For all you un-jolly folk that want to escape the holiday-party madness of Pune this year, we’ve got a plan – come, meat the elves.

High on Travel along with the happy campers at Big Red Tent is organising an overnight barbeque festival on Christmas eve, at a lake-side, fully equipped camping ground a couple of hours from Pune, off the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Here you’ll find barbeque experts, pitched tents and yes, proper loos.

All Grills Attached

Guided by not just three but five wise men including Chef Anish Rai, Corporate Chef of the Barbeque Nation chain and his team of four, you’ll begin with marinating veggies, paneer and meats and graduate to not only grilling them but also learning about the different aspects of barbeque, from gauging the amount of charcoal required to achieving the best texture for your Chicken teriyaki, paneer tikka and mutton steak (this apparently goes best with mushroom rosemary sauce, which will also be available at the site).

And if despite the expert guidance you end up burning your food, there’s always salad and dips for you to nosh on.

Silent Night?

Other activities will include hanging out around a big bonfire and crashing in pre-pitched tents big enough to fit Santa in, tricked out with sleeping bags, inflatable pillows and camping mattresses. If you’re feeling particularly enthusiastic, you can even take a trek around the area the next morning.

The food and equipment will be provided on site, so all you have to bring along is your overnight change and a bottle (or six) of your favorite wine. Santa hats are optional, but hey, come on, it’s Christmas.

Getting there: Visit http://www.highontravel.com/bbq-fest-details/ for details and to book or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Rs 3,500 per adult and Rs 1,500 for kids.

Prey on This

In Koregaon Park, an area dominated by spiritual seekers and culinary crawlers, a newish entrant tries to combine both. At least in its moniker.  Froguru, a frozen yoghurt store at Lane No 7 dishes out ‘prasad’ in the form of fun yoghurt flavours. Regular or soul grain?

In the face of neighbourhood fro-yo store Cravingz’ 150-strong flavour menu, Froguru’s is super skinny, but it does feature interesting varieties like brownie batter (yum!) and fig-honey, and also the usual single fruit flavours. These you can jazz up with fruit, biscuit crumble, chocolate sauce, choco chips and other fun toppings. There are also smoothies or 'froothies' , made using yoghurt and fresh fruit of your choice.

For a froguru dakshina of Rs 35, you can get a small cup, while Rs 50 will get you a larger blessing. While you decide which one to go with, know this - bless is more!

Getting there: Froguru, shop No. 4, Gulmohar Garden, Lane 7, Koregaon Park, call 32343759, Rs 50 for a small yoghurt.

The Courtyard by Marriott shares its recipe for the Financier, a light, moist French cake said to resemble a bar of gold. Rich!

Ingredients:

250gm Butter
250gm Castor sugar
8 Nos Egg white
80gm Flour
100gm Almond powder
20ml Honey
Vanilla

Fresh Strawberry Compote:

200 gm Fresh strawberry
100gm Sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Melt butter in a pan over a high flame until it starts to brown and strain through a fine sieve. Let it cool. In a bowl, mix together the flour, almond powder, castor sugar, honey and vanilla. Fold in the egg white and stir in the butter. Pour the mixture into the moulds and bake for 15 minutes, until golden brown and risen in the centre.

For the Compote:

In a saucepan, over medium heat, mix the strawberries and sugar. Bring the liquid to a boil, and reduce the heat to medium. Let it simmer until the fruit is soft for 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool.

Serve with whipped cream, or accompanied by ice cream and other frozen confections.

December 2: Spud in the Box live, High Spirits, 35A1 North Main Road, Koregaon Park, 9 pm.

December 2: DJ Ketan plays at Swig, North Main Road, Opposite SBI Bank, Koregaon Park, 8:30 p.m.

December 3: Swarathma performs live (carry your photo-id proof) at DSK Supinfocom International Campus, Survey 54,55, Tarwadi, Pune-Solapur Road, 8:00 pm, free.

December 3: Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan perform at Swarchaitanya music concert at Swargate, Pune, 6:30 pm.

December 3: Dub FX & Flower Fairy live at 1 Lounge, 81/1, Koregaon Mundhwa Road, Koregaon Park ,8:30 pm.

December 4: Pitbull live, Amanora Park Town, 7 p.m.

December 4: Adil & Vasundhara live at High Spirits, 35A1 North Main Road, Koregaon Park, 9 p.m.

December 10-11: Q Fest’11covers film screenings, theatre, music, poetry and discussion dealing with understanding the LGBT community, Moolgaonkar Hall, ICC Towers and Kalachhaya, Patrakar Nagar, 12-8pm

Arteries be warned, a cheese festival is coming to town. On December 3 and 4, ABC Farms will be hosting its fourth annual fest featuring cheese in every flavour from coffee and smoked ham to sun dried tomato and cranberry. This you can pair with chocolate from Figo, bread from German Bakery and wash it all down with wine or Miller beer. Want more? For the occasion, Curve is doing a special menu featuring you guessed it, cheese, in pizza, quiche and salads. Arteries be damned, it’s like we’re meant to brie!

At the cheese festival you’ll also find a flea market – of course we will – with stalls that sells gift wraps, umbrellas and kitchen equipment. Interestingly, the Enchanted Garden will feature some super fun plants like the Pitcher Plant, Christmas trees and Bhut Jalokia - a lethal chilli!

And tuning the many elements together will be a live band. Cheese, cheer and Christmas trees – not a bad way to kick start the holidays.

Getting there: The ABC. Cheese and Wine Festival 2011, on December 3 and 4 at ABC Farms, Koregaon Park, from 11 am to 11 pm, view the Facebook event here.

In your pajamas on a Thursday evening and still want food from Malaka Spice or Mainland China? We have just the solution for you. Started by Shachin Bhardwaj and Sheldon Dsouza of MIT Pune, Tastykhana is a hassle free solution to all your hunger pangs. This new website lets  you order food online from a variety of restaurants, all at the click of a button.

Add to Plate

With delivery options that range from SUBWAY to Arc Asia, you can be sure you won't go hungry because your too lazy to put on pants. Tastykhana  delivers to most of the Pune area and there's even a  delivery calculator if your restaurant is on the other end of town. You can search for restaurants based on cuisine, area or free delivery.

Additionally, TastyKhana has a whole range of services, from table reservations to buffet deals - you even earn 'trinkets' when you book through them which can be redeemed at restaurants. A fancy website, with each restaurants menu nicely laid out, it simplifies that eternal question 'what should I eat'.

Table For Ten

Can't bother to co-ordinate with your friends? TastyKhana's table reservation tool lets you add friends mobile numbers or email addresses, and sends them details of the reservation you made. Nifty, right?  Also book parties, attend special events at restaurants and even write reviews about food you love or hate.

Bon appetit!

Getting there: Visit www.tastykhana.com or call 02033006464.

Pining for noiseless, smoke-free festivities? Follow bpb's guide to an alternate Diwali, with anars and chakris you can digest, snakes you can drink and rockets you can pour a cockatil into. Fire!

Crackers: So Cheesy!

Confine this year's party crackers to the plate with delicious gourmet cheese crackers from Godrej Nature's Basket.

Available at Mansur Ali Tower, 3, Max Mueller Lane, Dhole Patil Road, Koregaon Park , call 020 26160540.

Lakshmi: Goddess Goodness

The festival isn't quite complete without a mention of Her Holiness. Try the Playclan Laxmi t-shirt or the Playclan Laxmi notebook instead of blowing up a laxmi bomb!

Available at S-38, 2nd floor, Phoenix Market City, Vimannagar, call 0203095038 or http://www.shop.theplayclan.com.

Rocket: Houston We Have a Problem

This rocket cocktail shaker won't zoom away when you light it up with a bright drink.

Available at www.wastedfish.com, they ship to Pune

The river of chocolate that flooded Mumbai's culinary scene recently  (Chocolate Room, San Churro Chocolaterie) seems to be winding its way into Pune as well, heralded by A Chocolate Affair that opened in Koregaon Park earlier this month. Desserters, rejoice!

Up From Down Under

Part of an Australian chain that sources its ingredients from all over the world, this chocolate-only restaurant (hot chocolate, chocolate fondue, even chocolate sandwiches and pizza - seriously!) uses pure Belgian chocolate for most of its dishes and can often be over the top - or just mad enough, depending on the size of your sweet tooth.

Brown & Sugar

The menu here is almost identical to its Mumbai counterpart except for the absence of waffles, both stand alone and dunked in the hot chocolate. These are missed, but comfort yourself with orange or Mexican hot chocolate instead, thick, rich and mercifully unsweetened – grown up versions of a childhood treat. Despite the heat, we suggest you get these instead of the cold drinks, which are cloyingly sweet and not nearly chocolate-y enough. They also serve some fruit chillers and a nice selection of organic tea and coffee.

Also try churros, and if you want a sample of the sandwich ice cream craze to come (watch out for it in 2012!), a  sandwich made from vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate chip cookies. The churros are excellent, piping hot and crispy, accompanied with a gravy bowl of pure Belgian chocolate. Ask for a dusting of cinnamon on top of these, and you’ll feel like you’ve been transported to Spain. The sandwich less successful, with cookies that are fibrous and hard. Also available is a chocolate pizza, with chocolate sauce and “toppings” of fruit, cornflakes and marshmallows - it can be best described as ridiculous, suitable only for kids young enough to enjoy the gimmick.

Bittersweet Endings

There's much A Chocolate Affair can improve on - more imaginative dishes, consistency in the kitchen, better service (warning: if the Mumbai restaurants are anything to go by, the service deteriorates even further after the first few weeks). Yet, it is a fun place to get a cup of after dinner coffee or gorge on chocolate. Enjoy!

Getting there: Shop 7, Winterbury Purple, Lane 8, Dhole Patil Road, Koregaon Park, call 41302195 or 9867372060.

Dairy Tales

According to the chef of the new Italian eatery that replaces Spice Island at Le Meridien, “Favola” means stories in Italian. Indeed, the restaurant looks like something out of a romance novel, boasting pristine white walls, an expansive wine cellar and massive chandeliers crafted from candles, the soft light of which makes everything look good, from make-up to meal.

From Eataly, With Love

During a press preview, our meal began with a classic Caprese salad, plated to resemble something out of Masterchef – tomato slices mingling with rocket leaves to accentuate a perfect sphere of mozzarella cheese, about the size of a tennis ball. Pretty and amazingly fresh – the mozzarella was white and soft and juicy on our tongues – the salad was ultimately a little awkward to eat, with a heavily skewered cheese-to-tomato ratio. The ingredients did better in a Pizza Soup,          tomato broth swimming with oregano, croutons and mozzarella cheese.

Thin-crusted, wood-fired pizzas were up next (all of these are named after popular Italian stories – Pizza Captain Uncino, Pizza Pinocchio, Pizza Biancaneve), pleasant but ordinary, a bit of a letdown after all the tossing-kneading-baking theatrics from the show kitchen. Small eaters might want to skip these for Pollo Alla Diavola, chicken breast cooked in Vodka (pink) sauce and served with sautéed vegetables and enough of a punch to shoot us right to a little Tuscan village, where ivy grows on bricks and a portly old man sings aria.

Operation Dessert Storm

Turns out though, that the most subliminal portion of a meal at Favola is dessert, panna cotta and airy, zesty lemon cheesecake - Chef Roberto Boggio is a bit of a happy-ending specialist, recently recognized for his Bavarese in Croccante di Mandole at the Olympics of the Desserts in Turin, Italy. Can we have one of that, please?

Getting there: Favola at Le Meridien, Raja Bahadur Mill Rd, approximately Rs 1,000 per person without alcohol.

Try This At Home: Caterpillar Roll Recipe From Harajuku
bpb rolls out recipe for yum caterpillar sushi from Harajuku at The O Hotel (North Main Road, Koregaon Park, call 40011000). Butterflies in your stomach?

Caterpillar Roll

Ingredients (available at Nature's Basket)

1 sheet nori
80 gms sushi rice
2 crab sticks (optional)
40 gms cucumber
20 gms avocado
20 gms lettuce
20 gms ebiko (caviar)
10 gms wasabi
15 gms pickled ginger
15 gms pickled radish

Method

Roll the sheet of nori and boiled sushi rice together with the topping of your choice eg, crab sticks, cucumber, avocado and lettuce. Top with avocado strips and ebiko. Cut into 8 pieces. Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, pickled radish, and light soya.