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From left: Celebrity Chef Alondra Maldonado, Kingsbury staff in traditional Mexican attire, The Kingsbury GM Christine Chevalaz, The Kingsbury Director of Culinary Operations and Executive Chef Kithsiri De Silva and Chef Marco Valdivia
The Kingsbury is hosting a fabulous Mexican food festival at The Grill, in honour of Mexican National Day. The food festival was launched yesterday, 21 September, and will continue until 27 September. The special dinner a la carte menu will be served from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. during the festival days.
This year to tantalise guests with authentic, fiery and delectable Mexican cuisine will be celebrity Chef Alondra Maldonado Rodriguera accompanied by Chef Marco Valdivia.
“This festival brings homemade Mexican food to discerning Sri Lankan diners,” asserted Alondra, speaking to Daily FT, at a special lunch hosted for media by The Kingsbury and its GM Christine Chevalaz, to showcase some of the dishes being served during the festival.
Chef Alondra studied at the Argentinian Institute of Gastronomy (IAG), where she worked in some of the best restaurants in Buenos Aires. She has devoted herself to culinary teaching, travels and consultancy in gastronomic projects.
In May 2016, she was appointed Delegate of the Nayarit Gastronomy by the Conservatory of the Mexican Gastronomic Culture, which carries out permanent works of safeguarding and promotion of Mexican gastronomy.
Her book ‘Sabores de Nayarit (Flavours of Nayarit),’ is the Gourmand Award Winner, 2014. In the act of cooking Alondra finds a humanising stronghold. She believes that what we eat nourishes our body; our health depends on what we eat; and in the same way, how we eat nourishes the soul.
Marco Valdivia, Executive Chef of Emiliano Restaurante in the city of Tepic, is a graduate of the Technological University of Nayarit, and his restaurant is currently on the list of the top 120 restaurants in Mexico, endorsed by San Pelegrino and Culinaria Mexicana. Chef Marco is a founding member of the Nayarita Academy of Gastronomy. Guests can expect exquisite Mexican cuisine at this food festival, which is one event not to be missed by gastronomic connoisseurs who delight in the colourful and vibrant flavours of Mexico.
Pix by Ruwan Walpola