Jimmy Chew

Zest
DLF Emporio, Vasant Kunj, Delhi.
Tel: 43119999
Meal for two: Rs 4,000

f you want to know how the other 0.01 per cent live, come to the Emporio mall. Here, in the arrayed boutiques of Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Armani etc, a respectable upper middle-class salary could disappear in just a few delightful moments. In fact, perhaps one of the cheapest things in the building is a meal at Zest—a steal, at only Rs 2,000 per head.

Zest is like a food court for the rich. The difference is that it has seven different kitchens, manned largely by teams of expat chefs, to create authentic European, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Arab, North Indian and South Indian experiences. So you could, if you wanted, mix Japanese starters with a South Indian main course and Continental dessert. Or vice versa. It’s a dramatic looking place, designed by cutting-edge designer, Takashi Sugimoto: all wood, steel and granite, with glass kitchens along two sides. And the loos are the most high-tech we’ve seen, so you can pamper your alimentary canal from both ends. Zest is an enormous place—seating 350 people—but even so it’s difficult to get a table. If you think you can get a booking for tonight, forget it.