There's a warmth and breezy cheerfulness about Together at 12th that is hard to miss. You see it on the walls, as part of the decor and choice of music, and of course, in the carefully-crafted food and drinks menu. Now open on the 12th floor of one of Gurugram's top Hotels, Le Meridian, the restaurant aims to be a destination for social gatherings over good food and drinks. Founders Nitin Tewari, amongst India's best known Bar and Beverage experts, and Chef Vanshika Bhatia, who has worked at prestigious restaurants like Gaggan, Noma and Junoon, have created this space bringing all their beautiful memories and experiences to use.
Founders Nitin Tewari, amongst India's best known Bar and Beverage experts, and Chef Vanshika Bhatia have created this space
The Food & Drinks at Together at 12th
The food is intended to be 'Freestyle' in its approach, and has a fair share of European dishes along with several local Indian specials. What that basically means over here is that the menu is completely governed by what's available and what's not. The menu is seasonal to the core. They grow their own herbs and salads, source everything locally, and there's even mini hydroponics farm right in the dining area. Top dishes include Mutton Chicory - meat balls in a tomato sauce with chicory and alfa alfa sprouts, Chicken, Bamboo Chilli - spicy chicken cooked in bamboo shell, and the Pork, Timur Spice - braised pork belly served with butter poached greens and black rice; all are simply outstanding. Each dish has its own distinct style of presentation; I like how most of the non-vegetarian dishes are served with ample greens/veggies also. Every dish has a story to tell. Take for example the The Upcycled Tortellini - a dish where the filling changes fairly routinely. Chef Vanshika believes in minimising waste in the kitchen as much as possible, so the all the less-used parts of popular ingredients go here. The Tortellini I got served was stuffed with celery leaves among other delicious things. Another main course dish that takes the restaurant's food philosophy forward is Flowers, Yogurt Zucchini - a tart topped with zucchini noodles, seasonal edible flowers and served with a yogurt sauce. The fried Pansy sitting pretty on top of the tart ("Pansy ka Pakora" as the Chef jokingly put it) was really good!
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The drinks menu at Together at 12th is not ordinary eitherThe drinks menu at Together at 12th is not ordinary either. Apart from the usual list, Nitin Tewari and his team have crafted 12 special cocktails - each building from a special life memory. The cocktails take inspiration from significant moments like your first date, the times of train journeys, reunions or coffee breaks in between work. My favourite has to be the one called NCR, made using ingredients from all around the country, in much the same way that the National Capital Region has people and cultures from all over the country. NCR has kahwa tea from Kashmir, kokum from Konkan and Karnataka and is served in a beautiful bamboo-wood glass from the Northeast of India. You could even call this drink India!
The food is intended to be 'Freestyle' in its approachOften a philosophy remains only on paper, restricted in its manifestation, tough to see, hear, touch. This is not true in the case of Together at 12th. Everything the team believes in here, is showcased rather successfully across various aspects of the restaurant. I'm going to stick my neck out and say that Together at 12th is going to occupy the 12th floor at Le Meridian, Gurugram for many years to come.
About the Author:
Tanu Ganguly is a Content Specialist with over 18 years of experience in producing, directing and anchoring a variety of content for TV and digital. She worked with NDTV from 2000 till Jan 2019, and her last assignment with NDTV saw her heading the editorial and creative team at NDTV Food. During this phase, she introduced a series of successful changes in content strategy and style to maintain and bolster NDTV Food's leadership position in the food-content space in India. Tanu now runs Mishry.com - a review platform she founded in Jan 2019 exclusively for kitchen related products. Mishry.com is based in Gurgaon and aims to make shopping for cooking and dining needs better.