Now, wine and dine at the Pine Tree shack, Gauravaddo (West)
Calangute beach, Goa through the year. You can shake your booty too, as Savio
Gonsalves, owner of the Pine Tree shack provides an eclectic blend of music to
his guests.
As if the sea, sun, sand (and sin) from October to May-end,
as dished out by the Pine Tree Shack was not enough his guests, Savio says the
shack may not shut shop during the rains from June to September. It appears, he
wants to give the good life to his clientele of gourmands, gluttons and other
pleasure seekers, all through the year.
Savio first erected his shack under the pine trees way back 2001.
Since then, he has cooked and served good food for 16 long summers. He claims
his speciality is Goan food – chicken and beef xacuti, pork vindalo, fish and
prawn caldin, fish recheado, Ambott tik, drool, drool, etc. He also serves
continental and Chinese. Among his drinks, the Pine Tree Special – a cocktail
of caju feni, coconut feni and fruit juices – is a big hit on guests.
Among the celebrities who have savoured his cuisine include
singer Katy Perry (Savio says she binged on prawn balchao), Bollywood actor
Anushka Sharma and politician Salman Khurshid. The last-named owns a home
nearby.
“I am very happy with my clientele who are very happy with
us. So I may decide to keep the shack open right through the year,” says the
young bachelor, who is also a ward member in the Calangute Panchayat. Before
that, he was the deputy Sarpanch.
Savio earlier screened movies at the shack but has now
stopped. Now, he offers karaoke and can set it up instantly for his guests.
Also, barbeque can be set up in a jiffy. Plus, Savio offers cook-your-own-meal
facility to demanding guests. Or guests can instruct his cooks to cook the way
they (guests) want. Making everything a breeze for guests, are Savio’s dozen
disciples – faithful staff.
Another service the Pine Tree Shack offers is home delivery.
If you are living in Calangute or around and want to enjoy Savio’s delicacies,
order his food on the phone. Savio says Pine Tree prices are on par with other
prominent shacks in Calangute.
The only problem with the Pine Tree shack is the narrow
access. To reach here, you first come on the Calangute-Candolim road. After the
Tarcar Ice factory, you take a right turn near the small Piedade chapel and go
straight down towards the beach. Then you walk on foot for 3 minutes or so. “If
I get a wider access, I will make it a very happening place – have a live band,
fireworks and all that jazz.”
Yours truly and friends partied at the Pine Tree shack
recently. We sang, we danced on the tiled flooring inside the shack, we played
games in the sand and we ate, among other things, Savio’s chicken xacuti.
When will he marry? “When I meet Ms Right,” said Savio with
a wicked smile. Katy Perry and Anushka Sharma came and went. Who knows? The
next diva who comes along may just choose to stay; at the Pine Tree shack and
its genial owner.
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