The food Oscars

The Capital was in high spirits on Saturday night, as the HT City Crystals 2010 brought Delhi’s glitterati together.

Bigger, better and simply delectable — that best sums up the second annual HT City Crystals People’s Choice awards. Delhi’s most anticipated culinary awards saw the Capital’s who’s who turn up to honour the best eating joints and watering holes in the city.

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Announcing that this year, a record three lakh votes were cast to decide the winners, HT’s editor-in-chief, Sanjoy Narayan, said, “This year was really overwhelming … the event itself has become much bigger.”

The evening started with a power-packed live performance by singer Kailash Kher, who sang his hit number, Ya Rabba, which got the otherwise reserved celebrities to sing along.

Afterwards, calling the Crystals the “food Oscars”, noted food critic and HT’s advisory editorial director, Vir Sanghvi, conferred the Vir Sanghvi awards to 16 restaurants of his choice.

This was followed by a performance by the acclaimed Sadhya dance group, known for their contemporary adaptation of the Chhau dance form. Then came the moment all nominated restaurants had been awaiting. HT City editor, Sonal Kalra, announced the Crystals award-winners, amid cheers from chefs and restaurateurs. The awards were given away by eminent personalities of Delhi, such as fashion designers Rina Dhaka and Ashish Soni, classical dancers Shovana Narayan and Raja-Radha-Kaushalya Reddy, beauty legends Shahnaz Husain and Blossom Kochchar, among others. Performances by musician Raghav Sachar and stand-up comedian Papa CJ regaled the spectators through the event, held at the ITC Maurya.