Lounge
Malted beer ice cream and Lombardy cheese at a new restaurant in Bengaluru
Summary
Cajsa at the ITC Gardenia in Bengaluru is a new modern global restaurant that pushes the idea of accessible luxury
The culinary world has a new term—accessible luxury, which refers to an elevated dining experience enveloped in affordability. It’s a way to dilute the snobbishness associated with luxury dining and make it more inclusive in terms of pricing. Several hotels are embracing this concept with refurbished coffee shops and other all-day dining options designed to appeal to people who want a taste of luxury during the working week.
A new restaurant from the ITC stable, Cajsa at the ITC Gardenia hotel in Bengaluru, seems to follow the same course. Launched early in November, the name of the restaurant is derived from the Greek word for pure, and the menu presents global gastronomy with creative reinvention, with set menus options of seven, nine, and eleven courses.
For those familiar with the hotel, Cajsa stands in what was once West View, which served grills. It then morphed into Ottimo, their Italian restaurant. Today, the enoteca that welcomed diners into the restaurant no longer stands, throwing open the space some more. The plush green interiors are now an easy-going white and brown. The beaded curtains that enclosed the private dining area in both the earlier avatars have been done away with, replaced by sheer curtains for privacy when needed.
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The menus are international in nature, and some dishes feature Indian spices. Global elements appear in the form of ingredients and techniques. There are scallops from Hokkaido, Norwegian Salmon, Peruvian Asparagus and more. Across menus, you will see miso tartare accompanying a mustard smoked eggplant, and Moghrabieh served with Moroccan Crusted Lamb. There are dressings of Bydagi Chilli Oil, Mirin, Daikon Yoghurt and more. Creating set menus to satiate a varied diner profile is no simple task. Attention is given to plating—there are hand-painted pots, customised wooden boxes, and more that come to the table bearing your food.
Across the meat and vegetarian nine-course menus titled Lagom (Swedish to mean just enough), you will have a Potted Mushroom Pate that brings together Chanterelle, Shimeji, Wild Porcini and King Oyster mushrooms, with a touch of miso for additional umami and cashew for richness. Spread that onto some warm brioche with a Mother-of-Pearl spoon that comes with it and you have made a good start. The Hooked, Salt and Batter is a take on the British Fish ‘n’ Chips with sea bass. Some malt vinegar is sprayed onto your plate at the table for a touch of aroma after it is placed in front of you. The Peruvian Asparagus and Corn soup with caramelised popcorn is rich and velvety. The Lobster Lux comes draped in a Kasundi Mustard sauce and some gold foil with a mini croissant, garnished with cured egg yolk. For vegetarians, there is Steamed Lotus Root with gochu garu lotus crackers. An effective palate cleanser of Cantaloupe and Ginger with Mint Salt preps you for the Hickory & Farm Raised Chicken that comes in a little grill box and is served on your plate alongside a vegetable crystal dumpling, young peas, and gari. The vegetarian course is a red (beetroot) and green (peas) risotto with Carnaroli rice, made richer with coconut milk and edamame. The goat chops, cooked to your choice of doneness, are executed well. Water Chestnuts & Haloumi Pithivier make a substantial vegetarian option. Desserts in this menu build up—from a small raspberry cremeaux with vanilla custard to the large Go Bananas— which has sweet casing, designed like a banana, filled with cinnamon creameux, along with a quenelle of and end with of Miso Caramel ice cream with cinnamon creameux.
Moving away from the usual practice of having a set of dishes and simply adding or taking away from them to make up courses, each of these menus has vastly different dishes. The Elysian (11-course menu) includes dishes of duck and pork and malted beer ice cream (a tribute to Bengaluru), none of which are a part of the nine or seven-course menus. The seven-course menu has Norwegian salmon, a white tomato veloute with Lombardy cheese, and prawns with spiced plum on it exclusively. This makes each menu unique.
The bar programme is small, comprising seven cocktails, each of which takes a classic and gives it a twist. The Cajsa Bloody Mary brings in clarification and some Kachumpuli concentrate. Looking East for inspiration is the Eastern Old Fashioned with whisky, Ume plums, Wasabi oil and citrus.
Since the restaurant is in the arena of luxury dining, it is an apt place for celebrations. Let the chefs know of the occasion – what comes to the table instead of a cake, is quite the indulgent treat.
Bengaluru’s diners have always been considered price-conscious but open to gastronomic experiments. The IT hub harbours a strong start-up culture, and going global with a new launch is therefore at par for the course for ITC Gardenia Bengaluru. The hotel group has a penchant for incubating brands before taking them to different cities. In the 1970s, it opened the iconic North Indian restaurant Dum Pukht in Delhi, and about seven years ago it unveiled Avartana at ITC. Both these brands have travelled across ITC hotels in India. Now, Cajsa is a new addition to ITC’s restaurant portfolio. It seems Cajsa could follow a trajectory similar to Avartana and Dum Pukht--make premium dining accessible with menus crafted to military precision.
Ruth Dsouza Prabhu is a features journalist based in Bengaluru.
