French flavours, refreshing cocktails and flowing conversations took centre stage at The Established Dinner Club

Located in the Goan village of Assagao, The Assa House played the perfect host to the second edition of the Dinner Club

It all started with a downpour. The rain gods decided to bless Goa just as The Established’sDinner Club was about to kick off. With umbrellas at the ready, we arrived at the venue. Held in partnership with Chivas 18, the event was the second in a series of dinner clubs planned by The Established across India. As it was the first edition to take place in Goa, the location needed to be perfect–and it did not disappoint.

The Assa House is a newly launched fine-dine French bistro in the village of Assagao. Set in an old Goan home—complete with a lawn and backyard—the restaurant gives off a welcoming vibe as soon as you walk in through its gates. While it retains an old-world charm with its checkered floor tiles and vintage lighting, it also oozes modernity through its stylish accents and slick, all-black bar. All in all, it’s a perfect representation of the Goa of today—one that is embracing the new while holding on to its roots.

On this particular Wednesday evening, even the constant patter of rain couldn’t discourage the invitees from pouring in. By half-past-eight, the restaurant was flowing with an eclectic mix of personalities from the arts, and the fashion and culinary worlds, many of whom now call the sunshine state their home.

Food and tipple

French chef Alexis Gielbaum (ex-Souffle, Slink & Bardot) set the mood for the evening with his hors d’oeuvres. As the guests continued to flow in, the servers came around with one round after another of gratin dauphinois, gougères, a vegetarian croque monsieur, and a heavenly brie en croute drizzled with raw honey and topped with nuts. The standout dish of the night was the goat cheese éclair–a delightfully savoury creation dotted with smoked salmon, black olive tapenade, oven-dried tomatoes and crunchy hazelnuts.

When it comes to the tipple, food like this deserves the perfect pairing. At the bar, the bartenders were serving up drinks made with Chivas 18 and Monkey 47. Undoubtedly, the most popular drinks that evening were the two cocktails—the D’Assa French Fashion and the Conçu Sour—which were the choices of guests at almost every table.

The former—with Monkey 47 as its base—had a sophisticated tropical flavour imparted by pineapple juice, passion fruit syrup, lime juice and Campari. The Conçu Sour, meanwhile, featured Chivas 18 to create a modern and refreshing drink.

Finding connections

At the evening, both the indoor and outdoor dining areas of The Assa House were swarming with notable names, including filmmaker Surabhi Tandon, musician Sahej Bakshi (aka Dualist Inquiry), entrepreneur Jassin Chattaram, chef duo Shilarna Vaze and Christophe Perrin, Acquin Pais, restaurateurs Ginny Kohli of Neighbours, Gunjan Bakshi of Vedro, chefs Avinash Martins and Maia Lai, Nick Harrison, Jeremie Horowitz, artist Pakhi Sen, photographers Anushka Menon and Preteika Menon, Eddie Cruzet, artist and now restauranter Siddharth Kerkar, Aliya and Imran Hai, Pulkith Modi, Vishal Manghnani, fitness coach Psalm Dastur and writer Megha Mahindru, among others.

Vikram Raizada, who is synonymous with the fashion industry, could be seen greeting pretty much every guest walking through the doors. For Raizada, Goa has been home for the last two years, and he believes there’s no better place in the state than Assagao to host a Dinner Club session.

Among the guests was also Vandana Verma, head of communications at Nicobar, who moved to Goa from New Delhi over a year ago. While taking a break from catching up with friends, she said, “I live a few minutes from The Assa House, but had never been here until now. I loved the food, and ended up meeting many familiar faces. I was also introduced to quite a few new people, whom I will definitely be staying in touch with.”

As we left the party, the guests having just succumbed to the seduction of an open dance floor with Sean Thapa taking over the DJ console for retro-remixed numbers, the tones of ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ faded into the gentle murmur of a soft rain still coming down.

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