A Special Birthday

Waking up on my birthday at an idyllic beachside resort in Mauritius was cool.  Having it come in the middle of a perfect week with the family, with nary a thought of the busy life we had left behind, was priceless!

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Restaurants of the St. Regis

The St. Regis boasts of five restaurants on its property, or rather six, if you also count the chef's table with its bespoke menu making it a special experience at this resort. These restaurants cover a lot of ground, from the local French-inspired cuisine to Indian, Japanese, a sea-side Grill and Pan-Asian food.  This particularly useful, considering there are no other places close by the St. Regis.

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Dolphins And Schools of Fish

If you look up Mauritius on a world map, you will notice it is tiny and in the middle of the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar.  Being far away from the mainlands of Africa and Asia keeps the waters surrounding this beautiful island country unspoilt and beautiful.  Given the perfectly warm and sunny days with pleasantly cool winds, it was inevitable we would spend a good amount of time in (and on) the waters.

We kept alternating between lazing in the beach and swimming with our face in the water, watching schools of colored fish frolicking below on the coral reef.  There were large numbers of white and black striped fish, flat ones with deep yellow marks on their faces, others with red lines, and those that merged into the background almost completely.  The still waters of the lagoon afforded us a view we hadn't experienced ever before.

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Arriving in Mauritius

I love planning vacations.  Everyone loves a good vacation, but I also enjoy the process of planning them: figuring out where to go, what to do and how to make this one different from anything we have done before. So, it was only after poring over a lot of options that I narrowed down Le Morne in Mauritius as the destination of choice for our summer vacation.

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An Ethiopian Experience

It was another of my frequent trips to the Silicon Valley.  On this evening I was meeting with some old friends over dinner.  It was a Friday evening and most restaurants were packed.  After wandering around the restaurants of Santana Row, we finally decided to get a little farther out and try something different.

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FIFA World Cup 2010: Stadium Tour

Yessir! I was here first. :)

Here's a pictorial tour of the main soccer stadium in Johannesburg that will host the opening and closing ceremonies during the FIFA World Cup 2010. Like a billion fans around the world already know, this BIG event kicks off on June 11 here. I was very excited with the opportunity to get a tour of the stadium, a walk through the team dressing rooms and a visit to the heart of the facility that contains the high-tech nerve center that will let the world's media beam back images instantaneously to fans back home.



Soccer City, as this stadium is popularly called, has seen a major upgrade for this event. Its design has been inspired by African pottery, the calabash. At night-time, the mosiac of earthern colors will have a ring of lights at the bottom making the stadium look like a massive pot placed over fire. As we went through the gates, we could see workers busy with the finishing touches outside.


Finally, we were inside the massive structure. The green field surrounded by rings of orange seats made for a colorful picture.





I was here on work (yes, I know, lucky me!!), but let me explain the hat I am wearing. The yellow hat represents a miner's hard-hat and South Africans tend to arrive with elaborate decoration on them during matches. The other person in the picture was our tour guide who gave us several interesting nuggets of information on the stadium. Below is the players' tunnel followed by the dressing and shower rooms.




At the top of the stadium, the mosaic made for a pretty pattern against the deep blue skies. The day was pretty warm, but 74 days from now when the world tunes in, the Johannesburg winter ought to make for a much more pleasant day-time temperatures.

Previously in this series: A taste of Johannesburg.

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A Taste of Johannesburg

For all the travel I do, I had not visited the Middle-East or the African continent until now. Last weekend I flew Emirates and got into Johannesburg on a bright, sunny morning. While the city itself is no different from other modern cities, as you begin to look closer you see the electric fencing and notice the signs proclaiming Armed Response on perimeters of every gated residencial colony you pass by. Violent crime seems to be a real thing here. On the positive side, all the South Africans I met were friendly, fun-loving people and very hospitable. As an Indian visitor, it was also fun to see sports pages devoted to IPL even when the country is preparing for the FIFA World Cup! It was a revelation to see so many South Africans of Indian origin, who came here as traders or indentured labor many generations back.

As for the foodie, Johannesburg has much to offer. I found South African food very exciting - they have brought together influences from their European, native African and Indian heritage and created a cuisine that's very appealing indeed. South African food is a delight for lovers of meat and spicy food - some of the stuff I tried were fiery even by Indian standards!

During the four days I spent here, I stayed at the Intercontinental Sandton Towers in Sandton City, a posh commercial and residential suburb of the city. Wanting to try something exotic, I picked the Loin of Gemsbok from the menu for lunch at the hotel. Googling quickly from my Blackberry as I sat at the table, I discovered the gemsbok to be a large antelope common in this region.

My lunch arrived soon. The meat was grilled to perfection with a peanut and ginger basting that was heavenly - bringing together the Malay influence in their country. The hasselback potatoes and wilted boy choy in spiced olive oil went perfectly with the splendidly done meat which was robust, gamey and very flavorful.

On another day, after a full quota of meetings and events, my host introduced me to the local Castle beer and another comfort food ubiquitous here - the Biltong. Biltong is air-dried meat and similar to beef jerky but far more tasty. While Biltong is made of a variety of meats including ostrict, the one I tried was beef which was quite addiction forming I must say!

Johannesburg owes its origins to the mining industry. South Africa witnessed a gold rush to Witwatersrand (from where the local currency got its name) in 1886 and eventually led to the creation of Johannesburg. This region alone has accounted for almost 40% of all the gold mined in the world until now! Castle beer was founded to cater to the tastes of the miners and prospectors and has been popular ever since. Biltong and Castle beer - no better combo at the bar to wash away your tiredness at the end of a busy day.

Upscale dining places are aplenty in Sandton City, Johannesburg - all within walking distance of the Intercontinental. I walked out of my hotel and into the nearby Nelson Mandela Square home to some of the largest shopping malls and restaurants. A large bronze statue of Mandela dominates the square.

For a taste of Africa, there is no better than Lekgotia. Drummers, staff dressed in African clothes and face painting make for an exotic dining atmosphere. Local wines abound in their celler: South Africa has a rich tradition of wine that dates back to the 17th century. Much of it comes from areas in and around Cape Town.

Going with my hosts' recommendation, I settled for a carpaccio of Springbok and an entree of Beef Fillet. The springbok is a gazelle that is also the national animal of South Africa. I was also introduced to the pap, a porridge made of coarsely ground maize topped with a fiery savoury relish of peppers and vegetables called Chakalaka.


The springbok was interesting, but it was the Beef Fillet that was really fantastic! Extremely well-seasoned, the meat was tender and a medley of flavors and textures on the palate. The pap and chakalaka made the meal even more satisfying. I had ordered a pepper sauce for the steak which added to the spice level! After all that meat and starch, I just couldn't find place for a dessert. :)

On another night, I walked into Montago Bay located in the same area. The outdoor seating looking out on the Square and candles on the tables made for a lovely ambiance after sunset. Montago Bay specialized in seafood and their menu straddles sushi and local creations with equal panache.


I started with the popular Knysna Bay oysters, freshly shucked and served on a bed of ice with green and red Tabasco, coarsely ground black pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Doesn't get any better than this, especially on a lazy evening with a tall glass of chilled Castle.


The entree that followed was as terrific. Fresh line fish perfectly blackened in Cajun spices and served with rice and creamed spinach. This dish was another hit with me. A must have in my next trip to this food-loving city. As I look back at the food I sampled in this city, I can't remember anything I tried that I didn't like.

Another much recommended restaurant I didn't have time to sample is the Butcher Shop & Grill right opposite Lekgotia. This is a must for steak lovers or those looking to sample game meat in Africa.

Soon, this city is going to flooded with soccer lovers. For the foodies amongst them, there is going to be a double bonanza waiting - quality soccer and fantastic food!

Coming Next: I was here first! - A tour of the National Stadium where the FIFA World Cup 2010 will kick off in June.

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Ethiopian Food in Beverly Hills

I spent an evening in Santa Monica last week with with a friend who I was meeting after a decade. We had worked together at Delhi a long time back. He has since moved to the US and recently made Beverly Hills his home.

Having discovered that I blog about food, he wanted to take me to a place that was different from anything I have eaten before. We eventually settled on Ethiopian food (my first time!). Nyala is a family owned and operated Ethiopian restaurant that has been serving the Los Angeles area since 1988. Located in the Little Ethiopia area in Beverly Hills, this restaurant has since garnered considerable praise from many a local food critic.

In the restaurant, a section for performing the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony is reserved in the back across from the bar, and large and small tables are set tastefully around tropical flowers. Traditional Ethiopian dishes such as Dora Wot (marinated chicken), Kifto (sauteed beef), and Kik Alecha (split peas with onion and garlic and ginger) are available. All dishes are served with injera, a spongy Ethiopian bread, vegetables and salad.

We were served an initial appetiser of what looked like bread sticks with hummus, but this one was spicier. I had ordered Yebeg Wot for my entree, which was lamb marinated in red wine and sauteed in seasoned butter, fresh onion, garlic, ginger, and seasoned red pepper sauce.

A spongy, flat sourdough bread (called injera) is spread on the plate over which the rest of the food is served. You use your fingers to tear off pieces of the bread which soaks the gravy to eat. It is actually fun, and for Indians like eating dosa but with gravy!

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Out of Africa

Check out Newsweek's cover story on the best that money can buy! Among the best hotel accomodations they listed, this one seems truely out of this world and worth the price:



"Sabora Tented Camp, Singita Grumeti Reserves, Tanzania. Fans of Sydney Pollack's film "Out of Africa" will love this luxurious air-conditioned tent decorated with Persian rugs, gauze curtains and great-game, safari-style furniture straight out of a Hemingway novel.

Go during the summer months, when the wildebeest migration is in full swing. Meryl Streep and Robert Redford not included (room rate approx $850)."

This resort in right in the Serengeti savannah where antelope and zebra join about 1.5 million wildebeest in one of the largest animal migrations every year, ending a three hundred mile journey in search of life-sustaining grasses and water. What a spectacular view that must be!

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