Hunger

I think I'm becoming a bit of a food snob. These past few weeks, I crave for some kind of food... actually, I've been dreaming on and off of mom's food, but let's not go down that path wherein lie heartbreak and depression. I've been craving, and I've been terribly dissatisfied with my own or our housekeeper, Shanti's cooking. But what to make or eat instead?
In desperation, I tried Swiggy, tried eating out at various places and tried out different recipes, but no.  It all leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, an utter ennui. There's something more that I crave. Do I dream of mom's food because I crave something different, or do I crave mom's food and hence I dream of it?
I don't know.
But I do know that going to the usual joints and eating the usual barbeque/ paneer nonsense/ chinese idiocy etc no longer cut it.
I'll tell you what did come close: we went to a new restaurant called Shakesbiere. It's so new that even their website's not fully up yet. And what I liked were the surprises. Yes, of course, food was good. You expect places like this to have good food. But what I love even more is the surprise element. The ambience was great, the food had interesting names and the presentation was fun.

Move over, kadai paneer in a pot and yucky paneer butter masala. I'm so sick of you.

Toast and Tonic is another such place. You order a coffee and you get an experience. Who would have thought coffee could be presented in such an unusual manner? And most of the fun is in seeing that coffee rather than actually drinking it.
Even tomato soup used to be served in such a spectacular way and would taste absolutely heavenly... I mean, it probably is still being served the same way. I just haven't been there in a while.

So what I think is I'm becoming a bit master chef-y or like Anton Ego, from Ratatouille. I want to clap my hands and say, "Surprise me!" instead of ordering. I want to be in the moment and savor every molecule of the food instead of just hogging things down and trying to satisfy some elusive hunger. And I want that molecule of food to be worth my complete attention.

Is that so much to ask?