22nd November charmed us with an extraordinary culinary experience at The Leela Gurgaon’s award winning fine-dining restaurant, Zanotta. What’s more, their talented in-house Chef Abhishek was accompanied by none other than culinary mastermind Chef Alessandro Liberatore and Chef Mattia Nesi from Hotel Villa Cora in Florence, Italy.
Villa Cora is a two-key Michelin star hotel nestled within the panoramic Tuscan hills of Florence, Italy. The Italian chefs brought with them a bevy of the finest hand picked ingredients that mingled together with Freshly picked local produce to create magic on our tastefully decorated table.
We started with the finest Prosecco that was handed to us even as we were led to our respective seats. Its golden hues shimmered through my glass against the dappled sunlight filtering gently through the windows.
The culinary experience began with an interesting version of the Bruschetta, a deconstructed version , and a dark eggplant cube that rested on a creamy base drizzled with tomato umami. Noticeably, the garnish was a crisp basil leaf that brought all the flavors together.
While we waited for the next course, we munched on some warm sourdough bread with cubes of soft herbed butter and a balsamic-olive oil drizzle. Then up came the Ceviche, which tasted as amazing as it looked. The hero was the black cod drizzled with a creamy mustard mayo, marinated radish and generously topped with a briny, dark herring caviar. My vegetarian friend chose the Millefeuille aubergine which comprised of thin slivers of eggplant sitting on a ruby red tomato coulis with basil pesto and mozzarella which was equally delicious.
Next up was potato gnocchi that appeared to be swimming in a creamy sauce that won everyone’s hearts, comfort food indeed. The microgreens garnish looked so pretty and colorful.
Option two was everyone's favorite, Ravioli. Chef Alessandro spoke to The Style List exclusively, and told us that the Ravioli is Villa Cora’s signature dish. So what exactly is their ‘secret sauce’? Well, Chef tells us that it’s in in ppthe sauce itself. They only use the best, most flavorful tomatoes with a selection of herbs and a couple of secret ingredients that go into this delightful sauce that will have you craving for more. They served us the ravioli plated beautifully on a little pool of dark green hand pounded pesto.
I absolutely loved the red prawn risotto that was served to me. Positively indulgent, with the richest flavors of creamy saffron, a delectable basil cream and an interesting squirt of squid ink. Again, microgreens made this winner of a dish truly a sight for sore (hungry) eyes! Every bite was a burst of flavors in my mouth.
We were basking in the medley of flavors that were dancing merrily on our palette, when Chef Alessandro sent us the Amuse Bouche, a deliciously refreshing lemon sorbet with a hint of rosemary and an icy whisper of Limoncello.
Our palette’s duly cleansed, we eagerly awaited the next course. My Chilean Seabass was drowned in an intensely aromatic beurre blanc. The meat of the fish was flaky and oh-so melt in the mouth. The skin was seared to a crispy mosaic on the top. The plating was fantastic and I simply couldn’t stop staring at it. Every bite induced the rich flavors of this buttery fish to unfold like an opera performance reverberating within.
My friend picked a boneless curried lamb that literally came apart with the touch of the fork. Beautifully cooked, the meat was tender to the T.
And finally, all good things must come to an end. And a delicious dessert it was! Chocolate shortbread with a raspberry reduction topped with fresh berries and cream. What’s not to love?
Chef Alessandro and Chef Mateo had everyone literally eating out of their hands and we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect afternoon eating the finest food paired with the most classic of wines. When asked what did they love about Indian cuisine, both the chefs unanimously agreed that they absolutely loved the ‘Indian tofu’, our humble paneer in both, tikka and the curry form with Indian tandoori bread. They also loved the seekh kebabs that they got to try at the Indian restaurant in Leela Gurgaon.
Before returning to Italy, they had two wishes- one was to try some more Indian food varieties and the second one, was to visit the Taj Mahal, and I’m sure they got to do both, and more, knowing our incredible Indian hospitality.
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