the best apple pie in the land of kachori and lavanglata | at the Pizzeria Vatika Cafe

Apple pie in Banaras? I say yes. And that is the best apple pie I have ever had. A perfect cookie like crust that crumbles as you take a bite. The flavors are subtle and yet temp you to take another bite and then some more. This happens when you are not even fond of desserts. Yes I do get sated with this dessert in just 3-4 bites but I see my folks digging into the pie with utmost concentration. My brother could not have it enough using a spoon and had it with his hands and then attacked on his wife's plate and my niece finished a whole slice of pie even when she had announced she can't eat any more. This pie makes cozy family memories. We had it at Pizzeria Vatika Cafe at Assi ghat, Varanasi last week and I am still stuck somewhere in the folds of that apple pie.

Wait, I will tell you more. This apple pie is egg less and Mr. Gopal Krishna Shukla, the owner of this al fresco pizzeria by the Ganga ghat, tell passionately about how he found the perfect recipe of this apple pie. He learned almost everything form the visiting foreigners he says and one of them demonstrated this perfect recipe of apple pie when he felt someone is insulting an apple pie in the land of kachoris. Yes it happened like that and guess who is smiling all the way with an subtly aromatic apple pie? The people of Banaras have the privilege of walking to the ghat and dig into it any day.

I got a whole pie packed for myself when we returned and it is still being reheated in the oven and relished by the folks. Here is how the crust becomes even more rich when reheated at home.

At the pizzeria, you can get the pie drizzled with chocolate sauce

Or topped with vanilla ice cream, with or without chocolate sauce.

This apple pie uses Himachal and Kashmir apples for our own country and you wont feel any lack of apple goodness. The apples are sliced perfectly and layered nicely inside the pie. The sugar is light so the pie doesn't become runny in the center. Those who like it sweeter can ask for an ice cream topping.

Mr Gopal Krishna Shukla is a passionate man behind this popular pizzeria. The few things I liked about his way of running this pizzeria is, using local fresh produce and not depending on imports. He has innovated a lot and makes his own mozzarella cheese. As local as it can get.

Pizzeria serves many variants of ravioli, gnochhi and other types of pasta as well, all vegetarian stuff as non veg is not allowed around the temples and ghats. You also get Indian thali and more Indian stuff there too. Good coffee, tea and more beverages to choose from. They have an extensive menu.

You see more foreigners than Indians in this pizzeria almost any time you go, the service is slow sometimes and you experience some bugs and flies here and there, you have to bear all this in an al fresco cafe by the ghat where all sorts of life activities go on incessantly.

And it is not just the apple pie that will make you visit pizzeria repeatedly, their pizzas are great too. Baked in a wood fired oven, thin crust pizzas are made using fresh ingredients and their 'pizzeria special pizza' is actually a vegetable and pineapple loaded treat.

Read more about their pizzas here, this time I tried the aubergine and spinach pizza as well and loved it to the core. The pizza margherita, the onion and mushroom pizza and the pizzeria special were all great.

We ordered a lasagna (vegetarian) and a cream sauce pasta as well and we all liked the pasta. Rich and creamy cheesy pasta which can not not be turned down. The only grudge in the pasta was the large chunks of carrots, I wish they were chopped finely to not give a sweet bite in this perfectly cheesy pasta. I would probably do away with carrots and even green capsicums for these flavors, mushrooms and cauliflowers worked really well. I am all for local fresh produce being used in such fare.

The lasagna was insipid for most of us. The layers of aubergine between pasta sheets were not as appealing as I would have liked. I also feel pizzeria needs to jazz up the plating and service a little bit. 

I know Banaras is a city with a collective laid back attitude and everyone gets attuned to it sooner or later. I remember our initial days in the city when we relocated from Chandigarh. We hated the city first and then slowly became a part of it. More on spiritual level than otherwise I must add. 

What I wanted to convey is, a good eatery reflects a lot about the food philosophy that is followed by the people behind it. I know Pizzeria makes great efforts to churn out great food to it's patrons, a little bit of attention to detailing will makes it shine brighter. 

A pizza baking class by Chef Theo at Hilton, Mayur Vihar..

An invitation to a pizza baking masterclass is a welcome thing for anyone like me.Someone who likes baking her own pizza from scratch, learning a few tips from a master would always be wonderful.

So when we were invited for a pizza baking masterclass by Chef Theodore Rudiferia, the Italian Executive Chef at Hilton, Mayur Vihar, we all were happy to get to see how 'they' bake it. Especially an Italian Chef who has helped set up Pomodoro at Hilton, Janakpuri. I had met Chef Theo once when Chef at Large had co hosted a Burger eating competition at The Roadhouse. A handsome looking Chef with a pleasing smile and quick wit.

He introduced us to brief history of pizzas and then proceeded to bake  pizza from scratch. How pizza was known as the bread of the poor and then Chef Rafaelle created a new pizza for the queen of Italy Margherita de Savoia in the late 1800s. That pizza for the queen was garnished with tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil, representing the colors of the Italian flag. Pizza Margherita was born for the love of the nation. And now it is loved all over the world. The deep pan pizzas and the 'heavy loaded with toppings pizzas' might get popular with some, for me it is always the thin crust with flavorful toppings. I never order pizza, I bake them from scratch or I eat them at this Pizzeria of Banaras whenever possible. This one was started by some Italian student some two decades ago.

Well, there were a few bowls with the ingredients and some kneaded dough already proving so the pizza can be rolled out for us to see. There was a little disappointment for me being crazy about bread dough and making my hands dirty with it, but that was forgotten when Chef Theo continued with the pizza rolling, applying the sauce on it, sprinkling toppings while telling us a few tips on how to bake it perfectly. I learnt a few tricks myself about the toppings.

Look at the ingredients...

The tomato sauce as we call the Passata or the Concasse' should be freshly made using the freshest of red ripe tomatoes. This Concasse' is freezer friendly I can vouch for, having been dependent on my small portioned freezer boxes of this pizza/pasta sauce. It has been handy for many of my pizza parties in the past. A balance of flavors in the tomato sauce that is sweet, sour and acidic with a rich flavor of herbs and garlic. Look at the rich color and nicely reduced thick sauce there. That is the key to a nice topping.

I learned how the meats, seafood or even vegetables should be seasoned well and cooked well before we top them on the thin crust. I used to cook the meats and seafood but some of the vegetables were topped raw in the past. No more of that mistake again as I now know how it affects the flavors of the topping. Would love to make an Aubergine pizza next.

Nicely grilled aubergine slices taste yummy on that crust.

Chef Theo baked five types of pizzas for us. A classic Margherita, an Aubergine and bell peppers, a Zucchini, mushrooms and pickled veggies, a salami and other cold cuts and a seafood pizza with shrimps and Calamari. All of them were yummy and filling.

More fulfilling was the experience to see them being made from scratch.

Thinly rolled out pizza base, not applying too much pressure while rolling, tapping the edges before applying the sauce and topping are a few tips that make a difference.

The oven should be as hot as possible and the base should be blind baked first in case of home baking where temperatures don't go above 250 degree. The toppings should be done quickly after that and the pizza baked turns out to be slightly burnt on the edges. That is a good sign of a well done pizza. The edges should be brushed with EVOO immediately after taking out the pizza from the oven.

And yes, the topping shouldn't be too much to weigh down the crust and to prevent it's cooking. Thinner toppings, richer taste of the toppings through appropriate seasoning and quick baking on high temperature coupled with the thinnest possible crust would be my favorite pizza any day.

pizzeria of banaras....one of the best pizzas of the world..

And I am not the only one to say that. Yummiest of pizzas , pastas and unforgettable apple pie served in the most unpretentious way. Head towards pizzeria vatika (what a nice fusion name, meaning garden of pizza :)) at Asi ghat amidst greenery and chirpy birds. You are blessed if you choose the time of sunset.

If you are fascinated by the idea of an open air eatery overlooking a beautiful river this is for you. A peaceful place to sit and relax under lush green trees of Neem and Amda , dry leaves fallen on the floor and a few flies for company. Lots of house sparrows and parrots would make an evening musical for you.

Supernatural surroundings , great ambiance , touching the soul of a city known for it's wanderer spirit. Yes I was in Banaras for almost three hectic weeks. I am glad I could squeeze some time to visit some of my favorite places around town.

This is pizzeria of Banaras offering authentic pizzas and pasta dishes . Some freshly baked cookies , challahs, cinnamon rolls, apple pies and brownies are enticingly delicious and the secret is, fresh ingredients and a wood fired oven. Can it get any better?

Displayed in a very basic looking glass window these goodies might look very ordinary but they are fresh and delicious and quite cheap when compared to big city bakeries. This pizza oven was set up by a group of enthusiastic Italian students of music who used to sit on the ghats of ganges ( assi ghat to be precise) for their musical jams.The restaurant was run by a Gopal Krishna Shukla, serving mostly to the students as assi ghat is frequented by university students all the time. So these Italian students requested this restaurant owner to let them set up a wood fired oven for a weekend and bake some pizzas for a friend's birthday party . The pizza fever caught on since then.

The owner learnt it from them and started baking pizzas on his own too and soon the pizza substituted samosas and kachoris at Asi ghat .... much before the pizza hut and dominos reached this sleepy ancient city.






This wood fired oven looks as basic as a dhaba oven , flanked by platforms on both sides and a huge pizza spatula , the inner compartment of the oven looks like a small room.

Having chosen our table, I found a bunch of these fruits dangling on the branches as I looked up to find some birds.These fruits are used to make chutneys and pickles, called amda in Hindi and probably Carribean plums in English.

While we were entertaining our niece of 2 years by making boats and rockets with pink tissue papers the pizzas arrived. We had ordered a Margarita, a Mushroom and an Onion and mushroom pizza for 4 people . These 9" thin crust pizzas were enough for 4 adults with a kid nibbling small bits too .

Well balance flavors of the toppings and a right blend of herbs . I needed a sprinkling of red chilly flakes over it but for all the others it was great as it is.

No overwhelming amount of cheese dripping and making my hands messy and tongue scalded was my point of a big plus. You can always order for extra cheese or toppings if you like it that way but for a thin crusty base with smokiness of a wood fired oven, you wouldn't like to spoil it with overwhelming cheesy flavors.

But if no amount of cheese is too much for you, go ahead and order for an extra cheese pizza. I wanted to try the aubergine pizza there but as no one else was interested in aubergine, and no way i could have finished one whole pizza by myself, so went by other's choices.

This onion and mushroom was a favorite of majority while i loved the margarita most . Unspoiled taste of a great pizza . I am actually drooling talking about it now and i know i will end up making one tomorrow or day after. Pizza dinners are very common during winters at my place (if it's not a huge bowl of soup with a home baked bread) as the oven is comforting in my tiny kitchen and the bread aroma comforts more than anything else in the world.Winters are loved for more than one reasons :)

We wanted to have a slice of apple pie too, which is also the much talked about thing there but we didn't have any scope for solids so we just had huge mugs of espresso watching the flowing Ganges beyond those palm fronds...

It's a nice place to sit if you are not bothered by a few flies here and there.
It's anyways hard to find an open air space around the lanes of any Indian city without the omnipresent houseflies , wherever there is food being served or handled i mean.

If you think beyond that, this is the place for a quite evening with friends or alone.
Many foreigners sitting alone with a book or a kulhad of chai around this place is a testimony to what i say. There are several nice book shops around this place too...a place with a good promise.
Absolutely.