World's Best Tasting Vodka

That's the first tagline for Grey Goose vodka (cool website), the other being 'Sip Responsibly'. I believe this was the first event they were holding in Bangalore.

The invite came to me on Saturday, delivered by a PYT together with a bouquet of flowers. I knew then that Deepti meant business. She was styling the entire event.

I drove into the Taj driveway around 8.15 pm and knew exactly where the venue was. It was the Blue Ginger lawn but how it had been dressed up. Meters of white fabric had been hung from the trees over the little lake. The lighting would change to give a different mood and a perfect reflection appeared on the water. A superb setting for a promising night.

I was probably one of the earliest guests to arrive. Deepti was on hand to greet me. Dimitri was presiding over the bar. He was actually showing the bartender some drinks they were serving for the evening. He made a brilliant pomegranate martini first. Fresh pomegranate muddled, vodka, syrup and some zest of orange. It was so smooth that I could have had that all night.

Anandi had been roped in as the photographer for the evening. She must be the most glamorous photographer at these events that I had ever seen. Deepti refused to allow her to come in work gear. She would have been a guest in any case.

The lawn was converted into an open air sitting room. TV screens and lap tops were littered around extolling the virtues of Grey Goose. It was all very tastefully done.

I didn't know who was invited for the event. It was to be a sitdown dinner for 40-plus people. Fortunate for me, most of the guests were her friends, quite a few of whom I actually know.

Dinner was very good. They had incorporated the vodka into the cooking... through the vinegrette and the sauce. But surely the purpose of the evening were the drinks. Dimitri also made a watermelon martini, which was so simple but it just worked perfectly. For him, it was simply a case of 'less is more'. That was what I had the rest of the evening.









It wasn't long before they had to announce that Bangalore was shutting down for the night and time for last orders. Who'd have thought Tuesday evening would turn out quite so lovely.