David Rocco’s Dolce Vita at ITC Grand Central
David has been in India for a week or so andhe has been scouting locations and shooting for a new India-based show,
tentatively titled Dolce India (but this is likely to change). Before arriving
at the ITC Grand Central, David spent couple of days at Fratelli Wines vineyard (in
Solapur, Maharashtra) for the annual harvest and he was given a taste of Indian
wines. And then, on Feb 27th he hosted a wine-tasting event at ITC
Grand Central’s rooftop Point of View Lounge, for
specialised media (yours truly was a part of it!) ITC’s Point of View is an inviting, split level lounge with an absolutely breathtaking view of the city.
I reached a bit early; the open air gazebo on
the 30th floor of the hotel was being prepped for the evening and
the TV crew was milling about. In the
lounge, there was a spread of cold cuts and cheeses, hummus and crackers and I
was offered a nice cup of cappuccino. Sinking back into the richly upholstered chair, I could see why Point of View is the most premium and exclusive lounge at ITC Grand Central.
And then David Rocco walked in and I’m
pretty sure that I heard a collective sigh from the ladies present! We were
being herded out to the gazebo when I got the opportunity of getting a picture
with the star of the evening 🙂
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| As ITC Grand Central put it “David Rocco being greeted by @DelishDirection”!! |
the people present – there were couple of other bloggers and reporters. The singer/actress
Raageshwari added the glam factor. Also present was Farzana Contractor, the
editor of Uppercrust Magazine and Saransh Goila, the youngest chef on Indian
telly, who hosts a show on Food Food channel.
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| Mr. Kuldeep Bhartee, General Manager ITC Grand Central, with Raageshwari |
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| With Farzana Contractor & Saransh Goila |
for us in the gazebo, with olives, artichoke hearts, cold cuts, an excellent
salmon and asparagus.
More starters were circulating, including the Lamb
Arancini made by David (fried rice balls stuffed with lamb), which were
quite flavourful, albeit a bit dry; they were served with a barbeque sauce.
Bottles of Fratelli Wines were being opened and I sampled the Sette (a red) and
the Chardonnay, both of which I quite liked. As usual, ITC Grand Central’s hospitality was spot on – warm and professional. As the evening progressed the
atmosphere became quite jovial; the TV crew was shooting David talking to us
bloggers and we were asked to give some sound bites for the camera!
of David’s made an appearance – Schiacciata all’uva with cinnamon – a delicious Tuscan treat of a focaccia dotted with grapes and topped with
cinnamon. It was just sweet enough to pass off as dolce (dessert).
to make a show on India and pat came his response “there are 1.2 billion
reasons to!” This is his second visit to India and in his own words “the heart
of a country is its people, and I love the warmth of the people here”; so India
was an obvious choice when he was looking at making a new show. Not to mention
the popularity of food-based programming in this country. So you may just catch
me on Fox Traveller some time, mingling with David Rocco & being a part of
his Dolce Vita! Stay tuned 🙂
Disclosure: I was invited by ITC Grand Central for this event.
yummy 😉 – chhavi
Truly 😉
There are no words to describe such delicious food as I have look to this blog as I remember my stay in Jaipur hotel in India as really love the serve along with their traditional culture, mainly I travel for business purposes as I have also small trailer shop in Australia.