MouthShut.com: Review On The Residency Restaurant by Kamal Misra

The Feast Continues

Aug-14-03

If stars were supposed to glitter in the broad daylight and yet remain as powerful a visible entity as the sun does, then people would no longer respect the Sun for the amount of shine they get. The collection of a handful of stars would alone account for a dozen suns. When the issue comes to choosing a good restaurant, the distinction between Four and Five star facilities wanes into a thread as thin as the celia projecting out of a Jelly fish’s body. A Five star facility in all it’s capacity may not equal the style and ambience put forth by a Four star one at all instances.

Residency Towers stands high in one of the corners of Busy Vani Mahal Cross roads in Chennai. Vani Mahal is a culture rich auditorium known for hosting diverse cultural events which range from vocal concerts to Prahlad Acharya’s Magic shows. Far across the Traffic signal soars up the towering structure spanning seven to eight floors. Flanked by one of Satyam computer’s six development centres, Residency overlooks the steel glass frame of Hexaware Technologies at a distant corner on the same side of the road christened G N Chetty Road which is one of Chennai’s busy traffic channels. The walls are painted in the hues of Earth and Mahogany and a hundred windows open to the altitude that is bound to make any Bungee-Jumping freak proud. A thick foliage gives the building a pristine look as a bevy of automobiles line outside the premises unattended.

I was fortunate to get a sneak preview into the proceedings of the famed Residency restaurant, courtesy a formal business lunch arranged with my clients from Hewlett Packard, Atlanta. The restaurant is situated on the first floor and you have to climb up the steep staircase. Two giant doors fitted with Brass knobs await your gratuitous initiation as a small yet immaculately furnished room welcomes you. As one moves ahead, a long table at the centre of the room with the eatables contained in silver and stainless steel vessels stands guard. Seating arrangement for the multitude has been done in the form of a long oval table at the northern corner while sofas attached to walls are scattered throughout in such a manner that people in small groups can relish the atmosphere while looking at each other. The buffet lunch and dinners are the prime specialities in this restaurant. To start with, one can choose amongst Tomato/Mushroom/Sweet ’n’ Sour/Chicken soups with bread crumbs floating and waiting to be munched the next moment. A kerala speciality AVIYAL is also let loose which is a combination of vegetables sauted in coconut & curd. Then, enters the cereals department, where in you have the option of choosing from Plain rice, Khichdi, curd rice, Pulavo, while the non-rice takers can satiate their taste buds with Rumali Roti, Tandoori Roti and Maida Kulchas and Aloo parathas get a worthy mention as well. You can go in for the Schizwaan noodles if you find the wormlike appetizers scintillating. They fare out the most exclusive of Non-veg items if you belong to that section, much in the line of tasty Fish in Cream (Taiwanese), Chicken (Thai Style), Lamb chops and even, Pork preparations. Hyderabadi Biryanis are a popular dish here. The Veggies too come across a huge assortment of delicious dishes. Channa Pindi, Paneer Masala, Dal Fry, Dal Makhani, Vegetable Kebabs, Mushroom in Butter Gravy, Moong Dal Halwa among others. Some popular south indian dishes are also available namely, Alapuzzha Chicken Curry, Chettinadu dishes etc. The overhead speakers suffuse light music and inspiring instrumentals into the ambience while one is busy digesting the loads of calories he was subject to the other moment. Then, starts the dessert mela where you have different variety of Ice Creams, Fruit mixtures,Cakes, Gulab jamuns and a variety of other sweets. The Sweet eaters will break into a jig at the sight of Rosomalai and Mishti Dhoi, a famous Bengali speciality. The process of mastication consummates with the inhalation of the strong yet tickling flavour of a glass of Jeera water.

Like the one I discussed during the presentation of a review on GRT Grand Days, we come across a hefty sum as we prepare to leave the restaurant. A normal buffet lunch costs an eye-popping 350 rupees which is undeniably beyond the pocket of an average middle-class family. But, since our expenses are soon reimbursed by the clients and more often, they are directly borne by them, we seem to relish the moments. If one is really optimistic about what he wants to gorge on, then Residency is one of the MUST-VISITS.

The Feast continues...

For more details about the writer, visit: Kamal Misra

The Hindu: He calls it Dramagic

Wednesday, Aug 13, 2003
Metro Plus Chennai

For Prahlad Acharya, magic has a purpose that goes beyond entertainment. The magician is performing at Vani Mahal till August 30.




CONJURER PRAHLAD Acharya practises an art that splices drama with magic. He calls it "dramagic". It is an artistic genre in which realistic narrative, achieved through dance and music, is married to surreal elements of fantasy. "I draw from tradition for theme and setting," says Prahlad, after a performance at Vani Mahal on G.N. Chetty Road. Examples are Kadinalli Jatre, which dwells on a tribal subject, Punarjanma (life after death), Agni (a Vedic trick), Nada Habba (once upon a time) and the Indian Basket Trick. Incidentally, the last trick won Prahlad an international award.

Dance is integral to Prahlad's "dramagic". Even when the artistes are not dancing, they move gracefully and rhythmically to music. "We brush up on our dance movements when we are not performing, under the guidance of professional instructors," says Prahlad.

Another feature of Prahlad's shows is the speed with which one trick follows another. The settings and costumes are changed in the twinkling of an eye.

The shows are interspersed with comic interludes, with twinkle-toed clowns attired in multi-coloured raiment taking centrestage. Shadow play and ventriloquism are also added for good measure.

Thirty-three-year-old Prahlad has a number of Houdini-like "escapes" to his credit. In 1993, he performed an underwater escape at Madhwa Sarovar in Udipi. On May 20, 2000, he performed an escape act at the Jog Falls. On October 2, 1999, he vanished into thin air, "breaking" prison bars at the Bellary jail. On December 10, 2001, he repeated the feat, this time at the Bangalore Central Jail. Each of the "jail breaks" was pulled off in eight seconds.

Another well-known Prahlad escape is Agnivyooha Chhedana (escape from the castle of fire), which he performed at Udipi in September, 1994. "Following this, many magicians attempted similar escape acts and in the process sustained burn injuries," says Prahlad. On September 1, 2001, he did "a vanishing act" on the Golden Chariot at the Udipi Sri Krishna Temple.

Prahlad believes magic can be a potent vehicle for social reform. He and his 20-member troupe, Yakshaloka Magical Entertainers, have been carrying out campaigns to spread awareness about AIDS (in May, 1995, Prahlad undertook a "Jagruti Rally", a blind-fold drive from Mangalore to Panjim, for AIDS awareness), election ethics and the pulse polio programme. They also launched a national integration drive called Vande Mataram.

When an earthquake reduced Gujarat to rubbles in 2001, Yakshaloka pitched in. Proceeds of several shows conducted around Karnataka, Prahlad's home State, went to the Gujarat Earthquake Relief Fund.

Prahlad believes that magic as an art needs to be given a boost. "There are not many professional magic troupes in the country. The situation has to be remedied."

By way of holding his end up, Prahlad has set up MAADRI (Magic and Allied Arts Development and Research Institute), which is a manifestation of his belief that magic has a purpose that goes beyond entertainment. "It has immense potential as a medium for grassroot communication."

Prahlad Acharya will be giving performances at the Vani Mahal till August 30.

PRINCE FREDERICK