Jhaal Farezi's Organic Food Fest

Locating Jhaal Farezi was probably one of the most cumbersome things I have done in recent times. Blame it on the AJC Bose flyover that blocked my view as I hustled up and down the pavement on the opposite side of the restaurant for almost 20 minutes. Numerous SOS calls to my fellow blogger Manjari and Ambuja Neotia's representative Debamita later, I finally managed to make my way to this palatial restaurant that immediately left me awestruck. I had seen pictures of Jhaal Farezi on Zomato but the dazzling aura of this erstwhile British house left the history major in me completely mesmerised. What added to the experience was this unique festival they were hosting. Nature's Basket, that was held on January 10th and 11th was the exclusive organic food festival that Jhaal Farezi was hosting for the second year in a row.

Assorted Breads

Salad Spread

Dips and Cheeses

Spread out before us was a delectable fare of crunchy salads, all made of organic products, some amazing breads that completely shunned all purpose flour in favour of wholewheat and teff flour and an array of lip-smacking dips and cheeses. My picks of the day were the Quinoa Salad, the Guava Jam, Green Apple Veloute Soup and ALL the varieties of cheeses. There was a separate pizza counter, an egg station and a tandoor/grilling area.

"We try to keep all the products as organic as possible, in fact we have our own organic garden in Raichak. But it's still expanding and can't supply for all the products that we need in Calcutta. So we source them from various places including Green Tokri, which is a part of our festival today," said corporate chef Sumanta Chakraborti.

Chef Sumanta Chakraborti

Chef Swarup Chatterje joined us in an extended discussion about the wholesomeness or organic produce and also went on to share some anecdotes and stories about the beautiful building that Jhaal Farezi was nestled in. Debamita later took us on a round of the majestic restaurant that exuded the kind of old-world charm that was enough to leave me spellbound.
Apart from the brunch on offer, a number of other participants joined in the festival. These included fresh organic produce from Lettuce Eat, hand-crafted ceramics from Sienna and natural fibre home products by Green Earth.

Here's hoping that this is just the beginning of the organic food trend in Calcutta and festival or no festival we would get to see a plethora of organic food options in menus of city restaurants henceforth.