Home is where the heart is, but the kitchen is where you will find its precise GPS.
Cooking is an essential ritual to our civilization. It demarks us from our early primitive selves and into the moment that we discovered how to harness the laws of nature and to adopt them in ways that enhance our lives. The energy and warmth derived from heat is the key to all of this. In a home where cooking is part of the essential experience, if you are ever feeling blue, just wander into the kitchen. Its warmth, smells and social gravity will always help you find the path to happiness.
This is precisely what you will find at KOL. The oven and hob are as you would find from centuries, nay from millennia, past. Simple clay bricks, charcoal and brisket with grills at various heights from the fire for more or less intense cooking and of course the clay tandoor oven. Owner and Chef Sid Sahrawat has brought in talented head chef Minwoo Kim. Together they have an intuitive understanding brought from their own childhoods of using this style of cooking to bring out incredible fragrance and textures in their food creations.
My mother’s kitchen was like this. Busy, warm, full of wonderful aromas. It was here that my concerns on love and career were kicked around. It was, as a result, experiences such as those in my mother’s kitchen that my mind and body learnt balance. As the gym instructor always says, "you need a strong core to achieve strength, balance and stability." A loving and warm environment will always provide a strong core, and experiences that bring us together are the sewing thread that weaves together love and harmony.
David Russell has been brought into the team as restaurant manager. He brings his wonderful Yorkshire personality and large experience since the age of 20 from hospitality venues around the world. We converse, laugh and share around the bar area at KOL as David prepares a Stranger & Sons Gin and Grapefruit Tonic. Stranger & Sons is a craft gin from Goa and its exceptional difference is that all its botanicals are organic and of Indian origin, such as cinnamon and star anise just to name a couple. David pairs this classic drink with one of the most exquisite oyster options I have had. The oyster garnish is made up of lovely fresh and zesty chopped cucumber and green apple and is heaven with this G+T. This is then followed by Sweetcorn Arancini, Italy meets India, and a unique and superb rendition of prawn toast with lemon and kaffir lime. WOW taste sensations wrapped up in the most beautiful way.
If you are looking for a home from home. A neighbourhood restaurant with outstanding quality (and very reasonable prices), look no further than KOL.
(PUNEET DHALL)
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Published: April 2024