Folks in Mumbai, say hello to chef Saby Gorai’s first Mumbai venture. The person behind several successful restaurants such as Lavaash by Saby in Delhi and Byg Brewski in Bengaluru has just launched Recca, the city’s newest restaurant and bar to focus on the food of the Mediterranean, in Kala Ghoda. Going beyond hummus and pita, the menu features often-ignored dishes of the region, borrowing from Greece, Armenia, the Middle East and Turkey to create dishes with local ingredients.
“I didn’t want to start a restaurant and rely heavily on imported ingredients. India has such a wealth of fantastic produce, so we decided to get creative,” says the chef whose work has been impacted by his association with the Chef’s Manifesto, a United Nations plan based on the idea that chefs can be powerful advocates for a better food future.
The interiors at Recca, Mumbai
The inventive menu swaps out regular chickpeas for horse gram hummus, uses kalari cheese from Kashmir, gobindobhog and smoked bandel from Bengal as well as millets and amaranth to champion a local, sustainable dining philosophy. “Over the past two years, as humans, we’ve really begun to understand how destructive our lifestyles can be, not just for ourselves, but also for the planet. Inspired by the blue zones, geographical areas across the globe in which people live longer and have a lower rate of chronic disease, we’ve created a menu that is an honest attempt at sustainability, from the ingredients to the kitchen techniques,” says Gorai.
Lemongrass and ginger martini at Recca
Inside Recca, Kala Ghoda
Easing into the plush leather couches, we take in the aerial gardens and large bay windows that overlook the tree-lined avenues of the neighbourhood. We start with a refreshing lemongrass and ginger martini, crafted by master bartender Darell Mascarenhas, who honed his skills as bartending faculty at STIR Academy of Bartending and during his gigs at Dragonfly and The Korner House. Made with fresh lemongrass and ginger, the cocktail is incredibly sippable and features a candied ginger sweet made in-house. We pair this with a hummus platter made of white butter beans, horse gram and black soya bean, as well as house breads served with a tangy, saucy DIY dip of roasted tomato, garlic, kachampuli vinegar, and olive oil sourced from Rajasthan.
Going beyond the usual Mediterranean restaurant suspects, the menu features playful touches such as popcorn prawns, lightly seasoned marina bay prawns crusted with popcorn. Paired with a spicy mayo, the prawns are a snack that will keep palates excited and curious for the rest of the meal. We washed this down with a perfectly Instagramable OT&T, made with gin, house-made citrus spice bitters and tonic. The drink is studded with ice cubes made of orange juice embellished with edible flowers that slowly melt as you sip, ensuring the drink doesn’t dilute as all the ice in it melts.