CELEBRATING MY 100TH RESTAURANT REVIEW ON TRIP ADVISOR!

THE MANY FACES OF FOOD  

My 100^th restaurant review got published in Trip Advisor today morning. 

The review was on Xiao Chi Restaurant at The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa, Gurgaon.

My food trail started in December last year. I never claim to be a foodie – I am still not one. But my journey has been an exploration for me.

January, 2015. – Raj Pavilion, ITC Windsor, Bengaluru .....That was the first Restaurant review I ever did on Trip Advisor.

I am a person who likes to keep things simple- including my food. It was only after I started to write on Trip Advisor that I began to look at food with a completely different set of eyes.  I started to learn about cuisines, understand the many nuances of cooking and how food can be positioned as game changer in hotels.

In the last 10 months I wrote 100 reviews on restaurants - very enriching experience.

I met many interesting Chefs, came across many kinds of food, adventured into the unknown and enjoyed every experiment I did.

I am no more a starter - but neither am I an expert yet. That said if I were to scribble my Top 5 learnings I would go for the following -

1.     I now know the many faces of food - Food as art…food as history….food as a story ….food as fashion ….and food as a lifestyle prop.

2.     I now know that every Chef has a story to tell through their food which is deeply personal at one level. Every time they create something new – they actually end up offering a part of themselves on the plate.

3.     I now know that it is not just food alone which makes a restaurant. A total experience is one which plays at many sensory levels at the same time. That’s what opened my eyes to the other elements in a restaurant – décor, ambience, themes.

4.     Life. This is probably the most powerful element in restaurant. This is the energy, attitude and willingness to serve of the people. This is what differentiates a place the most.

5.     Food unites people. This is  the latest role which food has begun to play – bringing the world together through a fusion of tastes, cultures and interests. So powerful!

While writing my reviews I also realised that the people who breathe life into the food experience – which is the Chefs and F&B Service Staff are as important as the food. (Perhaps more if you ask me). So I made it a point to appreciate good service –‘from the heart’.

Slowly my reviews began to swell in size......and I enjoyed writing them even more – because it begun to have a magical effect on the motivation of people.

I still continue to write – with equal cheer and vigour. 

Never knew that food can have so many dimensions !

I am thankful to all the Chefs and F&B service team who have played their part in educating me and enabling me in this journey. One name stands out in particular – Mr. Virendra Razdan, General Manager of ITC Windsor, Bengaluru.

It is he who nudged me to write restaurant reviews on Trip Advisor.

Text: R Kesava Mallia in Hyderabad