New menu at Alto Vino, Marriott Whitefield

Alto Vino is the Italian restaurant at Marriott, Whitefield. I have visited the restaurant's kitchen earlier but it was for Indian Culinary Route. This time I got a chance to taste all the new menu crafter by Chef Marou. He has joined as the new Italian chef at Alto Vino.

There are new additions to the menu by Chef Marou which will be added to the existing menu. I was part of the Chef's table which unveiled the new additions and I got to taste some of them.

For Antipasti, we had Bocconcini di Buffalo (Caprese salad with Mozzarella Bocconcini in sweet pesto sauce), Strudeli di Melazane (Strudell of Eggplant Parmigiana with light spicy tomato sauce), Bruschette Miste (Toasted Focaccia bread, fresh tomato, zucchini and mushrooms), Fegatini all Sciciiana (Chicken liver, Lemon confit with potato and onion stew), Polipetti alla Mediteranea (Braised octopus, chickpea puree, fresh tomato salad). All he antipasti were cooked well and I enjoyed caprese salad, bruschetta and eggplant parmigiana. I tried braised octopus for the first time and I liked it. I am not a liver fan so did not enjoy the chicken liver.

Next was Zuppa di faro (a vegetarian Italian spelt soup from Tuscany). I have always been a fan of a good zuppa so I relished every spoon.

For Secondi, Ravioli di Asparagi (Asparagus and ricotta ravioli in sage butter roasted pumpkins puree), Risotto al Gorgonzola (Risotto with Gorgonzola cheese and caramelised grapes), Scottata di Branzino (Pan seared sea bass, zucchini salad, shallot compote in terragon sauce) and the last one being Chef's signature dish Stnco D’agnello (slow cooked marinated lamb shang stew with red wine saffron risotto & winter vegetable). The ravioli was very tasty and the roasted pumpkin puree added the twist to it. In Risotto, gorgonzola cheese was very strong in taste and those who do have a taste to it will not enjoy this dish, I did not enjoy it. The sea bass was perfectly cooked and being a sea food person, I enjoyed it. Chef Marou's signature dish was a hit on the table, everyone loved the lamb shanks.

Lastly, for Dolci, Classic tiramisu and Gratineted zabaglione with Fresh strawberry. Both the desserts were delish, Tiramisu being my all time favorite Italian dessert and Gratineted zabaglione which is Italian dessert similar to egg custard with Fresh strawberry.

Overall the new additions to the menu is interesting and if you are around Whitefield and craving for some good Italian food then give Alto Vino a try. Do make prior reservations and make it a poiint to meet Chef Marou during your visit :) Happy eating!

As I was relishing every dish, I missed taking any pic so pic credits goes to @BLRMarriott Twitter

K3 - JW Marriott, New Delhi

My love for JW Marriott, Bangalore is very evident, from Farm to fork with the chef's to enjoying the Tangra food festival, getting delighted at the Bangalore Baking Company to enjoying the new menu at Alba or just enjoying the food straight from Amritsar at Spice Terrace with the Baisakhi menu  I have always dined there, celebrated my special days, had long conversations over mid night buffet and the list goes on.

By far, I enjoy having a good lunch or dinner buffet at JW Marriott, Bangalore and I thought no other property could beat this. While I was enjoying the the Chaat food fest at JW Kitchen, I got to know about K3 in JW Marriott, New Delhi. What got me excited was that they have 3 different live counters serving 3 different cuisine which is managed by 3 different chef's specialized in that cuisine. Doesn't it sound fantastic? Normally, in restaurants you find live counters serving little bit of varieties but they are not usually managed my chef's specialized in that cuisine. For me, it was like 3 different restaurants under one roof :)

I was visiting Delhi on my personal visit and made sure I dropped by JW Marriott, New Delhi before I return back to Bangalore. Any hotel can be good with their service but they should never go wrong with their food and beverage. I made my way to the Hotel during a sunny afternoon while I had an evening flight. As the property is close to the airport, I could enjoy my meal with leisure. I took a tour around the property which was so beautiful. I have always been a fan of the chandeliers used in JW Marriott property. The open space with loads of greenery is a space I would like to chill for a romantic evening.

The Oval bar offers its guest a range of premium wines and spirits. The Delhi Baking Company or DBC, which is the hotel patisserie, specializes in a wide range of grab-and-go gourmet products, perfect for those rushing to the airport or to the city. I have heard that their hot chocolate is pretty famous, will try it the enxt time I'm at DBC. The JW lounge is designed beautifully, it is an integration of the lobby, reception and the lobby lounge. It is designed like an exclusive living room with an exciting array of food and beverages.

The Oval Bar

Akira Back, panning across two levels of the hotel, Akira back specializes in Japanese cuisine with a Korean essence. The restaurant distinguishes itself with an eight-metre tall sake wall which houses some of the finest sakes and wines. It is open for dinner only.

Now to K3, the all-day dining restaurant has been fashioned like a food theatre with three LIVE kitchens displaying three distinct cuisines: North Indian, Cantonese and Tuscan. Each kitchen offers authentic cuisine, specially handcrafted by our three specialty chefs. The restaurant also has a special al fresco service with an open bar that serves as a juice bar in the morning and a wine bar in the evenings. It's a 24 hour restaurant. The variety which is served here is amazing and hard to believe. But there are more live counters added for a Sunday brunch which surely makes it an experience to relish and cherish. Truly, worth every penny you spend.

With an awesome company, Nikhil, I enjoyed the salad's from the salad counter following by the appetizers from all the 3 live counters, my main course was specially made by the chef heading Oliva (Tuscan cuisine). Dehelvi, is the live counter which serves North Indian food, mostly inspired from Mughal or Dilli 6 food. Cantonese cuisine's live counter has lots to offer too, not just dim sums. Basically, one can choose a particular cuisine and have a tummy full meal from there as it serves appetizers and main course. I particularly enjoyed the sea food at K3. Not all restaurants make finger licking sea food dishes in Delhi and I couldn't resist but enjoy them at K3. I did not feel that I was enjoying a meal in Delhi, as the sea food was amazing.

The dessert section is always my favorite, I'm sure lots of others like it too. I wasn't disappointed at all with the dessert section as it lived up to my expectation. Various desserts on offer where you can choose to indulge in your favorite's.

I would like to thank Nikhil for giving me an amazing time for my lunch and conversations, Chef Girish Krishnan, executive chef at JW Marriott New Delhi was welcoming me and making sure I was taken care of and all the head chef's of the live counters who made sure I tried some of their best dishes.

Those people who usually have to choose between Indian/Chinese/Italian cuisine will never have to do the same once they enter K3 as you can relish all the 3 cuisines under one roof. I would surely visit K3 again. But I would like to try Akira back too :) If you are in Delhi or around, make a visit to JW Marriott and you will never regret :)

New Menu at Alba, JW Marriott Bangalore

Alba, the Italian fine dining restaurant at JW Marriott has been one of my favorite places to dine.  I have usually celebrated some of my and my friend's special days here. Some of my favorites have always been Insalata, risotto, ravioli and their desserts.

When I heard about some new additions to the menu, I couldn't resist myself but try them. Celebrating my dad's birthday, I and Mom visited Alba for dinner. Chef Antonello greeted us and presented the set menu which one can choose from or order from the menu. We chose the set menu for the dinner.

I recently had a very bad experience of my memory card getting corrupted and the pics were not recoverable. With some help, I could get some pics which I will upload in this post. Apologies for the one's missing.

We started with Antipasti, while I chose Insalata Di Asparagie Bocconcini Alle Olive, a veg Italian salad with mixed greens, olives, tomatoes, bocconcini, asparagus, extra virgin crouton. I loved every bite of it and will go again for this. Mom chose Coscette Di Pollo Alla Aceto Balsamico, which is grilled chicken with lemon, rosemary, balsamic and caponnata. I had a taste of this too but couldn't make a judgement with a bite.

Next course was Zuppa, I chose Minestrone Alla Contadina, a veg soup with locally sourced vegetables, tomato and basil and Mom had Zuppa Di Cipolle, Finocchietto E Pollo, chicken, baked onion and fennel soup. While the veg soup was very refreshing, the chicken soup was a little sweet. I liked both and couldn't choose one as my favorite.

Next course was Primi, after having vegetarian in the first two course I chose the non veg option. While I had Cotoletta Di Pollo Alla Parmigiana, which was Chicken parmigiana, mozzarella, spagetti pomodoro. I did not enjoy the chicken as I found it hard and dry but I really liked the spaghetti pomodoro. Next time, I would like to have a course of only spaghetti pomodoro. I remember, in my earlier visit too, I never enjoyed the chicken much.

Mom had Triangoli Di Ricotta which was spinach-ricotta ravioli with parmesan truffle cream sauce. Both of us liked this a lot and my love for ravioli remains :)

While I had the main course, I also had a spicy mocktail with a base of guava juice. Now spicy mocktails have caught my attention lately and this one too was liked. I guess I will try making this at home as it tasted refreshing.

I was still hungry for some more food so before heading to the last course, I ordered for some Veg risotto which I and Mom shared and after this, I was contended.

Before we ate our last course of meal, Chef wanted to show me how he made Amaretti define amaretti which is an Italian almond-flavoured biscuits. It was such a treat to watch him make the biscuits and sharing his experiences from Italy while he made them.

And for the last course Dolci, I chose Bonet which had Amaretti on a chocolate pudding while Mom took advantage of me getting busy with the chef in conversation and ate Tiramisu which had Mascarpone, coffee and lady fingers.

The quantity of Tiramisu was big and a huge amount of time was taken to finish the cup full of Tiramisu. Bonet was a different dessert for me to try and I liked the presentation and the taste of it, especially amaretti which was made in front of me.

I initially thought the quantity of the course could not be filling but by the end of the meal, especially Tiramisu I was full. Who would want to leave the restaurant when Chef Antonello starts playing his guitar and sings some amazing songs. Chef started playing his guitar and he was joined by his guest friend and a quick jamming session started while we sipped on some Cappuccino to end the dinner.

It was a fabulous night with amazing food served. Thanks to chef Antonello and Chef Grenal was serving us and treating us so well.