A secret pop-up dinner by Dā'urā

I was seated at a table with complete strangers, where it was certain we all shared but one thing - an appreciation for good food. But that was enough to carry us off into wonderful conversation while we were treated to a sumptuous six-course meal until the late hours of the night. An evening of exquisite fine-dining and good company curated by the budding Chef Mayanka Somiah, whose creativity goes beyond her culinary skills, with the vision of her pop-up concept - the Dā'urā Experience.

Our lovely chef is also a painter as our takeaway gifts were beautiful handpainted menus depicting cherry blossoms.

The Experience

Hosted at Mezzaluna, The Mövenpick Hotel & Spa, the menu was themed to the 'Rise of Fall', celebrating autumn flavours with notes of pumpkin, maple and apricot. Pronounced "dora", the name is inspired from firewood - which is symbolic of being the centre of every gathering. The menu was an extravagant six-course spread and left no taste and texture, unturned. A memory from Chef Mayanka's childhood, was her mother speaking Nepali which she soon picked up using it as a secret language, this little detail is showcased with the name and menu which is scripted to the Nepali dialect.

Our menu, with a playful note of Nepali script as an introduction to each course.

The Food

A palate cleanser of dewy pumpkin, maple jelly, blue cheese and pea shoot to start the meal.

Before diving into our first course, we were treated to three rounds of small bites. The pictures I took are in no way justice to the beautiful presentation, but the dinner in candlelight was worth it. We were treated to crispy beetroot with avocado, a delicious assemblage of tomato served in three ways and carrot with coconut kafir and chilly oil. The rendezvous with the petite portions ended with a sparkling granita of pear, lemon, ginger and apple. The first course of salad, was plated to the shape of a crescent moon, with a deconstructed salad of smoked goat's cheese, mixed greens and apple, with powdered onion and tarragon. It was evident that careful thought went into balancing contrasting flavours.

A journey of tastes, where you start with the toasted onions and tarragon and end with

the fresh crunch of apple and mixed greens.

The soup was a sure highlight - with roast chickpea, walnut pesto and fresh basil, this got our chatter to a halt, a compliment to the chef. Moving along to the third course, the salmon with mashed potato and dill, was rich with butter. The fourth course, brought roast chicken that was soft to the bone. And finally, onto the wonderful dessert course, was a sweet note indeed. Lightly scented saffron panacotta, apricot jam with bold flavours of lemon meringue and pistachio. And the grand finale was the lush maple ice-cream with walnuts that strayed away from tasting overtly sweet.

Creamy saffron panacotta, with a kick of apricot and lemon meringue was a play on taste and texture, and the maple ice-cream gave a mellow end to our six course meal.

The event is classy, with a playful amount of sass and is a great opportunity to get connected with like-minded people.Chef Mayanka plans to take this pop-up across India, and create an invitation only platform with curated experiences, gourmet menus and themes. Having kicked off the first event in Bangalore, we will have to wait and watch where Dā'urā will pop-up next.

To find out more information, get in touch with the team: daura.experience@gmail.com

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