Since my days of wandering seem to be severely limited, I continue my adventures in gastronomy locally. As Brand Custodian for the Freedom Tree, we decided to partner with the Hidden Table supper club in Pune.

During the Pandemic, Prasad Thergaonkar and his partner Rishi Bhog set up the Hedonist, a gourmet popup that was critically acclaimed and soon had a cult following. Despite steep prices and a very exclusive clientele, Hedonist continues to thrive, growing more adventurous each year,  bringing ace chefs from across the world to create memorable dining experiences  locally, across several Indian metros.

But a more pocket-friendly  version meant a change in format, and now we have the newly launched Hidden Table, a monthly pop-up supper club.

 The venue is a secret, so is the menu and chef.  It all adds to the excitement.  You meet new people,  dine at a community table, taste some truly interesting food, take home good memories and a full belly. 

Our first Hidden Table was with the inimitable Chef Gayatri Desai, aka Gaya, and her otherworldly Ground Up 2.0

Gaya is a pioneer in her approach to the wild, the local and seasonal produce, and has a certified obsession with all things fermented. 

Just back from a long trip across Japan where she studied pickles and brines, ferments and foraging, to create eclectic menus with the transformed ingredients.  Her experiments are used in innovative ways,  in sodas and desserts, salad dressings and in unusual flavour pairings with meats and vegetables.

Think pickled peaches, fermented chillies, homemade tofu, wild berries, foraged greens, kvaas.

Think pickled bamboo, ginger, peach misozuke, litchi caramel, marinated peaches, homemade guava hot sauce, pork cheeks, tetu, okara, kantal, apple cider sodas, smoked mango, perilla amazake ( ok I need a dictionary here !)

The noodles at Ground Up are homemade and hand pulled.  Butter is added liberally to the pan. The strawberries are tiny, fresh, and in season. The peaches are glorious and juicy.  Someone has just brought thirty kilos of wild produce for Gaya to transform with her alchemy. 

Downstairs, there is a room filled with living, growing cultures, bubbling and fizzing away, transmuting into something totally new and unusual. Practical magic is at work here.  Aged  wooden barrels of soy sauce and miso ferment patiently,  while sourdough Mother waits to be baked into delicious loaves. glass jars line the shelves from floor to ceiling, labelled exotically and chemically. I am reminded of the old science lab in school with specimens floating in formaldehyde, but these are alive, waiting, watching, growing, ever changing. 

Every meal here is a surprise, planned fresh, and with flavour profile the uppermost.  You never quite know what you will be served.  There will be chicken or pork: smokey, pickled and tart flavours.  Beautiful ears of mushroom,   the aroma of  baking bread.  Complex sauces.  Layered desserts. A myriad ways  of transforming  a single ingredient to create a singular  dish.   Fizzy homemade lime or seasonal fruit sodas pop  in tall glasses. 

The seating is on a private terrace with simple bamboo screens and al fresco.  The air is balmy, the plants rustle in the breeze and soothe. There is no whining music, just some excellent  jazz playing softly as friends and diners hang at the wooden bar, or sit on elegant wooden barstools, peering at the drama unfolding in the open kitchen. 

Watching Gaya and her team of talented young chefs, Suraj Prabhu Desai and Tanmay Chavan, is to experience drama and magic unfolding together.

It is convivial  and fascinating to watch- the mise en place, the cooking and the plating, the garnishing. The food emerges from the precise chaos of the kitchen as the cooks work in tandem to assemble and pre-plate each course. The stress is palpable in their movements but defused by their relative comfort behind the stove. 

On another evening, Gaya offers her most amazing Bahn mis.  Her Bahn mi is a thing of beauty, of sublime taste and utter perfection. The rolls from The Good Butter are divine, filled with fresh greens, pork or chicken meatballs and that special sauce.  I dip mine liberally in the house hot sauce despite  its spice level.  Altogether a special meal. Banh mis are for silently chewing and sipping on a house soda, while mulling over life.

Around me, the music, jazz again, plays softly and the wind gently drifts throught the bamboo lattice. Wicker lanterns cast long shadows and the murmur of voices and laughter carry over the sounds of the kitchen.  Today  is a balmy October evening, and my daughter and I sit in convivial silence, deep in thought as we bite down  on bread with a crusty crackle, sprinkling  crumbs on our shirts.  Then we hit the sweet spot-  when we reach the meatballs past pickled carrots and hot sauce. We sigh in contentment, and chew in bliss. This is the good life, the good stuff.  Right now, bliss is not hard to find.

Dessert is the best basque cheesecake. EVER. Made from scratch  in-house.  It is perfectly wobbly and perfectly perfect.  It is luscious  and creamy and silken, with burnt bits and heady vanilla.

Ground Up is always a revelation, a surprise, but mostly it brings immense comfort in the new and unfamiliar. Gaya lives and breathes her food  philosophy,  spreading joy with every bite.

Ground UP 2. is on pre-booking only, online, with a changing menu each month. Do not miss one of her tables. https://www.instagram.com/groundup.in/

The Hidden Table Supper Club is a closed list available to members. You can subscribe by connecting with them on Instagram.https://www.instagram.com/thehiddentable.pune/

Crockery and linens by The Freedom Tree https://www.instagram.com/freedomtreehome/

Maybe I’ll see you there!