Sit back and enjoy, says Chef Olveira
Instagram @thefinelychopped 18/2/25
“Bring your wife to La Panthera for a date”, said its co-owner, the very effervescent Mickee Tuljapurkar when I went to La Loca Maria, their first restaurant, to sample the black truffle menu last month. Mickee told me that La Panthera was inspired by restaurants that her husband, Chef Manuel Olveira, and she frequent when holidaying in Europe, places where the food is delicious and the vibe relaxed. “People here feel that they need to dress up if they go to a good place to eat. We want them to feel comfortable,” said Mickee.
Date lunch at La Panthera
K and I are fans of Chef Manuel’s cooking, and this, along with Mickee’s enthusiasm, made me take K to La Panthera for lunch on my birthday (7th Feb).
The decor reminded us of classic European restaurants
The first thing that strikes you when you enter La Panthera is its sense of space and understated elegance. Mickee regaled us with stories of sourcing material and talent that went into creating the look. This was her ‘department’ while the chef focused on the food.
Spoilt silly by chef Manuel and Mickee
Chef Manuel took care of the ordering as he knows our preferences well now. This is what we had:
1. Sea bass ceviche with Bloody Mary granita and crisp corn. This was a very refreshing welcome dish on a sunny afternoon. The flavours were sharp yet delicate, and the textures were complex yet playful.
2. Steak tartare: Smoothly blended, cured buff mince, served on a contrasting base of hot & crisp potatoes. The contrasting elements complemented each other.
Hard to believe that such a lovely tartare can be made with buffalo meat
3. Charred octopus: I am yet to come across someone who cooks octopus as well as Chef Manuel. It was juicy, smoky & combined well with the potato foam/ puree that it came with.
Noone cooks octopus as well as Chef Manuel
4. Panthera pizza: The dough had been treated over 24 hours from what I understood. This made the pie supple & airy. Chef Manuel told me that he amps up flavours when he cooks in India in keeping with the local palate. The pizza with nduja, tomato & burrata was an example of this. It was majestic, but the flavours were a bit overpowering/ over the top for me.
5. I wanted a steak on my birthday & the grilled tenderloin steak here, unlike the pizza, was all about restraint. Done medium rare & perfectly seasoned, served with baked creamy mash. Manuel told us about the steps he takes to make local buff meat work. Listening to chef Manuel get into the technicalities of his cooking was like a masterclass in the kitchen.
The steak was just what I wanted
6. Chef got us the panthera profiterole. Its ethereal texture, great quality chocolate & hazelnut paste broke our resolve to diet!
We can never resist Chef Manuel’s dessert
On the way out K and I called in for some cat food using a delivery app to feed two cats lying outside. They are fed by the staff from what I learnt. This made the birthday experience complete.
#hosted
