PoshVine Blog

Happy on Food and High on Wine at Graze

Guest Post by Sriparna Sen

Part time Mom, part time HR consultant. Full-time food and travel writer. For reading about her experiences and thoughts – http://atinybiteblog.wordpress.com.  

Are you thinking about gifting a lovely surprise for your loved one this valentine? Presenting to you a lovely idea for the same comes PoshVine – along with Four Season’s wine and Graze by Taj Vivanta. As a prelude to the actual gift, they conducted a gourmet experience on the 9^th of February hosted by Executive Chef Selvaraju.

The late Saturday morning started with cordial greetings from the Chef and the casual hellos amongst the audience. With a lot of love in the air J Chef started briefing about the two dishes which he was going to teach. Poached fig, walnut oil, menchego silvers – it was a surprise for many that these ingredients could be used together. As the Chef continued to explain Poached fig, fig sauce, and the beauty of plating a salad, the expression which I could identify with most was a cold longing sigh. I could sense that for the audience, mouths had already started watering as they twirled the Four seasons Chenin Blanc in their glasses.

My all-time favourite – Prawns – came next and it was boozy, with a lot of wine and a slight touch of Pernod to give that everlasting anees seed aroma. Garlic, butter,citrus and wine – the prawns just tasted heavenly. One of the participants Rishaad Minocher cooked alongside and plated a really buttery and yummy prawn dishJ

Finally after seeing all these being cooked, hunger pangs started bothering the attendees. So with the table laid and the lovely Four Seasons Barrique Shiraz Reserve wine served, came the famous Graze bread basket, followed by Oven roasted chicken with four season red wine truffle sauce and finally the delicious Strawberry Frangipane plated to perfection by Chef Shankar and served with Four Seasons Blush. Indeed, the valentine theme was intact and justified.

Well, if you liked the prelude, here is the big gift idea. Be ready for tomorrow – the V-Day – and spend a lovely day with your valentine. You don’t need to bring anything other than your partners and your love.

Love, Cook, and Live. Cheers.

What a Night it was!

At the risk of sounding like we are patting ourselves on the back, we’ve got to report that Bangalore’s first ever Gourmet Stroll was a smashing success. Every element – from great settings, to the wine selection, the chef’s specials and scintillating company – came together to make a perfect evening for the city’s adventurous gourmets.

Our idea was to create an exciting, new food experience. We drew inspiration from the gourmet safaris of other culinary capitals, but given Bangalore’s maddening traffic, settled to amble through different dining venues, rather than drive around.

On a typical Bangalore evening, breezy and cool, we gathered for welcome drinks at Liquid, the fabulous al fresco lounge at Ista. The Jacob’s Creek sparkling was popped and drunk happily. We nibbled on mushroom-stuffed dolmas, tomato and bocconcini skewers and offerings from a cheese platter. It was then off to Pink Poppadom, the modern Indian restaurant at Ista. Our starter course was a beautiful rare-seared ahi tuna on avocado raita. Superlative! was the verdict all round. Alongside, we drank the fruity Jacob’s Creek Rose.

And then, gently, we strolled across to Graze at Vivanta by Taj. The table settings were fetching and who can resist the bread basket at this fine showcase for European setting! We drank the Jacob’s Creek Reserve Shiraz and dined on spring chicken in a subtle wine sauce. The vegetarians in the group tucked into creamy mushroom risotto.

Dessert – an exquisitely crafted chocolate platter— awaited at Le Jardin at the Oberoi next door. While we waited for the whole group to gather, there was sparkling conversation – about food and restaurants, naturally, some harmless bashing of the most annoying TV cooks, the pleasures of dark chocolate, about the business of pairing food and wine and more. Not for nothing are these serious and passionate foodies. And everyone said what a wonderful thing it was to meet so many interesting people over fine food and wine.

As the mellow evening drew to a close, the Gourmet Strollers said they were already looking forward to the next edition. Know what, we can hardly wait either!