55 East at the Grand Hyatt- The Grand Food Bloggers Dinner

Many of you who have been following my blog from the very beginning know that I started it during my couch surfing / homeless (more dramatic sounding) days. I was in transition; I had quit my job, broken my leg, was on intense physical therapy and was trying to decide what next. So I decided to take time out of life and travel across the US thanks to the generous kindness of my friends who let me crash on their couches in exchange for me cooking them delicious meals. Halfway through the process the genesis of this blog happened. I can't say that I documented well that exciting time of my life in this blog but you can read some of the initial posts to see what I was experiencing.

When I finally decided to move back to India, I decided this blog will be a way for me to re-acquaint myself to a city I left 13 years ago. I looked up other Mumbai bloggers. I found many but the two that caught my attention were Finely Chopped and Purple Foodie. One writes food porn and the other creates it. A few weeks into my return I had the pleasure of working with Lulu of Lulu loves Bombay and I knew I was in the right company. Slowly but surely my blogging network grew and I started following up on reviews and places to eat and what to cook.

Then one fine day last week I got invited for dinner by Rushina of A Perfect Bite (thanks to Lulu). The Venue: 55 East at the Grand Hyatt. The guests: 15 Food Bloggers and food critics.

All I could say was OOOOOOOOOOOH YES!

And guess what? The invite list numbered two of my food blog crushes. Yes, they were coming too! I was finally going to meet the Knife of Finely Chopped and The Purple Foodie- 'the size 0 baker'. And there was going to be Vikram Doctor- the food blogger who writes a food column on the Economic Times. But I was also excited to meet the others- hear their stories, know more about blogging- why they blog, where they eat and most importantly where do they find their ingredients. (Remember the ordeal I had finding Parsley). How exciting could a night like this be!?! So many foodlovers at one table, and of course not to mention with a backdrop of dinner at the Fifty Five East restaurant at the Grand Hyatt should be a blast.

So let me take you through the night. I will list all the people I met at the end of the blog. Do visit their blogs. Each one is unique and has a different angle to food. So here is to citizen journalism!

Presenting 55 East at the Grand Hyatt. The interiors are designed by this Japanese firm called Super Potato.

As Anupam, the guy behind making this evening possible explained the walls are laser cut, with light being projected and further reflected with the help of mirrors creating this kaliedescope of light effects. It was quite magical like walking into an Alice in wonderland. It helps you forget about the city outside and you are in the mood for a glamorous night ahead.

The concept behind 55 East is large open kitchens where you can see the chefs prepare your meals for you. You can ask them to customize the dishes according to taste or you can try what they make. There are various cuisines being cooked up in the kitchen, mediterranean, sushi, thai, Indian and continental. Finish it all with a lovely desert selection.

Oh Yes! I am going to walk you through the various kitchens.

The kitchens were beautifully organised with the top of the line cookware. They were clean enough to eat off the floor. 

I started with the Sushi

Freshly made Sushi by a Japanese chef who kindly cut me some fresh salmon and rolled it into lovely rolls. I LOVE Sushi. I was so happy to enjoy these rolls.

Oh yes that is Ocra Sushi. Crunchy ocra with sticky sushi rice.

I love loads of Pickled Ginger on my Sushi. I was in Heaven.

Moving on to my next favourite cuisine- Thai. What I loved about transitioning from one kitchen to the next- there were palate cleansers. Like these fried, crunchy, salty rice crackers. Each kitchen counter was decorated with relevant dinnerware- lovely copper, cast iron utensils and the raw ingredients used essentially in their cuisine- chillies in the case of Thai. Check out the lovely chopsticks. 55 East truly plays with all your senses.

Yummy fish curry with sauteed greens. Served up with some spiced soya sauce and jasmine rice. Also tried some of this lovely spring beans, carrots and mushrooms

Drama in the Kitchen. Oooh exciting- that chef totally did that when he saw me take his pic.. I think we had a connection there. (just kidding)

Moving on to the Indian cuisine- cleansing palette with some Papad. I tried some spicy fried Prawns. The rest I just took pictures of. The ambience was set by piles of tomatoes and lemons and dried red chillies.

Pickled Pumpkin seeds and onions relish

The dishes

Deep Fried Spicy Prawns on banana leaves. 

I was so ready to eat that I rushed through the continental section. Next is a picture of a cut of steak with rosemary and grilled green and yellow squashes. 

I loves this lovely cast iron gravy holder. They also made tenderloin to order and many different kinds of steaks. I was more into the Thai and Sushi so I went back to try that out.

The set up from the other side.

 Ok I know this is a long post. But I have to share with you the dessert counter.

Meringues in jars, chocolate and strawberry sauces, beautiful copper-ware all beckoning you to submit to these sinful pleasures. I love the styling of this place - i wonder who did it. Its a lovely play on your senses.

 I think that is Marshmellows in the jars at the back. Oh why did I not ask them for S'mores.

Making a fresh crust to the creme brulee with some sugar on some velvetty custard. My absolute favourite- a thin crust of crunchy, burnt sugar to break into a soft creamy custard.

yes fresh figs made into this delectable fig pie served with custard or icecream

And they made you crepes as well. Fresh cherry compote and a side of ice cream

And finally the true stars of the evening. The fantastic blogger. Forgive me for the less than wonderful photographs... the lighting was dim, everyone was busy interacting and I was too excited for my own good.

Snigdha, Rushina and Shaheen.

Javed and Simran

Mangal and Anupam

The Knife (kalyan) taking a pic of me taking a pic of him.

Snigdha, Simran, and Mangal

The Lovely Lulu, Rushina and Kalyan

Atish- the Animator

Nitin, Nikhil (hidden), Poonam, Shaheen and The Vikram Doctor

Poonam and Shaheen

Anupam who was our kind host

And finally an incredibly excited me in the presence of the people who I look forward to read.

I unfortunately did not capture everyone there. I missed this amazing blogger that I met that night probably becasue she was also busy taking pictures. Harini- of Tongue Ticklers. She is a working mom, romantic, writer and maker of vegan recipes (a concept that is slowly catching on in India)

I would like to thank Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal-  writer, food consultant. Thanks for including me in this wonderful band of merry bloggers.

A list of the food writers and bloggers. Read up and I promise you won't be disappointed!

Now Cooking - http://nowcooking.blogspot.com (member of APB team)
Vikram Doctor  - http://blogs.economictimes.indiatimes.com/onmyplate
Finely Chopped (Kalyan- the Knife) - http://finelychopped-k.blogspot.com/ 
Purple Foodie (Shaheen) - http://purplefoodie.com/
Lotsafood (Shanky) - http://lotsafood.blogspot.com/
Homemade Happiness (Poonam Joshi) - http://home-madehappiness.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html 
Eating out in Bombay - http://eatingoutinbombay.blogspot.com/ 
Lulu loves Bombay (The Lovely Lulu) - http://lululovesbombay.blogspot.com/ 
Sunshinemom of TONGUE TICKLERS (Harini) (http://tumyumtreats.blogspot.com/)
Nonchalant Gourmand (Nikhil Merchant) - www.nonchalantgourmand.blogspot.com
Ifoodee (Nitin Raghani)- www.ifoodee.wordpress.com
Bombay Foodie (Simmi Sareen)- Foodzone Blogspot

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal- A Perfect Bite

Snigdha Binjola - Life on a Simmer