High quality food, matched by excellent service and a smorgasbord of wines from Italy, Spain and France made for a gastronomically delightful evening for members of the Delhi Wine Club at the casual fine dining Brasserie Chez Nini last Monday, writes Arun Batra who was among the thirty members who applauded repeatedly at the end of the evening.
Photos By:: Adil Arora
 Delhi used to be seen as a sleepy town when it came to new cutting edge cuisines and new restaurant openings. Most activity on the culinary front was the preserve of the 5-star hotels with their deep pockets and access to international chefs and latest culinary practices. However, during the last decade things have changed dramatically. The range of cuisines available to the diners in new restaurants has expanded to a level where one is spoilt for choice. The bar for quality levels and food presentation techniques is being pushed higher and higher. But the most heartening trend is the proliferation of high quality, stand-alone dining restaurants - in particular, those driven by chef-owners.
One of these openings in the last couple of years, which has weathered start-up teething problems and established itself very firmly on the Delhi dining scene, is Chez Nini – a delightfully bright and cheery French-Canadian eatery tucked away in Mehar Chand Market, a little known locality in Lodi Colony but fast becoming the bastion of high quality dining locales. Chez Nini is run by a very hands-on chef-owner Nira Singh from Montreal, who has built up an enviable reputation of her skills in the kitchen, within a year of opening.
Chez Nini recently added on a second floor which can comfortably seat 40-50 pax. Subhash had selected this venue as our choice for our wine dinner (#218) on Monday. One of the benefits of this location is that it is pretty quiet at night and parking is usually a breeze, so one is able to enter the restaurant without the usual parking induced frazzled nerves in most other South Delhi markets.
 Greeting us on arrival were glasses of chilled Torres Verdeo 2012 – a fresh citrus tasting and wonderfully rounded aperitif wine made from the Verdejo grape grown in Rueda region of Spain. This was the first time this wine was presented to our members and it was interesting to see that in a straw poll held by our Club President that this was the preferred white of the evening. The Verdeo had a medium long, lingering finish and was indeed very versatile in complementing the plethora of delicious pass-around snacks which emerged from the kitchen in vast quantities and varieties – so much so that most of us would have been pretty happy if they had been all we were to get to eat!
Pass-arounds are usually meant to keep guests’ hunger pangs at bay and act as a stepping stone for the entrees and mains to follow. However at Chez Nini the quality, variety and presentation of the pass-arounds were of such a high order that the process of satiating the senses started immediately. Out of the parade of cold pass-arounds, the delicate flavours of the pork and mackerel rillettes, the duck liver parfait and the mushroom pate –all on thin crisp baby baguette roundels- really stood out. Of the hot stuff, the bacon croquettes were outstanding with a crisp shell leading to a warm, cheesy and bacony explosion on the palate.
 After Subhash Arora’s typically incisive and educative run down on the wines for the evening, we sat down for dinner with the Joseph Drouhin Chablis – an iconic Chardonnay from the Chablis region of France. Though smooth to drink, it was a pale shadow of what it should have been in the areas of aroma, taste and finish – possibly this lot didn’t take the travel to India too well. Luckily there was still some Verdeo going, which I found matching very well the flavours of the petal salad which was topped by delicately fried baby onion rings-yummy!
Moving onto the “red” section of the evening, Subhash had matched the ricotta and spinach ravioli with the Piccini Memoro IGT Toscana. “Memoro” means 'remember' in Italian and in remembrance of the 150th anniversary of Italy’s reunification in 2011, the wine makers at Piccini blended Primitivo, Montepulciano, Nero d’Avola and Merlot grapes to produce this 14% alcohol wine. With cherries on the nose and hints of oak, this well-structured wine was full bodied in the mouth and was a good foil to the creamy basil ravioli sauce which also was bursting with flavour.
 Two of Chez Nini’s signature mains – the slow cooked Pork Belly and the Burgers were on the line up for the evening and I had no hesitation in ordering the Beef Burger. I wasn’t to be disappointed as my medium rare burger came hot, juicy, moist and flavourful. Paired with the mains was the Lamuri IGT Sicilia Tasca d’Almerita, a Sicilian IGT classified wine made from the Nero d’Avola grape. Perusing the wine list earlier in the evening, I was a little intrigued by an IGT red wine getting top billing, but I was pleasantly surprised by this wine which is definitely boxing above its weight.
This young wine had fresh and fruity notes, a velvety mouth and non-offensive tannins. Good enough for Robert Parker of the Wine Advocate to have awarded the Lamuri 90+ points thrice in the last four years.
The desserts for the evening showcased Chez Nini’s versatility – an excellently crafted coffee brulee flanked by a rich chocolate tart and a Fruit Pavlova provided just the right amount of sweetness in the palate and an opportunity to try a sip of Moscatel and a dessert wine from Gaillac from Subhash’s private collection.
Compliments have been pouring in from several members who attended the dinner. Chintamani Rao, one of the seniors and a forthright member in expressing his opinion said, ‘that was a vintage Delhi Wine Club evening, Subhash - the wines, the food, the service, and of course the excited, high-decibel company! The Verdejo was a happy discovery, and we loved both the reds.’
 A relatively newer member, Lavina Kharkwal, who has been to the restaurant a few times earlier, was ecstatic about the evening. ‘Thank you so much for the most enjoyable dinner at Chez Nini last evening where everything was in place right from the food, the wines and the most attentive service. Great selection of wines and a well crafted menu making the pairings work well. The wine of the evening for me personally was the Verdeo and the dish of the day was undoubtedly the juicy duck burger and the melt-in-the-mouth pork belly. Spent a lovely time meeting new members. Love the casual friendly atmosphere of the club. Thank you, Subhash, for making the evening a success.’
In case you missed it, there was a choice of one out of 6 main course dishes. Lavina and many others managed two or even more main dishes. The restaurant manager, Harinder and his staff kept on obliging everyone. Thanks to the team, for a thoroughly enjoyable evening with great food and service and to think the staff of Chez Nini managed to charm hardened and discerning diners like us without the physical presence of Nira Singh, makes their performance all the more laudable. Chef Nira was taken ill earlier in the evening after she had worked the whole day preparing for the evening. We missed her normally effervescent presence, flitting from table to table and chatting with the guests.
 We do hope she masterminds yet another delicious dinner of the Delhi Wine Club in the near future.
Arun Batra
Arun Batra is a Delhi based food and wine enthusiast and a long-time member of the Delhi Wine Club
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