By Joe Mascarenhas
A reverie…the word means a fit of abstracted musing but to me it means ‘in a state of trance” and before you even think of throbbing music at an Anjuna rave party let me tell you it is the food served here that gets you into that euphoric state.
It is culinary endeavour by Aakritee and Viren, who left their corporate hotel positions to create a dream eatery towards the end of the famous holiday street in Calangute. The term “luxurious minimalism” is often executed wrongly but certainly not at A Reverie, which is a commitment made by the celebrity duo to research, interpret and combine the ‘nuances’ of different ingredients and conjure preparations that redefines the culinary art.
The beautiful multileveled restaurant gives one an ethereal feeling of elevation even before the meal begins. Sink into the attractively designed lounge bar and order the bar tapas, wasabi flavoured avocado guacamole accompanied by salsa and jalapeno cheese pops, king prawns with wasabi mayonnaise, shredded nori, furikake. Innovation is Aakritee’s forte and maybe the bruschetta with smoked scarmoza and Nigella seeds with Spanish chorizo salami (local sausage meat) and the tandoor roasted peanut butter honey BB chicken and I could go on and on, but hold your horses, are pure delight. Your palette researches, the salivary glands combine and the mind tries desperately to interpret. Sheer heaven on earth. So order your drinks and enjoy the pleasures and simply indulge.
The lounge also gives you an opportunity to decide on the meal to follow. Start with the appetiser and salads. Akritee’s culinary dream canvas of grilled fillet beef, shitake, water chestnuts and vermicelli…an unheard of combo in other dining outlets…her interpretation and combination of the ingredients by infusing Thai herbs, nuts, seeds and a kafir leaf vinaigrette creates an infusion of color and taste that will leave you wanting to stay with this dream a little longer.
But then there is the choice of her homemade chicken liver pate or the French perigord goose pate de foie gras (goose liver), which is simply to die for. And with crusty bread, onion marmalade, berry compote you spiral into another world. Delicious! Taking about the spirals, their logo and distinguished interiors say it all. Miniature spirals abound. And with the prawn three ways, the three spirals converge – the classic prawn cocktail, shrimp pate and grilled prawn with avocado dip - merge and form a whole.
The soups are inspired. Try the cold avocado soup or the cappuccino of chanterelle mushrooms with truffle froth and cocoa, the mains be it pasta, noodles, meats chicken or fish or even the vegan are preparations to dream of.
Her desserts could inspire poems, especially the trilogy. As Akritee puts it, “A great meal is not one that merely fills you up, but it is a journey that takes you back to the sources of immense pleasure you may have forgotten and takes you to places you have never been.” This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Healthy and hearty New Year filled with sweet dreams and memories of the year gone by.
