Of the many ongoing promotions in the Capital, the Tuscany food festival at Chaobella in Crowne Plaza Today, Okhla, seemed to be the most interesting. I was tempted because I love the food from Tuscany. This central Italian region has something special that makes it stand apart. Its USP is its simplicity in cuisine, without any fancy use of sauces. A lot of fresh ingredients with strong flavours are used.
A spacious restaurant with cosy seating and local Italian music playing in the background, the ambience at Chaobella transports one to Tuscany. The spread includes an extensive range of traditional Tuscan delicacies. Since traditionally Tuscans start their dinner with some soups and follow it with antipasti, I started with a nice hot rustic chicken tortellini soup and an onion soup based on beef consommé. Tortellini, with flavourful mince of chicken, was made perfectly. Even the beef soup, which had lots of onion shreds and some burnt garlic, had a distinct flavour. Unlike in French cuisine, this soup was not viscous.
Crostini with wild mushrooms and artichoke tart were some tasty antipasti. Even the sesame crusted brie was delicious, and the tomato bocconcini roll just melted in my mouth.
Among the salads, pearl barley and chicken with porcini and pecorino was refreshing. Despite having eaten all this, I had to keep space for the pastas, risottos and some meaty main course dishes. The chef replaced the whole chicken with big pieces in the rigatoni pasta in hunter way which made it easy to eat. The classic combination of beet root and ricotta in ravioli turned out nicely; it had a subtle sweetness. Gnocchi, the local favourite, was done with cherry tomatoes and scarmoza which gave it a nice creamy texture.
I went for the lemon and thyme risotto with some prawns and caramelised cappers and I loved every bit of it. Although slightly overloaded with olives, the risotto was good. The only average preparation was the pizza which had a thick crust which I didn’t expect.
Bianca, a white pizza, had all the simplicity of Tuscany written over it. Second main course had lamb chops, jumbo prawns and crispy leg of duck. I fell in love with the later for the way it was cooked and its robust flavours. What a perfect ending it was to my Tuscany food tour.
Buffet price : Rs.1999 with beverages plus taxes
