TRESIND STUDIO

Hidden within the confines of Trèsind Restaurant which is, itself, hidden on the second level of the Voco Hotel on Sheik Zayed Road, Trèsind Studio is not exactly Dubai’s most easily accessible dining experience. But it is one of the more magical. With its lavish decor, great views and the hundreds of plants and blossoms adorning the room, the intimate 20-seat chef table experience looks like a cross between a Garden of Eden, a big city dream and the homeliness of Chef Himanshu’s private living room.

Stepping into this imposing piece of seemingly alternate reality you are granted but one dining option from the friendly and attentive staff. But what an option it is. The 14 course tasting menu is an odyssey through modern, elevated Indian cuisine and paints a picture of Chef Himanshu and crew as some of the greatest visionaries within their field.

Each dish more beautiful and creative than the one before it, the menu unfolds as an interesting and complex marriage between technique, plating, molecular gastronomy, innovation and classic, easily recognizable Indian flavors. It is Indian food re-imagined and a wonderful dive into a world of endless culinary possibilities. The experience is not only captivating and playfully boundary-pushing. It is, above all, fun and surprising.

From the very first bite, your senses are challenged as your taste buds are awoken by a less than traditional twist on a classic pani puri, a stuffed, deep-fried flatbread snack. Chef Himanshu’s version contains arugula, pear and feta and it is a perfect start to a most unusual, most intense dining experience. Waves of flavor and surprise wash over you as your teeth crash through the crunchy exterior and a multitude of flavors, both savory and sweet roll across the tongue. It is a wake-up call to all senses. A statement. A perfect way to begin a highly theatrical and focused dining experience. An experience that involves elements that are both familiar and highly surprising.

Butter chicken, for example, looks and tastes very similar to the classic version of the dish, and then again, not really. It is more of a perfectly deconstructed version of what you would normally call butter chicken. Marinated, grilled chicken presented on a skewer paired with a comforting consommé of chicken broth on the side. You dip. You eat. You close your eyes as the intensity of the consommé and spices dance across your tongue. The flavors are familiar and comforting. Yet intense and surprising. 

This is butter chicken concentrate, elevated to another level of presentation and style. As with so many of the dishes, it is so delicious that you would easily want another serving. Yet so perfect in size and intensity that the taste sensation lingers long after the last bite and becomes a fond food memory. The type of food memory that has you already daydreaming about your next visit.

This daydream, it seems, is shared by many. Chef Himanshu in an interview with Yeswefood.com reveals that about 90% of guests are returning guests. Bored with constants and what he perceives as slack, he changes his menu often, with few dishes making it past the three month marker. At least not in one particular form. Chef Himanshu’s lust for innovation and creativity has his team, constantly innovating, elevating and rethinking for the benefit of his returning guests.

There are classics and signature dishes, of course. Combinations of flavors or texture that are always present in some way, shape or form. Dishes that disappear only to reappear in another form. It adds a sense of comfort and familiarity to a menu that is never quite the same for returning visitors, but also guarantees a new, innovative dining experience every three months.

Read also: Himanshu Saini - Every moment is important: There is no limit or space for creativity

Another thing that pleases frequent diners is the ever-increasing attention to detail and level of skill involved in creating the ever-changing menu. A dish of melt-in-your-mouth Wagyu beef, for example, served with shaved black truffle, beautifully presented on a texturally perfect juxtaposition of a crispy potato ring on a bed of Korma is pure genius. And a perfect display of the kitchen’s philosophies.

While luxury elements like Wagyu and truffle are always captivating, and the depth of the Korma like that of the world’s greatest oceans, what impresses the most is the humblest element, the potato. It provides the textural element without which none of the luxury ingredients would shine, and it is, in itself, surprisingly complex. It takes two hours alone to make twenty potato rings for one evening of service, the waiter informs with no uncertain amount of pride. And it simply helps illustrate the mind-boggling attention to detail and dedication that goes into even the simplest of elements.

Indeed, the nearly manic attention to detail, precision and the multitude of techniques unvolved seems almost over the top. And in any other setting, it just might be. But even as you chew starstruck through a palate cleansing pre-dessert of rice flour Achappam pastry filled with Parmesan ice cream and fig coulis, topped with a molecular sprinkle of Balsamic pearls, you cannot help but think that every little twist, every little detail. every technique and every ounce of flavoring and spice seems entirely justified and incredibly well-considered.

Not because of excessive use of expensive ingredients or show-off techniques - both of which are used in moderation at Trèsind Studio. But simply because what seems most important to the chefs are the base flavors beneath the shiny veil of truffle, craftsmanship and molecular techniques. And more importantly, still, the passion is there and the feeling is there. This, first and foremost, is a love song to Indian comfort food and the original aromas and flavors of India, wrapped in a stunning level of technique and culinary theatre that seems by no means pretentious or over the top, but simply stunning.

Trèsind Studio is an experience that is neither as simple as it seems, nor too complicated or distancing. It is a perfect harmony which leaves you with a huge smile and the fondest of memories even before the lights are dimmed for the final act of the evening.

Fly me to the moon

Imagine, if you will. Sitting in the private dining room of one of the world’s premiere Indian chefs. As you try to recover from the sensory assault of the first 13 courses, the lights are dimmed and Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me To The Moon" starts playing in the background. All the while, a brightly glowing moon is on the table. The lights come back up and the orb is opened to reveal a cocoa bee hive made with queen bee honey from a local farm in Sharjah and flavored with kanchenjunga tea. Simplistic and local in nature with a hint of childhood nostalgia and a bit of an exotic touch, yet absolutely stunning in terms of visuals, technique and preparation, it is the perfect representation of the full on theatre that is Chef Himanshu’s tasting menu.

A tasting menu from which so many more dishes and elements deserve praise, but also a menu from which many elements are best kept secret. As to not spoil the surprise. In creating his menu, Chef Himanshu draws on his childhood in the kitchen of his Old Delhi family home, his culinary training under some of the best Indian chefs in history and a brigade of chefs from all over the Indian subcontinent. All of whom have in one way or another brought their own diverse mix of traditional flavors and food memories into the mix as a tribute and a showcase to the diversity of Indian cooking traditions.