By Rupali Lamba
"The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Anonymous
There has been a lot of buzz about ‘The Village’ as well as ‘The Other Village’. But it doesn't stop there, Dilli. There's ‘Yet Another Village’ coming up in our city and it's full of surprises! I am talking about Lado Sarai.
After spending a fair amount of time at both HKV and Shahpur Jat, at first Lado Sarai looked extremely unpromising. A lot of the original village life is still visible here, unlike the other two which have been taken over by an endless slew of showrooms and eateries - where the odd village dweller is just a bohemian accessory.
In this uncertain, raw, fly infested environment, my colleagues and I make trips to the pan walla and atm occasionally. On one such trip, my friend and I saw an inconspicuous purple sign that read ‘Cheese Chaplin’. It also had a pizza menu next to it, with a price list and all included. To add to the intrigue, the door opened to stairs, which led to a basement…and we had no idea that this little Ali Baba scenario would lead us to our very own treasure chest of nothing but cheese!
Standing against a backdrop of an extensive collection of Italian cook books and a wall of shelves filled with pasta, olives, capers, wine leaves and herbs, we were greeted by Mr. Vikas, who works at Cheese Chaplin. We happened to be looking for just cream cheese that day, but our tasting didn't stop there- he brought out a platter and offered us some fresh buffalo mozzarella and processed smoked cheddar. Both products were absolutely divine. The mozzarella was super fresh! And they've delivered on consistency, because every time I or a friend have gone back, we've sampled some lovely fresh produce!
The more we spoke to Mr. Vikas, the more his passion and expertise in the field was revealed. Turns out, the company has been in the business for 19 years under 4 brand names – Dairy Crafts, John’s, Cremella and Rio. Besides mozarella, they make gouda, scamorza, ricotta, bocconcini and mascarpone to name a few. They're also distributors for imported cheese, making Cheese Chaplin the perfect place to buy cheese at any budget. I bought a bottle of capers, imported pesto, Philadelphia and feta for Rs. 700, and on another visit, 2 boxes of buffalo mozzarella and smoked cheddar for Rs. 300!
As for the sign that read ‘pizzas’, Cheese Chaplin makes those as well! We overheard a customer who had heard about the Cheese Chaplin pizzas all the way in Jaipur, and had made a trip to Lado Sarai just for them. If the cheese is anything to go by, the pizzas ought to be excellent!
Bottom line, ever since my first trip there, I have been re-inspired to cook. The feeling that you can make fancy-shmancy food without breaking the bank is truly priceless :)
WHO / WHAT / WHERE / WHEN |
Cheese Chaplin
Store for Cheese- in all its varieties
F-351, Basement, Lado Sarai. +91 9310667891 +91 11 29523141
When you're looking at buying some good quality & fresh cheese for all your culinary adventures!
Image courtesy: Reva Dutta & Denis Barwa
