R E L A XThe Financial Express10 October 2, 2011

ASSUME THE WORST

AACCRROOSSSS

6 Rescuepropertyfromlossatseaorfromfire,etc.(7)7 __aresolution:acceptorpasstheresolution(5)9 BritishOverseasAirwaysCorp.(4)10 "M"inPMS(10)11 Inmaritimelawtheintentionalmis-conductoftheship'smasterorcrew(8)13 CurrencyofIs-rael(6)15 Association,ab-br.(4)17 Aflatbottomedcargovesselprimarilyusedonriversandcanals(5)18 Expelorthrowout(4)19 Pertainingtofi-nanceormoney(6)20 Awritissuedbycourtauthoritytocompeltheatten-danceofawitness(8)23 Bankruptinvest-mentbankfromtheUS(6,4)26 InternationalAirTransportAssoc.(4)27 BignameinAutoIndustry(5)28 ___PneumaticIndiaLtd.:thecom-panywhichmergedwithAtlasCopcoLtd.(7)DDOOWWNN1 "E"inEDP,thecomputerwork(10)

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BUZZ WORD

In Kakuro sum puzzles, the numbers inthe black squares refer to the SUMS ofthe digits, which you are to fill into theempty spaces directly below or to theright of the black square containingthe number.No zeroes are used here, only thedigits one through nine. An importantpoint: A digit cannot appear more thanonce in any particular digitcombination.

The Buzz Word is a substitution cipher inwhich one letter stands for another. If youthink that X equals O, it will equal Othroughout the puzzle. Single letters, shortwords and words using an apostrophe giveyou clues to locating vowels. Solution is bytrial and error.

Today’s clue:VMY equals RAG.

Ps P jnvn pf cbn rxwcbpfy zkgpfngg,P jwkxe zvpfy pf cbn cmpxwv mfebmon bpq gcmvc qmhpfy rbmxh

qmvhg wf cbn gxnnong jbpxn cbnrkgcwqnv pg gcpxx xwwhpfy pf cbn

qpvvwvg mfe rbnrhpfy cbn rwxwv pfcbn emtxpybc.

—Awn Ypvmve “Bwj Cw GnxxMftcbpfy Cw Mftzwet”

AnswerIfIwereintheclothingbusiness,Iwouldbringinthetailorandhavehimstartmakingchalkmarksonthesleeveswhilethecustomerisstilllookinginthemirrorsandcheckingthecolorinthedaylight.—JoeGirard“HowToSellAnythingToAnybody”

CROSSWORD KAKURO

MINDGAMES

SOLUTIONS

BRIDGE BOUTS L SUBRAMANIAN

When the contract appears to be ice-cold, that is when you should lookfor snags. The deal below came up in an IMP match and the declarerplayed it hurriedly, not thinking for a moment that there can be aproblem. See if you can find the solution:

CCoonnttrraacctt:: Imps. 6S by south. West leads the D10, none or two above. Youput up the ace, east encouraging with the nine. Plan the play.Bidding Explanation: You may not agree with North’s jump all the wayto slam….. but that’s how some players bid. AAnnaallyyssiiss:: You have ninetricks in the form of five trump tricks, three ruffs, and one diamond.The remaining three tricks have necessarily to come from hearts. HHoowwtthhee ppllaayy wweenntt:: Declarer won the opening lead and removed trumps intwo rounds, ending in hand. He next played the HQ from hand for afinesse against the king and received a jolt when west showed out.There was no way for him to come to twelve tricks now and he wentdown in a sitter. The complete hands are:

CCoorrrreecctt ppllaayy:: Win the opening lead and cash SA-K in dummy. Lead a lowheart towards the Q-J-x in hand. This will cater to 5-0 break in eitherof the defender’s hands. Let us say east has the heart length and doesnot put up the king. Win the trick with the queen or the jack, cross todummy by a club ruff, and lead one more heart. Let us say west has theheart length. He is welcome to win the trick with the king. Ruff the likelydiamond return, cash the HJ, finesse the H9 and claim the balance. Ifyou find hearts are 4-1 or 3-2, the hand presents no problem.DDiissccuussssiioonn:: You may say north was playing to the gallery by bidding sixspades directly and that he should have explored the grand. True. Givedeclarer the HK instead of the CK and the grand slam is on. But look atit from another angle. If declarer has a doubleton diamond and westfails to lead the suit. You have twelve tricks if the hearts dividenormally. So, taking a shot at the slam directly has some merit, afterall! ‘I will assume the worst’, declarer should have said to himself andplayed for a 5-0 division of the heart suit. The winning line becomes soeasy then. You must appreciate the restraint that west showed in notmaking a bid of 2NT to suggest 5-5 or better in the minors. Declarerwould not have gone wrong in the play. Always remember that whenthe opponents are on a game-forcing sequence, it does not pay to showtwo-suited hands, for they are likely to buy the contract and declarerwill make use of this knowledge to his advantage in the play. Play outthe deal using a deck of cards. You will appreciate how importantit is to lead towards the heart honours in hand. Admittedly, an easyhand misplayed.

SS A K Q 4 3HH A 9 5 3 2DD A 5 3CC —

N

SSS J 10 9 6 2HH Q J 4DD 7CC K J 9 2

SS A K Q 4 3HH A 9 5 3 2DD A 5 3CC —

SS J 10 9 6 2HH Q J 4DD 7CC K J 9 2

N

S

SS 7HH K 10 8 7 6DD Q 9 6CC Q 10 4 3

SS 8 5HH —DD K J 10 8 42CC A 8 7 6 5

North dealer, EW vulnerableNorth South

1CC* 1SS6SS!? Pass

* Precision, 16+

Hidden delicacies

Rooted in traditionCHEF SPEAK: KOREAN CUISINE

ONE WAY in whichrestaurants marketthemselves success-fullyallovertheworldis not by selling them-

selves but the destination. After all,any piece of real estate—or meal—needs its context. Like luxury, foodretail too needs to be rooted in a spe-cific ethos: The tea/coffee service atCafé Florian is special not just be-cause of its white-gloved snobbishwaiters and live band but because itissituatedinthestunningStMark’sSquareinVenice.TheFrenchLaun-dry is what it is not just because offounding chef Thomas Keller’sMichelinStar-standardsbutalsobe-causeitislocatedinthepicturesqueNapa Valley, where wine and freshproduce from the Pacific belt makeforaheadycombination.Andcloserhome, a thali meal in a heritagehaveli-turned-hotel in Rajasthan isdefinitely elevated because we arediningwhereweare.

Unfortunately, not many restau-rateurs in India seem to appreciatethis at the moment as they go aboutselling dumbed-down French/Ital-ian/Japanesecuisines,pretendingto be in those parts of the world.Suchanonymityisfrightening.Butwhile the metros in India are re-flecting this increased sense ofglobalisation, there is one excep-tiontotherule:Hyderabad.

Thesedays,of course,HyderabadismoreinthenewsfortheTelanganaagitation but anyone who visits thecitywhenthestreetsareclearerandlifebackontrackscannotcomeawaywithout a whiff of the Nizami past.UnlikeinMumbaiandDelhi,whereindigenouscuisinesareoftenforgot-ten, Hyderabad has a robust localfoodcultureatallendsof themarket.Youngsters still indulge in haleemcrawls,eachfamilyhasadesignatedfavourite, fraying biryani place,Iranisamosasareroutinelymadeonan industrial scale in workshopsfromwheretheyaresuppliedtohun-dreds of vendors—just like “mo-mos” are now being made in Delhi.But all these street experiencesaside,mid-andhigh-endrestaurantsinthecitytoocannotaffordnottoselltheirheritage.

In fact, in the last one year, two ofthe biggest five-star launches in thecity have been of Hyderabadi foodrestaurants. Now, even essentiallybusiness hotels are turning their at-tentiontosellingthedestinationvis-à-vis just anonymous rooms. Ista,located in the high tech city, may bepopularwithbusinesstravelersandweekendspaguests(afterall,itissis-ter property to Ananda inRishikesh),butnowthereisanotherattraction for its customers:Gourmettoursof Hyderabad.

Overthelastoneyear,Ihavevis-ited the city more than thrice,each time doing an “immer-sive” experience—huntingforthe“best”biryani, forelusive lukmis (puffedpastriesstuffedwithmince), sampling“pail ice-cream”(handchurnedin buckets) andso forth. But mymost recent dis-covery of old Hy-derabad—which,ironically, began

fromCyberabad—hasbeenthemostcomprehensive. The kachci biryaniat Ista is remarkably flavourful andsets the stage for the food tour to fol-low. The guide contracted by the ho-tel is unusual: Jayanti Rajgopalan,fittingly known to all as Jonty, is anXLRI passout and worked at the Billand Melinda Gates foundation, be-foreshecametothecityandbecamethequintessentialinsider.

Her tours of Hyderabad are indepth: From old Persian weavingstyles to ittar makers, tombs andpalaces, artists and cooks, she willfindanythingandanyoneinthecity.On my food tour with her, my firststop is Niloufer Café, one of the old-est Irani chaikhanas. The sickly-sweet,milky,malai-toppedteaapart,it is really the confectionary that’s arevelation. The Dilkhush is a trian-gularpie,wherebreadisstuffedwithcakeleftovers,thereisitscousin,thedilpasand, “fine” biscuits, sprin-kled with sugar, and Osmaniabiscuits, named after the lastrulerof Hyderabad…

Azizia, a joint formany iftars, is notquite the place

it must have been because thebiryani hardly passes muster but itis an early dinner at Begum Mum-taz’s home that makes my day. Be-longing to an old family, Mumtazaunty is one of the best-kept secretsof the city. Her oblong shami kebabsare different from the ones we knowup north, while the sheekampuris(literally,kebabswithastomach)arestuffed with onions, green chilliesand mint. Tamatar ka kut, a soupytomato-coconut milk accompani-ment,couldwellbeatakeontheMa-harashtrian saar and the mirchi kasalan is unlike the tame versionsdished out at restaurants. But themasterpiece is the sufiana pulao—wherechickeniscookedinmilkandwhite masalas are used for that deli-catecolourandfragrance.It’samealaccompanied by culinary tips, im-promptuhandingoutof recipesandtalkof theolddaysbeforecontempo-rary politics played havoc with thefabricof thecity.

The writerisafoodcritic

KOREAN CUISINE show-cases ingredients in theirtrue natural state unlike

any other popular cuisine in theworld. Today, Korean food hasevolved like any other cuisinearound the world, but it has stayedvery true to its traditional roots ofdishing out delectable food usingthebestnaturalproduceinthesim-plest of form. Sesame and sesameoil are as important to Korean cui-sine as olive oil and parmesan areto Italian. The only other similari-ty between the two cuisines is theuseof mushroom.Pinetreemush-rooms, which grow between Sep-tember and October, are highlyvalued because of their seasonalavailability. They are to KoreanswhattrufflesaretoItalians.

Food today has become morepetit, dainty and exquisite tempt-ing the eye. However modern thecuisineanditsinterpretation,Ko-reans still follow a strict etiquettewhile eating. Elders are alwaysthefirstonestoeatfollowedbytheyoungones.

Korean food traditionallyinvolves many preparations ofrice, soup, seafood and meats withvegetables. The cuisine balancescolour by using five differentcoloursof vegetablesineverydishlike moong bean or egg white forwhite, pimentos for red, zucchinifor yellow, chives or spinach forgreen and mushrooms for black.

Koreanspreferusingaspoontoeat their rice or soup, and usechopsticks for other food items.The food is made with high em-phasis on the final taste. For this,three fermented seasonings aregivenhighprominence:redchillypaste, soya bean paste and soyasauce. They are used to bring outthebestflavours.

Koreanculturebelievesinusingthe best seasonal produce forpreparing food, making it one ofthehealthiestcuisines.

Bibimbap is a dish made ofcooked white rice, vegetables,beef, garnishes and fried pepperpaste.It issaidthatthisdishorigi-nated from memorial servicesand rural villages where health isgivenhighimportance.

The food incorporates medici-nal values given by hidden ingre-dients such as garlic, bell flowerrootsandginseng.It issaidthatinspiteof Chinagrowingginsengonits land, Chinese chefs prefer touseKoreanginsengbecauseof itshigh quality due to fertile Koreanland and higher medicinal value.

The latest cuisine trend in Ko-rea is to offer common man what’s

known as temple food. The USP ofthistrendisthatthetemplecuisinedoes not use five ingredients—onion, garlic, chives, wild garlicand leek—yet the food is relishedforitstasteandhealthynature.Ko-reanshavestartedeatingoutoftenand their favourite snack is thesanjuck constituting different va-rieties of meats and vegetables onskewers,grilledandserved.

ApoorvaKunteissouschef,Rick’s&Emperor’sLounge,Taj

MahalHotel,NewDelhi

The Telangana agitation may have halted life in Hyderabad currently, but a food tourcan revive memories of an older, more composite culture

ANOOTHI VISHAL

FOODPHILE

NEWYORK.Ihavevisitedthecityanumberof timesbutsomehowjustthenamestillconjuresupthesameexcitementIhadfortheplace,oratleast the idea of it, as a boy in Luc-knowyearningtoexplorethegreatcities of the world. Much of my en-thusiasm for New York centres onits status as a premiere culinarydestination. From pizza and hotdogs to the myriad cuisines of thediverse communities that makeNewYorktheirhome,itisaplacefa-mous for its food. I’ve visited morethan 30 top New York restaurants(and many more ordinary ones)and I’ll share names of my top fivefavouritesandthereasonsthereof.

First, I’ll share the basis for myrecommendations. During myquarter century in the restaurantbusiness I have seen countlessfads, and countless restaurantsbased on them, come and go. It canbehardtodecidewhetherarestau-rant is delivering a truly specialexperience or just generating ex-citement by hitching onto the lat-est fashion. I have, therefore,developedfivesimpleandtimelesscriteria to help me evaluate thequality of a high-end restaurant:. The restaurant setting shouldliveuptothecuisine.. There should be a definedprocessintheserviceflow.. The staff should exhibiteleganceandasenseof pride.. Menus should be simple andwell-defined.. A sense of privacy shouldprevailamongpatrons.

With that in mind, here are myfavouritesinNewYork:

5 LeBernadin:Thisplacedeliv-ers a French fine dining

experience in an elegant atmos-phere perfect for a special occa-sion, be it a romantic dinner orclosing an important deal. Youwill not go wrong with theirdegustationmenu.

4Balthazar:Thisismyfavouriteplace for breakfast. In fact, I

don’tvisitNewYorkwithoutstart-ing at least one day with Balthaz-ar’s eggs Florentine and a side offresh berries. The authenticFrenchambienceandstylishSoHolocation add to its appeal. Do your-self a favour and take away a treatfrom the on-site bakery for later.

3Babbo: Mario Batali runs anumber of good restaurants

butBabboishisbest.Hisintenselyflavourfulfoodsetsthisrestaurantapart from the many other goodItalianoptionsinNewYork.

2Peter Luger: If you want aflash place to enjoy a good

steak, Manhattan offers count-less choices. If you simply wantthebeststeakandarefinewithun-pretentious ambience and ser-vice,gotoBrooklyn.PeterLuger’ssteaks are the best in the world be-cause they carefully select onlythe best cuts of beef and preparethem perfectly. Service is fast andefficient—no fuss, no frills. I hopethisplaceneverchanges.

1Per Se: Here we are at myfavouriteNewYorkrestaurant,

featuring great Central Parkviews. Per Se gets top marks on myabove criteria. Rich, engaging dé-corthathasjustenoughmodernityto feel comfortable is complement-ed by truly memorable French-in-fluenced New American cuisineand operatic service. Per Se getsboththenon-negotiablepointsandevery little detail right. Go out ofyourwayforamealhere.

New York is a global centre forluxury and fine dining, so whenyou visit for work or pleasure, besuretoplanaheadtoenjoythebestthecityhastooffer.

DeepakOhriisCEOof lebuaHotels&Resorts.Hecanbereached

atdeepak@lebua.com

DEELUXÉ

Top 5 restaurants in NY

(Fromtop)Stuffedchickenbreastwithshitakemushroom;andstickyricewithpickledvegetablesandsoyabeanpastestew

DEEPAK OHRI

APOORVA KUNTE