‘Taste of Italy’, by Chef Andrea Spurio at Hilton, Chennai

‘Taste of Italy’, by Chef Andrea Spurio from Hiton Molino Stucky Venice, where he will be presenting his favourites and signatures for Chennai. When an invite opens like that, it does pique my curiosity.. And so off I headed to Hilton to experience the menu put together. 

In the city for the first time, Chef Andrea has flown down from Hilton Molino Stucky Venice.  With his background and experience, he was here to kick off the Taste of Italy fest, introducing new flavours and dishes from the region around Italy. The evening kicked off with a Bruschetta Mista- a platter with three different toppings- fresh tomato basil, mushrooms and roasted peppers. Now that our appetite had been aroused, it was time to move on to the next dish which was the Caprese con Burrata - ripe tomatoes, burrata cheese with basil pesto and white balsamic vinaigrette. Oh my oh my, this was sinful. The cheese was heavenly. 

The dishes kept coming, and I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of Mushrooms used in them. I was sure I was in some kind of heaven!! :-) 

I got to sample the orecchiette pasta tossed in smooth mushroom sauce along with slices of the fungi. This was the first time I was trying this pasta, it was like a tiny saucer and carried the mushroom flavour all the way. I did sneak in a spoonful of the Risotto [which had scampi in it, but I took just the rice and the lime flavour came through so beautifully]. 

Up and onwards to the main course we went... The veg option was simple but it stood out. Pomodoro confit con ricotta aromatizzata al miele e menta- now that is quite a tongue twister right? What it translated to was it was Tomato confit stuffed with cottage cheese and flavoured with honey & mint. That is it.. Sounds too simple? Well, you had to cut into it, and take a bite to know it packed quite a punch. The tomato was soft yet had a bite, the cheese honey and mint were perfect combo. 

And what would an Italian meal be without dessert. We had not one, but two.. One was Tiramisu that had strong coffee flavour with every bite and the other was Saffron Panacottta that was interesting [ not really my thing cos am not a fan of saffron]... During the course of the evening, while chatting with the Chef, we came to know they made the lady finger for the Tiramisu , he went on to tell us about how they have a concept similar to the Tapas of Spain.  He also told us of this island Burrano,an island near Venice where the houses were all different colours and the lady finger biscuits were made with coconut. 

This a la carte menu is available till March 20 [lunch and dinner], priced at Rs 4,500 (+ taxes) approximately, for a meal for two...

Address: 124/1, Jawaharlal Nehru Road, Guindy, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600032

Phone: 044 2225 5555

Disclaimer: The reviews posted on this blog are based on my personal experience. Also remember these were just my views!! Remember, no two palates are the same. Bon Appétit :-)

Dessert Hopping- Part 3

You can read all about how the evening started here in Part 1 and then come back here to read how the night ended.. Yes, I do know there is a section missing in between. Following suit with one of my favourite songs, am saving the best for last.. :-))

The 1st visit to Hyatt was good, we were quite happy and then came the mega high and finally we landed at Hilton, the place highly recommended by Doc.. He spoke quite a bit about the Macarons and how on his way home from the airport, he normally makes a quick stop to grab a few home. We walked into Est, their 24 hour coffee shop in the lobby but not before drooling at the wide range of desserts on display. There were macarons [ quite large in size and prized at Rs30], and then there were plenty of Mango based desserts as well in the display nearby.

We picked out 3 Macaron- one strawberry, one blueberry and green apple. I also ordered a cup of Coffee and Doc went ahead to order a Salmon bagel. 

After clicking a few shots of the good looking macarons we quite eagerly took a bite of it.. I paused, put down the macaron and looked at the other two faces.. One of them mirrored mine while the other was oblivious and went about enjoying his.. The macaron- though was huge, lacked any kind of flavour. It was almost like the ones we get from Tutucorin [infact those are better]... When we pondered, Doc said it usually is different.. 

Hmm, probably a one off day the macarons were bad... I enjoyed my coffee and Doc his bagel before we hit the road calling it a night.  

Looking fwd to more such fun evenings with the gang! Until next time, adios! 

Dessert Hopping- Part 1

Before you start reading, should issue a warning: Do not tell me I dint warn you of how jealous you would get or how angry you would feel that you do not have awesome friends like I do.. buha haha…

The cool people:

Five friends with nothing but our love for food as the common thread…

The plan:

To go  Dessert hopping. Yes you heard it right, we decided to visit a whole range of places just to try their desserts.

Why? You ask!! Why not I say! One friend in the group suggested this nearly a month ago and since then talks were on, but we were yet to finalise on a date. And now, a date was set, the people were all informed. 

Alas, only 3 out of 5 were game! We said “lets go for it” and made it happen.

How cool is that? Yes, that is how cool we are!! :D

Had it been 5 of us, we would have visited Taj Club house in Mount Road to try their chocolate cake, Hyatt for their Tiramisu, Pan Asian in ITC Grand Chola  to meet Ms Lady of Mint and then finally end the night at Est in Hilton with their Macarons.  But since the 5 became 3, we took Taj off the list. I was dreading the sugar overload, but knowing me I would probably have ordered a cup of coffee to survive the sugar high..but it wasnt needed!

The Evening:

The night began at 8pm at Hyatt. I arrived and waited for the other two suspects to land in their carriages. In the meanwhile, I happily went about clicking pictures of the place and what not..

And it begins….

We rode up the elevator to the 1^st floor to Focaccia and were met by the Manager- Karthik who greeted us and asked us if we wanted food. We turned him down saying we were there just for desserts especially for their Tiramisu.

Karthik: You sure you don’t want anything to eat? Starters?

Us: No, we would like a portion of your Tiramisu please

Karthik: walked away shaking head…. Comes back with a nice big plate with a huge portion of Tiramisu.

This one looked nothing like what I have had earlier. It wasn’t a neat square nor was it served in a glass. It came like a blob on the plate [to quote Doc].  And when we asked them to show the main bowl, the chef brought one giant bowl that had Tiramisu to the brim.

How was it? Oh it melted in my mouth even before I pulled the spoon out. It was divine and so unlike any others. It was light, gentle and just mucho grando Bellissimo.. [throws kisses in the air]

Doc asked Chef Gopi if we could try the Chocolate Salami. I stared at them all like “are you serious?” and then was told that it was a dessert and not meat dish. Curious, we asked for a portion of the same. It looked quite cute- three big slices with a sprinkle of sugar and a single mint sprig on top. On first bite I knew it had biscuits in it and it was made with dark chocolate. Ah, what joy!! It was not sweet as in my teeth wanna do a tango kind!

 Phew!! That was one awesome start to the evening and we were all set to attack the remaining places. The staff at Hyatt couldn’t get over us declining food and only eating desserts.. lol..

Time for you to take a break and go have some water or coffee while we devour these desserts…. Slupralicious… [now now, dont put dhristi on me I say!!]

Part 2 continues………………….