Mmm 8230;gourmets8217; delight

For the racing crowd, one of the main attractions about Pune is the variety of gourmet spreads from prawns to paper-wrapped chicken, biry...

For the racing crowd, one of the main attractions about Pune is the variety of gourmet spreads from prawns to paper-wrapped chicken, biryani to Shrewsbury biscuits. And while on the face of it the trip is for racing, the real reasons are all about the pleasures of eating.

8220;Our clientele goes up during the racing season,8221; reveals Prem Tiwari, owner of Portico on Jungli Maharaj Road, a popular den with the race-goers. Other than its varied cuisine, Portico was the first restaurant in the entire Western region to introduce off-course betting in 1994.

8220;The place is packed during the big racing days in Mumbai. Most trainers come with their families to enjoy a lavish lunch with the running commentary of the races in any part of the country,8221; adds Tiwari. Jagjit Singh, Champaklal Zaveri, Bindu, Narendra Lagad and Altaf Hussain are regulars here.

Seafood sends race-goers trotting towards Farshid8217;s on Dhole Patil Road, which institutes a special discount during the season. 8220;For the past two seasons, our clientele has gone up by about 40 per cent during the weekends,8221; states owner Farshid Yezdagardi. 8220;The Mumbai crowd is discerning when it comes to food and if you give them quality stuff they patronise you for life,8221; adds Yezdagardi.

Of course, both Tiwari and Farshid are enthusiastic race-goers themselves , that puts them into direct contact with the racing crowd. A benefit even Bina Chandra, owner of Golconda on the ABC Farms premises and wife of Rohit Chandra of RWITC, probably started off with, till the sheer merit of the food served overtook everything else. Chandra8217;s pathar ghosht, bheja and khubani ka mitha are almost legendary. 8220;This all-consuming passion Mumbaites seem to have for food when they troop down to Pune is because of the festive mood. They all want to party while going to the race course. And food automatically becomes a priority,8221; explains Ravish Aurora, food and beverage manager and executive chef at Hotel Blue Diamond who has seen the hotel8217;s China Town and Coffee Shop and the Polaris overrun by race-goers for many years.

8220;The racing crowd from Mumbai are like locusts who descend on Pune every weekend during season and clean the city8217;s bakeries of all its cakes, biscuits and buns,8221; states Rasika Reddy, rider. A casual walk past Kayani Bakery on Saturday evening proves her point. 8220;The Shrewsbury biscuits and cakes are most popular and our sales during the racing weekends go up by 30 per cent,8221; reveals Rustom Kayani, partner, Kayani8217;s. According to him the bakery makes about 1,000 cakes and 100 to 120 kg of the biscuits every Saturday during the season. Usually, nothing is left over at the end of the day. And then there is always the Turf Club House, probably in keeping up with this obsession for food and packings an enviable spread.

So, the next time you run into a Mumbai race-goer and he tells you that he8217;s come to Pune for the Derby, check out his words. He8217;s probably referring to the restaurant by the same name at Hotel Regency! And if he says he8217;ll place his bet on Chilly Fry, he8217;s in all probability got the name not from the day8217;s race card but from the lefthand-side of a menu card!