Minimal Thrills

It’s Chennai’s latest dining sensation. A restaurant that is so sure of itself that it calls itself ‘absolute’. Nestled in a tree-filled estate, it’s a glittering glass case of minimalist chic. The brainchild of Vikram Phadke and Atul Malhotra, who own the store Evoluzione, it takes their design credo to another level: food as a design statement. They call it a theatre. The scripts are based on an international menu where you better know your wasabi from your gnocchi. We start with a Tofu Teriyaki salad (Rs 495). My companion and I try not to laugh out loud, it’s so minimal. We behave like geishas and giggle politely. The cranberry juice and lime (Rs 180) matches the black, red and silver decor. When we request some nourishment in the form of bread and butter to go with our main course—Truffled Ravioli (Rs 650), and Duck Confit (Rs 475)—we are sternly told that no bread is served at lunch. The desserts have been outsourced to a Frenchman named Michael Besse. We fall upon the phallic-shaped chocolate lollipops (Rs 375) like famished samurai. Even the coffee (Rs 160) is served so sparingly that we can just about use it to salve our lips.