Farmer Market Brunch

With all the craze for organics, one hotel in Chennai now has a mini farmer market in its premises for the Sunday brunch. Whoa. Walk in to the lobby of The Park on Sunday afternoon and you are greeted with stalls selling potatoes and greens and fruits and ghee and what not. Even murukku made with organic stuff. The farmers proudly display a bunch of green leaves and ask you to take a bite. With no smell, I was expecting a bitter green but was greeted with a burst of fresh peppermint. Nature's molecular gastronomy!

Well beyond the lobby, desserts greet you even before you enter the restaurant. With a reasonable selection of organic stuff, you get organic rasamalai, though what I think it means is that its been made with organic milk.

While the selection is huge with quite a lot coming from the organic produces, there is an equally large selection for those who don't want to be limited to organic foods. I've not heard of organic sushi, yet.

Nei Idly and Banana dosa, both from the organic section was a hit with the family. Soft dosas bursting with banana flavour, and being bite sized to be enjoyed in one gulp, and idly with with ghee are both the stand outs from the South Indian live counter.

Beetroot cannelloni was the my dish of the day. Made with organic beet roots, this cheesy juicy flavour pasta stuffed beets was the hit from the Continental Kitchen. This closely beat the other organic dish, a dish of seared pumpkin with loads of sesame and greens. A little crisp on the outside and soft pumpkin inside, I loved this, till the beets took over!  Of course there is sushi and fried rice and biriyani that you'd find in most brunches. And unlike most brunches that are more lunch than brunch, The Park serves some breakfast dishes too. Besides the idly and dosa, there is also the waffles (made of ragi) and pancakes with all the maple syrup you need.

And dessert. The selection is HUGE. The peppermint that you saw in the lobby? That's been converted to an ice cream. White vanilla looking ice cream that is anything but plain vanilla. The fresh burst of peppermint simulated nature's burst from the leaf. A lovely rasamalai and a beautiful rice payasam from the organic counters reduced the guilt a little.

This to me, was a fresh approach to brunch. You could go in at 12, start off with some breakfast, get some shopping done for the week with all the organics, come back in for lunch and slowly roll out at 330 PM. Lazing by the pool is the only thing left to do to complete a Sunday!

Priced at Rs. 2300 odd per person all inclusive.