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

Indian Culinary Route at Bangaluru Marriott Whitefield

Bengaluru Marriott Hotel, Whitefield is all set to take Namma Bengaluru on a gastronomical journey. Get ready to experience the tastes and flavors from regions across India as the hotel brings the whole country on a platter for Bangaloreans. 12 Chefs from 12 cities of India will put their expertise together to create some extra-ordinary magic with food.  From Delhi’s Chole Bhature, Pune’s Vada Pav or Aaloo Parantha from Chandigarh, Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield will have it all under one roof cooked by our talented team of chefs.

In a 7 day galore, the hotel will bring on table different dishes with an authentic taste of flavors and spices from across the country. The fine dining restaurant M Café will host a dinner buffet from 7th to 13th September with 13th serving the last lunch. The buffet will have a wide spread variety of delicacies from Delhi, Chandigarh, Musoorie, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chennai, Lucknow, Kochi and Goa. Each chef will prepare 3 authentic dishes from their specific region consisting of a Main Course, Starter and a Dessert.

The Chefs who would be joining the bandwagon are Chef Deepak Rana from JW Marriott Mussorie, Chef Dinesh from JW Marriott Chandigarh, Chef Rohit Yadav from JW Marriott Delhi, Chef Ranjit from Marriott Jaipur, Chef Mitesh Saraiya from Courtyard by Marriott Ahmedabad, Chef Prashant Suryavanshi from Courtyard by Marriott, Hinjewadi, Chef Thirumal from Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield, Chef Madhusudan from Marriott Hyderabad, Chef Satish Reddy from Courtyard by Marriott Chennai, Chef Saji from Marriott Kochi, Chef Shanavaz Qureshi from JW Marriott Mumbai, and Chef Selester from Marriott Goa.

On September 7th, I joined Bangaluru Marriott Whitefield for a cook off competition along with other bloggers from Mumbai and Bengaluru and the competition was judged by Suresh Hinduja. In my team, Me, Adarsh from The Big Bhookad and Subhasmitha from The Flavours of Kitchen cooked Goan Prawn curry under the guidance of Chef Selester from Marriott Goa. Chjef Selester and other chef's who were guiding the bloggers, were hand-cuffed and were not allowed to touch. It was a good learning experience and really fun to cook in the Marriott Kitchen and have a healthy competition. This was followed by lunch which was cooked by all of us.

All the best to the entire team and Chef Raheel for the Indian Culinary route :)

Ganesh Chaturthi celebration with Modak making at JW Marriott Bengaluru

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi! While many Indians bring Ganpati Bappa home and worship them, they also make Modak's which happens to be Lord Ganesha's favorite food.

I was invited by JW Marriott for a fun activity at JW Kitchen to celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi. I was clueless as to what was in store for the evening. Upon reaching the venue, I was in for a surprise. Chef Grenal was not just making modak's for us but also teaching us. JW Marriott will make sure I cook ;)

A modak is a sweet dumpling. The sweet filling inside a modak is made up of fresh grated coconut and jaggery, while the soft shell is made from rice flour, or wheat flour mixed with khava or maida flour. The dumpling can be fried or steamed.

Under Chef Grenal's guidance, we learnt the art of making modak's. I tried making some steamed modak's ;) We tried our best to make perfect modak's and savoured them on Ganesh Chaturthi. It was indeed a fun learning and interactive activity, thanks to Chef Grenal and his team.

Pic credits: Aravind BK