The Zanotta Experience!

I am a big fan of the Leela Kempinski and that's no secret! Sometimes I am thankful I don't have an office to operate from because with Spectra (the Coffee Shop) doubling as one, I not only go up a notch in the 'cool' quotient, all my meetings have the best coffee and amazing meals. I remember my experiences at the Leela Bombay and I remember being charmed by the ambiance, the service and the general demeanour of the Hotel, it made you feel special, it made you want to dress up and when you did, it made you feel damn good about it! It's pretty much the same here in Gurgaon as well. No matter where in the Leela you go, the staff is super courteous, the environs are understated luxury (yes that does exist!) and you are sure to have a good time, every time!

I have eaten at Zanotta before and loved it, albeit after a few drinks at Rubicon, so I completely forgot that they had a marvelous view, of the Gurgaon Toll, now forget what you have read about it because from the 6th floor, from a luxury 5 star, with a glass of bubbly and Italian food, like hell you will care who's stuck there or not! It is a sparkly view that makes you extra thankful you are where you are, up there at Zanotta.

Our Bloggers Table evening started with a tete a tete with the General Manager, Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon, the very engaging and oft time hilarious Mr. Roger Wright, the wonderfully humble and gorgeous, Head of PR & Marcom, Ms. Vinay Narang and a man with some of the most interesting anecdotes, the Executive Assistant Manager F&B, Mr. Shisheer Manohar. We all congregated to welcome the new Executive Chef, Mr. Emmanuel Guemon, a man I soon went on to realize had a true passion for food, travel, photography and new-ness, there I have to say it, I am yet to meet a Chef I didn't like and I liked Chef Guemon, a lot! He spoke with true passion, his stories had depth and humour and he was up for all things new, the best qualities a man of the kitchen must have, so I knew this meal would mean a lot and you know what? It did!

The menu was specially designed for the evening, with menu cards we loved. I chose the non vegetarian selection, though I did love some of the vegetarian dishes jotted down, wish I had the space but with scallops and seafood on the menu, I can rarely see beyond it. We started with a wondrous portion of Pan Seared Scallops with a Zucchini Salad, screamingly good, perfectly cooked and the crunchy Arugula addition was just perfect. Paired neatly with a Craggy Range Chardonnay from New Zealand, apart from Chilean Reds, I feel Australia and New Zealand do the best whites, so the wine was absolutely perfect as well. Next came the hugely flavoursome and robust, Seafood Minestrone, the Italian version of a Talumein, this is a soup very dear to me, mainly because it is a meal in a bowl, tomato based and can be made as rich as you want it to be! The true kicker for me here was the Mussel in there, how I love mussels, how I worship seafood? Excellent eating at its best! Served with a Albert Bichot Cote de Rhone, Chardonnay from France, ideal, a special mention for the in house Sommelier, he was making me a very happy camper and no it wasn't just because there was wine it was because there was 'well paired' wine. The indulgence had only begun, we were then served a palate cleanser the way only Zanotta can do, an ice carved igloo with a little lamp inside, a pristine white napkin, upon which sat a bowl of delicate 'Strawberry Sorbet', dear God it was manna from heaven, took away the taste memory of any sorbet enjoyed before, raised the bar for any sorbet coming my way in the future, beautiful! The main course was yet to come and a part of me was wondering how it would surpass what has already been served? The next course was a Wild Mushroom ravioli in a Tomato Basil Sauce, now I have had plenty of ravioli over the years, I believe I make good Ravioli myself, but this stuff is what legends are made of, this kind of ravioli shuts a table up, gets everyone all dreamy and lost with that crooked crazy smile that only heartfelt food can induce. I loved it, I will go back for it, this paired with a Valpolicella ‘Classico’ Allegrini, from Italy would be on my list of 'meals I want if I were on death row'!! The main course was Salmon with Arugula Pesto (yay, I am not the only one who makes pesto with rocket leaves!!), I think this had walnuts instead of pinenuts and the Salmon was perfect as was everything else. Paired with an Australian Cabernet Shiraz, one of my all time favourite wines ....ever!! The meal almost felt like it was designed for only me, this is what I would have ordered had I been left to my own devices, how very very personal it was! The meal ended with a Bitter Chocolate Semifreddo with candied orange peel and a hint of mint, all my favourite words and flavours rolled into one, and our classic Bloggers Table call for Cappuccino ice cream, which by the way, Spectra does a spectacular job of. What a soul satisfying evening? Chef Guemon has won  me over, with each course, he has taken a piece of my heart and I hope that my time at Leela continues to be this elevating, for they have only gotten better with time!

All this fabulous food, the company of my fabulous friends, Roger's hilarity, Vinay's quiet charm, Shisheer and I sharing common friends, that's what perfect evenings are made of and I thank all these wonderful people for making mine ....perfect!

The Bloggers Table that evening included:

Sid Khullar, the glue - Chef at Large
Deeba Rajpal of the super famous - Passionate About Baking
Ruchira Hoon-Philip, a true inspiration - The Great Cookaroo
Charis Alfred Bhagianathan, the perfect BFF - Culinary Storm
Himanshu Taneja, the adorable baker boy - The White Ramekins
Sangeeta Khanna, my soul sister - Benaras Ka Khana
Rekha Kakkar, multi talented, multi tasker - My Tasty Curry
Antara, waiting to know her better! - Antypasti

*Image Courtesy Ms. Deeba Rajpal of Passionate About Baking ... I love you D!