A dinner date with MasterChef Australia's George Calombaris

City gourmets and executives enjoyed a light moment at the recently concluded Amex CEO Series, when a visibly excited George Calombaris — chef, restaurateur and MasterChef Australia judge —  shared frame with surprise guest Sachin Tendulkar. The annual consortium of corporate power personas, wrapped up at The St. Regis this year, pushed palates with a Greco-Indian dinner interlaced with flavours from Oz —  perhaps a shout-out to Calombaris's original culinary influences and his growing camaraderie with India. 

Presiding over the seven-course meal with enthusiasm and a plea to "keep an open mind", the much-loved chef went on to navigate guests through dishes like beetroot greek salad with papadum praline, potato skordalia, and poached chicken served with hellenic grain salad and cauliflower cream. While the cultural overlap shone through in some dishes, others, like the slow cooked egg in smoked yoghurt and almond burnt butter (accompanied by giant cookie-sized garlic rotis), were trickier to warm up to, for the unaccustomed tongue. The assertive flavour of the meal, for us, was one of understated earthiness, although the sign-off dish of Indianised crab naan souvlaki, instructed to be eaten with hands, popped out in characteristic desi gusto. 

With chefs like Vicky Ratnani, Amrita Raichand and Saransh Goila also in attendance, the night was worthy of cross-cultural gastronomy.

(Left to right - 1) Slow cooked egg with smoked yoghurt and almond burnt butter  2) Potato Skordalia 3) Curry butter poached carrot, apple, horta and wild rice)