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

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.