The Pizza and Wine Festival at La Cucina, Hyatt Regency Kolkata

She looks at me, a strand of brown hair falling over one ear, escaping the pins, and raises her eyebrow.

“Make a choice! Pick something! I’m hungry!”

I look at the menu. There’s a list of temptations, and I’m spoilt for choices. Fortunately, Chef Sumeet Priyadarshi joins the table and we smile at him, two pairs of eyes looking expectantly at the man who mans the kitchen at La Cucina, and he reciprocates with a grin of his own.

Chef Sumeet Priyadarshi
Chef Sumeet Priyadarshi

I look at the wine menu – my drink of choice tonight is the Villa Antinori Toscana Trebbiano e Malvasia 2014, a sweet, mildly crisp white with accents of grapefruit and lemon. An easy wine to drink, I pick this one because most of my picks are to be vegetarian today, save one.

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I check the menu – the wines are available by the bottle or by the glass, and I see some interesting choices too. The pizza menu is extensive, with some interesting choices. The menu is a-la-carte, and the most expensive one is surprisingly, vegetarian. But the promise of Fresh Mozzarella, Tomato, Truffle Cream, Rocket, Shaved Parmesan together sounds delicious. I waver for a few seconds before picking the ones I want.

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A bowl of warm bread is placed before us, to be savored with some olive oil and sea salt. I bite into a crisp roll of dough – its warm, crusty, and satisfyingly chewy. As time passes, the tables around us start to fill up around us. The kitchen is busy now, as chefs roll out dish after dish, pizzas going inside the wood-fire oven to get a shot of heat that would bake the dough and then quickly garnished and served.

Spinach Calzone
Calzone with Bocconcini, Spinach, Zucchini, Saffron Cream

The Calzone is brought to the table, a roughly shaped semi-circle quickly sliced into pieces with the aid of a sharp bread knife, and a pool of cheesy cream is revealed, with slices of tender, yellow zucchini. The bread is crisp and made more decadent with a splash of olive oil on top.

Bolero: Straciatella. Tenderloin. Rocket. Parmesan.
Bolero: Straciatella. Tenderloin. Rocket. Parmesan.

The Bolero is brought in next: the tenderloin is salted and aged bresoala-style, then slices paper-thin and layered over the blistered pizza crust with a smattering of rocket. It hides a mound of straciatella, a soft, creamy mound of lusciousness that coolly contrasts the piping hot dough.

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Dessert was a pizza with a layer of cold mango custard and fresh mangoes strewn on top. A touch of mint and honey sweetened the deal further. The Pizza and Wine festival at La Cucina, Hyatt is going to continue till the 26th, and is available only for dinner (7.30 pm – 11 pm). A meal for two with a glass of wine each would be roughly INR 3000/- .

Disclaimer: Poorna Banerjee was invited to sample the Pizza and Wine promotion by the management.

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About Me

Hi, I’m Panushwari

Welcome to my blog which is mostly about Food, Travel, Lifestyle and Beauty. I generally review restaurants and hotels in Kolkata and my work as a Restaurant Consultant and Food Critic in Kolkata allows me to maintain this blog as a showcase of my work. I am also a published author and have been a panelist at many events.

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