A laid back Sunday morning slowly melting into noon and aromas from mum’s kitchen waking me up is the definition of perfect. And, just in case it’s raining, that’ll add to the charm. Sunday brunches are special, whether at home alone, with friends or family. I have never been a morning person, and given a choice, I would prefer brunch over breakfast and lunch every single day of the week. But, since that’s not happening, let me come back to the real world before I delve too much into that fantasy.
I haven’t seen a Sunday morning in a long time. I don’t even intend to, because I love my weekend sleep a little too much. Unless it is something to do with travel, I would rather stay in bed than get up and prepare breakfast. My Sundays begin at noon, almost along with hunger pangs. Since I live by myself, there’s no point of breakfast in bed, or someone else cooking me an elaborate meal. So when Hyatt Place invited me for a brunch as a part of their #SocialSundays initiative, I grabbed that chance with both my hands. Hyatt Social Sundays
It was Mother’s Day special #SocialSunday, Hyatt decided to pamper the moms in style. Everything that was on menu that day had a Ma in it! I came to know that it was Chef Gaurav’s super idea. The special thought that went into the creation of this special menu was evident the way all these delicacies came out.
Mother’s Day or not, brunches are anyway special and with Hyatt Social Sundays, they have come up with an interesting concept of giving the ladies a break from their kitchen routine. Here, they get to have the best food, with all the pampering that they need and a well deserved break to prepare them for the week ahead.
I got a chance to interact with the curator of the concept, Chef Gaurav and came to know about his many accomplishments in the field of culinary arts. His life story was kind of path breaking, how he transformed from someone who didn’t know what he wanted to do in life to getting a scholarship and two years of studying the art of cooking food at Paris. That scholarship is where his journey only began. Chef Gaurav ended up being a topper at that course, and I stood there, standing in awe. Today, I was going to taste some of his signature delicacies from cuisines such as Italian, Indian, South Indian as well desserts from France. I asked him to pose for me, and the gentleman that he is, he obliged. It was a very interesting conversation, and I am already looking forward to bumping into Chef Gaurav again, the next time I am at Hyatt.
With huge expectations, I looked around the buffet area and found a very interesting mix of cuisines. They had it all covered from Indian street food, to Mughlai, to South Indian to Italian to Chinese. The open-kitchen in the middle of the buffet area was a very interesting facet here. While we have got used to live counters, an open kitchen is something that stole the show for me. I don’t have a perfect picture to show you how it was, but trust me, it was good!
We proceeded for the first course of the buffet and came back with plates full of salads inspired from Italy. The colors, the fragrances and the flavours created a perfect harmony. Alongside, I indulged in an interesting chit-chat with Mr Prasant Sharma, The Marketing executive, over Hyatt principles and the way they function and got to know many interesting things as well as an insider’s perspective on them. There were many things we agreed on, and among those one was the talent that goes into making food. Not everyone can do it right. Here are a few pictures from my Hyatt Social Sunday brunch which definitely don’t do justice to the food they served.
The street-food was better than what we get at most places. The flavors and spices were just perfect and they made me forget that this was Hyatt and not a roadside shop at Karol Bagh. Full marks to the live-chefs who were creating these masterpieces on the go!
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Chef Gaurav specializes in Italian and these melt-in-the-mouth pastas were nothing short of perfect. The picture doesn’t do justice to what a work of art they were.
And then, I decided to try a little Indian too. I keep away from South Indian food as much as possible, so skipped that for good old dal-makhni.
Even though I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, chocolate and fruit based desserts are something I don’t miss. I generally tend to avoid Indian sweets and indulge in all things chocolate. I wanted to have this mango-chocolate tart since the time I saw it on the menu! And it was everything I hoped it would be!
The desserts didn’t end there. I had a bite of walnut-pie and wanted to kiss Chef Gaurav’s hands for making something so beautiful. I don’t have a picture because I gulped it all even before the thought of clicking a picture came to mind- that’s how amazing it was. As usual, I over-ate and then we decided to do a quick walk of the property to feel at ease again. I particularly liked this corner, overlooking a lush green seating area. Right now, it’s too hot to sit here, but I would like to return to Hyatt sometime after the weather gets better and enjoy yet another Social Sunday in this perfect setting.
