At ITC Gardenia’s new restaurant Cajsa, minimalism takes centre stage

Full-course meals are a great way to experience a restaurant and the culinary artistry of the chef. The full spread offers an overview of the strong points as well as misses, and also allows the diner to be more experimental. 

But tasting menus, especially for me, can be sometimes overwhelming. The pressure of trying everything plated in front of you—the complexity of the flavours, the confluence of palettes, and oftentimes, the sickness after having overeaten—can be unbearable. 

Bengaluru’s ITC Gardenia’s newest culinary baby, Cajsa, promises to deliver the diversity and gastronomical adventure of a full-course meal, sans the cons. 

‘Cajsa’ in Greek means ‘pure’. The global gastronomic experience delivers the classics from across the world but with greater emphasis on authenticity and simplicity, allowing the star ingredient to stand out. 

Reimagined in a space that earlier housed Italian restaurant Ottimo Cucina, the decor, much like its food, is fuss-free—wooden furniture and white walls, with occasional wall paintings, allowing the food to take centre stage. 

To serve a global gastronomic experience, Cajsa offers three different meals—the seven-course meal, or Inizio, marks the new beginning; the nine-course Lagom is not too little and not too much; and the eleven-course Elysian promises to be beautiful and creative. 

Cajsa doesn’t marry dramatic flavours on a plate and overload its diners. Instead, inspired by the concept of minimalism, it designs every course to bring the comforting taste of simplicity. The 48-hours of Tomato, for instance, a part of Inizio, consists of what it says exactly—white tomatoes cooked for over 48 hours to whip up a creamy soup, with a cheesy surprise at the end. Once I devoured the bowl of soup that felt like a hug, I was greeted with mascarpone cheese stuffed with cherry tomatoes at the base. 

“We are focused on the authenticity of flavours, however, the cooking technique and taste will have the original Cajsa experience,” Shubham Shinh, Head Chef at Cajsa, tells YS Life. 

The second course on the non-veg menu, Prawn Balloon, is inspired by Asian markets. Maintaining authenticity, the prawns are coated with a fermented batter that inflates when deep fried, giving it a balloon-like structure. Cajsa gave its own twist, serving it with a side of spiced plum and Thai sauce. 

To ensure that the meal is fulfilling but doesn’t make diners feel bloated, Casja has curated the menu with just the right portions. Each dish is listed with its calorie content, and the philosophy is to create a lasting experience. “Every course is designed to experience a holistic and balanced meal,” Shinh explains. 

The seven-course meal comes with two mains—Hot Air Bag, and Hickory and Farm Raised Chicken. Hot Air Bag, as the name suggests, is Norwegian salmon baked inside parchment paper—a technique inspired by the Japanese and French cooking methods. The fish is topped with a kaffir lime, lemon grass and fish stalk sauce;  served with a side of hon shimeji (type of mushrooms) and leeks. Not big on garnishes, Hot Air Bag is adorned with a koi-shaped fish made from edible flowers. 

1120 people loved this story

---

A foodie’s guide to Abu Dhabi: Where to go for great food and warm conversations

The hickory and farm-raised chicken, inspired by Chinese cuisine, is made from tender country chicken cooked in a citrusy kumquats sauce, served with a side of spinach-stuffed ricotta turnover and bread topped with caramelised onion and pumpkin seeds.  

The nine and eleven courses come with more non-vegetarian options—pork served with ruby cabbage, crusted lamb with Lebanese moghrabieh (dough pearls), duck with aubergine, seabass, goat chops, and lobsters with kasundi. “Our menu has been curated keeping in mind the right amount of carbs, protein, and fat. The vegetarian menu is equally wholesome and innovative,” Shinh adds. 

For vegetarian courses, the options are just as many—jackfruit with leeks, mushrooms, crispy beetroot, broccoli kedgeree with black sesame hummus, crusted tofu, water chestnut, steamed lotus root, and ragi risotto, among others.

For desserts, Inizio serves nostalgia through the Coorg Coffee Conundrum—a coffee dessert inspired by the chef’s childhood games. Mascarpone cheese is topped with coffee powder, and served with a side of gondhoraj (Bengal lime)-flavoured whipped yoghurt ice cream and dulce pebbles. 

“It was also quite a conundrum for us to bring complex flavours like coffee, yoghurt and kaffir lime together!” Shinh quips. 

While the cocktail menu was still a work in progress when YS Life visited the restaurant, the limited wine menu is impressive and is meant to pair well with the menu.  

To mark the beginning of the meal, the server helped me with a serving of the Chandon Brut sparking wine; between the two main courses—salmon and chicken, fresh fennel and green apple sorbet helped cleanse the palette; and the end was marked with a serving of pate de fruits—passion fruit jelly. 

Cajsa is big on sustainability too. A large chunk of its ingredients are sourced locally. The restaurant has also tied up with a local farm to source its vegetables and ITC Gardenia grows its own microgreens and herbs in-house. 

“We want our diners to take a happy food memory with them…A recall of the new dishes they tried at Cajsa,” Shinh says. 

Timings: 7 PM to 11 30 PM (open only for dinners) 

Cost for two: Seven-course meal at Rs 2,500; nine-course meal at Rs 3,000; eleven-course meal at Rs 3,500 (excluding taxes)