04 Aalok Wadhwa
I
n a city that is bursting at its seams with Italian restaurants, there is a new kid in town. Recently opened in the smart Ninex Mall at Sohna Road, Café Bel Cibo has all it takes to become a great place to hang out. The interiors are colourful, brightly-lit, inviting. The café has a no-pretence décor, clearly communicating that the focus here is good food. In fact, Bel Cibo in Italian means “great food”. When asked to describe the soul of the restaurant, Chef Vinay, an unassuming veteran—with 18 years of haute Italian cooking under his belt—puts it simply, “This is a family place with a focus on good food. You should feel at home here, and enjoy our food.” His quiet confidence is confirmed by the first dish that is served. Red pesto minestrone (Rs. 115) is a hearty peasant soup of tomatoes, with many other veggies and penne pasta – just what this cold January day needs. What is remarkable is the fresh pesto that is served on the melba toast that accompanies the soup. I can clearly taste a great combination of basil, pine nuts, garlic and parmesan. I have often noticed that a chef’s talents are most evident in the simplest of dishes – and it is true of the Caesar’s salad (Rs. 195) here. Very fresh iceberg lettuce, combined with parmesan
FOOD
Bel Cibo – Great Food
Café Bel Cibo 17-18, Ninex City Mart, Ground Floor, Next to Fortune Hotel, Sohna Road, Gurgaon Phone: 0124 4231492 Cuisine: Italian Timing: 12 Noon to 11 PM
shavings and croutons—and a sauce made from anchovy mayo, lemon juice and parmesan cheese—makes it one of the best salads I have had in a long time. Some trivia about this salad— contrary to popular belief, it does not derive its name from Julius Caesar. It is named after an Italian American immigrant named Caesar Cardini, who invented the dish when a Fourth of July 1924 rush depleted the kitchen’s supplies. For the pasta course, I decide to try the chef’s recommendation – penne arrabiata with pepperoni sausage and ricotta (Rs. 295). It is penne pasta tossed in a sauce made of tomatoes, garlic, white wine and chilly flakes, along with sliced sausages and ricotta cheese. It is a competent dish, but I am not sure if the addition of ricotta to this dish works for me. The entrée of grilled chicken in rosemary sauce (Rs. 295) follows. The chicken breast is grilled to perfection, retaining its moist texture – and is served with a home made brown sauce with rosemary leaves, and a side of mashed potatoes and sautéed vegetables. It is time for a sweet ending. The recommended chocolate lava cake (Rs. 110), is gooey, sinfully divine, and bel cibo indeed. With its perfect combination of a good location, great interiors, thoughtful service, reasonable pricing and great food, Café Bel Cibo is the place to dine in. u
BOOK
CINEMA
Just What The Doctor Ordered
Another Heist Bites The Dust
Alka Gurha
W
Reviews
20–26 January 2012
ho would be interested in a collection of stories narrated by doctor- scribes? Only doctors? Wrong. The collection of fifteen accounts, in ‘Differential Diagnosis: Doctors on the Job’, is a remarkable read for anyone interested in navigating the world of medical professionals. Leah Kaminsky, an award winning writer and a practicing physician, has edited this book – comprising six fictional and nine non-fictional stories. The first story, aptly titled ‘The Check List’, is by Atul Gawande – a professor at Harvard Medical School, and a published author. ‘The Check List’ is followed by Sandeep Jauhar’s amusing and insightful story ‘Falling Down’. Jauhar writes about his life as an intern on night duty, and the perils of taking split-second decisions during an emergency. This story reveals how a doctor’s career hinges on minute observations, and doctor’s pronouncements. A heart-wrenching story is by Danielle Ofri, who discloses how doctors deal with the anguish and suffering of their patients. The scenes in this story unfold like a well-scripted film, enabling the reader to
empathise with the sorrow of both - the doctor and his patient. For me the most engrossing read was the story ‘The Duty to Die Cheaply’ by Peter Goldsworthy, where a doctor on an airline journey is seated next to a dead passenger. The cabin crew persuades Dr. Shaw to sit beside the body, simply because he is a doctor familiar with dead bodies. In the book, Dr. Shaw refers to the incident as ‘babysitting the dead’, and deems it right to have spent the entire journey inebriated. What follows is an enthralling account of his tipsy travails. Most stories are engrossing and insightful. However, ‘Differential Diagnosis’ should not be mistaken as an easy, hilarious read. Some stories hinge between the life and death of patients, and weigh heavily on an emotional reader – even after he/she has turned the last page of this remarkable collection of tales.. u
Differential Diagnosis: Doctors on the Job Author: Leah Kaminsky PUBLISHER: Hachette India PRICE: Rs. 350 Genre: Non-Fiction
Vijaya Kumar
4
084 (CHAALIS CHAURASI) is an unusual, funky, tongue-twister title for a movie – and yes, a bit of the action takes place on board a vehicle bearing this registration number. First, some positives. I would rate the performance of the four lead actors (Naseeruddin Shah, KayKay Menon, Ravi Kishan and Atul Kulkarni) as outstanding. Their timing and emoting is excellent, despite the script – which has noble intentions of being taut (the film is just two hours long), but slows down every now and then to accommodate mass appeal interventions like item songs (unfortunately by non-item personalities!). The ‘item benchmark’ is now set even higher, with “Chikni Chameli”! We have seen two heist based movies recently: DON 2 and PLAYERS; and this is the third. While PLAYERS had better thrill elements compared to DON 2, 4084 scores over both solely on account of its entertainment value. The comedy is fresh – there is no buffoonery; and although there are quite a few killings, there is no gore. The director, Hriday Shetty, remarkably maintains a lighthearted tempo throughout. The dialogues are witty, and so are the oneliners that are delivered deftly by the four lead actors. But, for all these positives, we have strong neutralising features. The theme of crossing and double-crossing happens at a pace that leaves only the most careful watcher able to appreciate the
4084 Chaalis Chauraasi Directed by: Hriday Shetty CAST: Naseeruddin Shah, Kay Kay Menon, Atul Kulkarni, Ravi Kissen, Zakir Hussain, Shweta Bhardwaj GENRE: Comedy storyline – that has its own loopholes. Then, there is the absence of a heroine. And if that could be overlooked, we have the absence of a hero as well! Even good comedy presentations like 3 IDIOTS and the MUNNABHAI series had “star” attractions. And the songs and item numbers are lousy. Finally, the movie could have done with some better publicity – seems an absolute must today.u