I love burgers. They are, to my mind, the culinary equivalent of commercial cinema: unpretentious, enjoyable, and either unabashedly good or appallingly bad. Despite what health fanatics would have me believe, I see a burger as a healthy meal containing all four food groups: carbohydrate (the bun), protein (the meat), fiber (lettuce, tomato), and fat (cheese).
It all started with my fetish for cast iron pots and pans. A friend mentioned in passing that cast iron cookware – usually elusive and expensive – was available cheap, and in abundance, at a place called Karaikudi in Tamil Nadu. Within a week, I was headed to Karaikudi with a single-minded mission: to buy a cast iron soup pot. Or two. Or maybe even three.
Mushrooms – you either love ‘em or hate ‘em! Those of us who fall into the former category have reason to smile as more varieties of edible mushrooms begin to find a place on restaurant menus and on shelves at Bangalore’s specialty gourmet stores.
The first time I visited Medici was a couple of years ago, when I was invited as a guest of the Bangalore Mirror review team. At that time, I thought it had a lot of promise, but for one reason or another (so many restaurants, so little time!), I never returned. I was recently invited, with a bunch of other people, to sample Medici’s new Franco-Italian menu, ostensibly so that they could receive feedback on it (in other words, I did not pay for this meal). Having attended the very low-key sit down dinner, I was intrigued (and impressed) enough to return, several times, on my own dime.
