The seasonal change of menu at Italia brings alive the country’s lighter flavours. For Navneet Mendiratta it was nothing short of a Roman holiday and back
If you can’t travel to a destination, the next best thing you could do, is to enjoy the food. Translating this thought with Italy on my mind, I chose Italia for a quiet midweek lunch.
The immediate pull, was a summer menu introduced earlier this month, promising lighter on stomach delicacies from the south of Italy.
What difference would that make to someone dining in India, you ask.
It would be guilt free and less heavy, is my answer. Decision made (in favour, as they say!), I stepped within the cosy fine-dining place housed in the busy Promenade Mall in Vasant Kunj. Given that it has Nando’s and Big Chill as its neighbours, the decision to lunch at this outlet has been proving a challenge to many. My mind was made up.
Italia offers you two set-ups in terms of seating. The first is a cooler one, dimly lit and more formal (and apt for summer, I am told). The other is a brighter, informal one that opens to a balcony, (imagine the warmth on those sunny winter days...). I chose the brighter option, never mind the super radiant sun, imagining it to be a open café by the Mediterranean sea.
Role play is fun, provided you live up to it. So next was the choice of wine. I chose a Opera Pinot Chardonnay for its clean, lovely citrusy notes that makes for a perfect pairing to a breezy meal.
Setting the flavour was the amuse bouche (a take off from the Spanish style gazpacho and certainly not a classic). Chilled melon soup infused with balsamic reduction.
Flavoured with mint, this ‘shot’ had the effect it was meant to — cool my body down.
The antipasti was a selection of grilled fresh artichoke and pesto rosso; skewered chicken with caper, milk foam and asparagus and parma ham roll with gorgonzola dressing.
“Recipes from southern Italy make an obvious choice for the summer menu, because the techniques used to prepare food are easy on palate and make it light for the stomach,” said chef Somopriyo Basu of Italia. It uses lots of tomatoes, sea food, lean meat, olive oil and less butter, cheese and red meat in cooking. And the techniques include searing, tossing and grilling, to keep the flavours light.
For primi, I dug into my porcini and portabello mushroom risotto, Umbrian truffle and pizza topped with rocket leaves, tenderloin, taggiasche olives, roasted pine nuts and sundried tomatoes.
The risotto was perfectly creamy and definitely less cheesy. The wine complimented it further, washing down excess cream on the palate that threatened to make it heavy. As for pizza, I have a confession to make — love rocket leaves. As I dug in greedily into the hand tossed perfection, I could see an expression of relief flit across chef’s face. “I’ve often had to replaces rocket leaves with iceberg lettuce for some diners. And that takes the crunch out, as iceberg tends to get soggy,” he sighed.
I loved the salad-like feel to the pizza and the check on the cheese was definitely well received.
It did not take the fire out of the secondi that was yet to come.
This was a generous serving of tiger prawns, with garlic chilly spaghetti, decorated with celeriac shavings and cooked with orange.
The tangy sweet orange and aromatic uncooked celeriac shavings beautifully complimented juicy tiger prawns. The latter had been cleverly pan-seared to keep juices intact, then tossed in a salad mix of orange and celeriac dressing. The combination was so delightful, I gave in to the indulgence and happily finished an entire portion! You had one seafood lover there!
But what if one does not like underwater delicaciesIJ Chef Basu quickly rustled up his New Zealand lamb chops recipe of vegetable caponata dusted with olives. I was reluctant to sample it at first.
I did not want to part with the seafood flavours dancing on my taste buds. looking back I am glad I gave the lamb chops a tasting.
The lamb was delightfully tender and succulent. And the preparation was light, with just a brush of olive oil to avoid heaviness from sinking in. For dolce or the grand finale, was a trio of fresh bluberry and organic vanilla bean pannacotta, tempered chocolate and Italia’s signature tiramisu. Then as they say, all good things must come to end.
Well-fed and sense satiated, it was time to get back to reality. A trip to Italy and back this was in experience, only there are no pictures to show. And for the cost it comes at, trust me, it is a win-win deal.