White balance

It's the wise use of white that adds sparkle to the rather classy dining set up at Fio, an upmarket eatery at the garden of five senses

It's the wise use of white that adds sparkle to the rather classy dining set up at Fio, an upmarket eatery at the garden of five senses

Perhaps, white is the most 'colourful' shade, and that's why it never ceases to amaze with its subtle yet chic appeal. Few years back, when I was still pursuing my graduation, I tried to check out this place, but was refused an entry.

And I don't blame the joint for showing me the door because I wasn't suitably dressed, and was accompanied by rather rowdy college crowd. But recently, when I danced upon a chance to sample the ambiance and food of this uber cool eatery, I understood how important is the client composition for an eatery's reputation. Continue reading as I rolled up my sleeves here and soaked in the flavours of different shores.

Up, close and personal
For me, where I eat is always important than what I eat because a shabby set up is the perfect recipe of a disastrous evening. So even before I decided where I would sit for the next couple of hours, I went to checkout the space with Vineet Wadhwa, the owner of this Indo-Italian diner.

"When we were ideating Fio, we wanted to set it up the way we arrange our house. We didn't even hire a designer." Set amidst trees, each corner of the space has a separate theme (indoors, frangipani, bamboo garden, accasia lounge and terrace garden) and a different vibe.

Mushy mushy hota hai
If you haven't gone on a mushy date for long, this place can take care of that need too. Even when the eatery is jam-packed on weekends, you don't get the feel of being intruded by the eyeballs of other patrons.u00a0 Secondly, they prefer not to entertain kids, which is good because while parents happily dine the young ones create a lot of mischief.

A brave decision, but works well with the crowd here. "Parents can bring along their kids but we tell them to keep a watch on the children because any naughtiness can disrupt a good time on the next table. We want our clients to come here only if they have few hours to spare because only then they would be able to appreciate what we have to offer," adds Vineet.

Hungry kya?
The chic design is perfectly complimented by the food and drinks they serve. A delicious meet-up of classic and contemporary dishes of India and Italy, the menu here has more or less everything for a food connoisseur. Plus, the modern tweaks given to traditional cooking processes make the food even better. We tried a mix of Indian and Italian appetisers - fish tikka, brushetta, galauti kebab and mushroom tikka.

Since all the preparations were so sumptuous by the time we thought of graduating to the main course, my tummy was full. Nonetheless, we tasted their Amritsari daal and veg jalfrezi. Though they score on every front, they might consider reworking on desserts' section because it looks lazy. But again, not necessary that you'll share my point of view.