Dubby Bhagat

Kathmandu:

Said Master Chef Gregory Gomes, “When I worked in the Middle East I found that Jazz restaurants had fast food menus. For the Jazz Gourmet at the Shangri-La I wanted an elaborate menu so you can enjoy yourself dinning and listening.” Gomes’ Suffragete seafood soup is as flavor filled as the old favorite swing song by Bobby Darin, Beyond the Sea. “I like to think of The Jazz Gourmet food as a blend of Asian and Western food with an influences of Pacific Rim Cuisine,” said Chef Gomes who combines his training and work at the Oberoi empire in India with the multi-cuisine restaurants he’s run all over the Middle East. His Chicken Liver Charleston has musical notes of chicken livers marinated in red wine balanced with raspberry vinaigrette on a bed of Himalayan greens. The combination is irresistible.

Chef Gomes who has earned enough gold medals for cooking to sink a small ship, created the dill scented sauce that covers the Bekti Blues which has great depth. And you plunge into a medley of cream wine and finally capers which are a sort of high note. “I have cooked for some truly great restaurants in Dubai, Doha, Iraq and other places in the Middle East. But I am proudest of my TV show on Ajman television. I cooked live,” said the Master Chef. Gregory Gomes should go live on air with his Robbie Williams Rotisserie Chicken which is a torch song with it’s fresh herbs and honey marinade and it’s sugar pralined chilly.

In 1972 ten years after Julia Child brought French cooking to America, French restaurant critics Henry Gault and Christian Millau started the Nouvelle Cuisine movement which was influenced by the artistic Japanese style of food presentation. Gregory Gomes’ presentation of The Jazz Gourmet menu would have pleased Gault and Millau. Even his “potato sandwich,” which is an accompaniment that has texture and goes from the gold of the rosti potato outer

to the white and fluffy mashed potatoes inside. The other vegetables are a colorful symphony.

More to that tantalise your palate are Poulet Ray Charles with Thyme sauce, Lamb Louis which is a tribute to Armstrong with its herb crust and rosemary jus and singer Dusty Springfield has Grilled vegetables on a bed of black lentils with white wine and mustard sauce named after her. Nouvelle Cuisine which has faded now, gave a lot of thought to fruit based sauces and Chef Gomes’ Marimba Meringue basket filled with fruit is a confection of delight as you break into the basket the fruit spill their juices onto the meringue and into your mouth. At the end of a meal your senses are calmed by Chef Gregory’s creations and music that ranges from pop to blues to folk to Jazz played by Shristi and Upendra or The JCS Trio and you echo Cole Porter’s song, “Everytime we say goodbye I wonder why a little, every time we sat goodbye I cry a little…”

For musical soup to cigar dining call 4412994 and ask for the Knowledgeable and helpful Lama.