festival shared this view ldquoI think there is a long standing tradition of food and wine with some excellent places to eat and drink here itrsquos the only city that has a Chinatown it has tremendous historyrdquo he saidAnd what went in to the creation of this fest ldquoThree components first to firm up an interesting informative yet serious program on both days with the Master Classes the correct combination of whites and reds domestic and overseas wineries and varietals and significant grape types Second getting the trade excited to participate and take stalls and so on and finally ensuring that our overseas visiting Celebrity chef Marc Thuet from Canada who only arrived 36 hours before the festival had the right ingredients and logistical support for the finale dinnerrdquo he saidAs for Calcuttarsquos great tryst with fine living and European sensibility Mohanchandran was candid ldquoI have had some very good food at the Clubs but I am not lsquoau faitrsquo with their pastrdquoOf wine snobberyHerersquos the thing about wine having spent more time than any one really required being exposed to its production and consumption in our salad days our attitude to it had become a bit facetious knowing too much about in our opinion is a bit like to dissecting a butterfly for its beautyThe International Vine amp Food ExperienceThe pleasure of drinking wine in our opinion is greatly depleted by the presence of pedantrsquos annotated notes and wine bores Of the latter we know quite a few and it has led us to the opinion that like ones religion onersquos pursuit of the subject is best practiced privatelyIn fact we have to admit that not a very long time ago we had emerged reeling from a month long study tour of Francesrsquo wine growing regions clutching our heads moaning Le terroir Le terroir