Cinnamon Lakeside celebrates Italian cuisine

Saturday, 14 September 2013 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Marianne David The Dining Room at the Cinnamon Lakeside has been transformed into a gastronomic haven for Italian food lovers, with the launch of this month’s themed dinner buffet, featuring a delectable spread of carefully chosen cuisine. While The Dining Room has been taking diners on a culinary journey around the world with its themed dinner buffets each month, the Cinnamon Lakeside has definitely pulled out all the stops with this one, which will definitely delight diners. One of the first guests to embark on the Italian journey was none other than Italian Ambassador in Sri Lanka Fabrizio Arpea and his wife, who were welcomed by the Cinnamon Lakeside’s charming General Manager Denis Gruhier and Chef Riccobono Gabriele, the special Guest Chef the hotel has flown down from Italy exclusively for the event. Also at hand to welcome the guests and the media were the hotel’s Director – Sales and Marketing Adrian Jansz, Marketing and Communications Manager Anusha Mal-watta, Marketing and Communications Executive Anuradha Illeperumaarachchi and Marketing and PR Coordinator Deepika Perera. Their warm hospitality combined with the excellent food made for a dining experience to remember.

Delectable spread For this promotion, while some Italian items such as ratatouille and antipasti including fresh calamari salad and bruschetta have been added to the ever-popular salad bar, the soup selection featured consommé celestina – a clear soup made from a richly-flavoured stock. My favourite from the choice of breads was the focaccia, which was topped with herbs and perfectly seasoned with olive oil and salt, but I was careful not to savour too much of the starters, having taken a look at the main dishes on offer before sitting down to dine. Still, I couldn’t turn away from the gravlax (raw spiced salmon) and fish carpaccio (thinly sliced and seasoned raw fish), which were superb. As for the mains, while the barley risotto Contadina style looked rich and inviting, as did the tagliolini noodles with rocket salad, I managed to resist and served myself some grilled polenta, fried salmon with toasted almonds and a breaded lamb chop with sesame. Also featured were chicken cacciatore (Italian hunter-style chicken braised in a tomato-based sauce), assorted vegetables and several other dishes. Irresistible pizzas and pastas are part of this promotion as well, with sauces designed to complement. While I set aside the polenta after just one bite (turns out it’s cornmeal boiled into a porridge and grilled, although it looks interesting with a rich golden colour), the salmon was one dish that definitely stood out by virtue of looking and tasting divine – a sentiment shared by fellow diners. What made this dining experience all the more delightful was a special dish prepared for the Ambassador, which was also served to the media: a deliciously decadent creation of toast smothered with wasabi, covered with ham and topped with chocolate shavings. Delicious desserts What better way is there to end the day than with dessert? Faced with a dessert spread that included gateaux, tarts, meringues, cakes, puddings, fruits and gelato, with several items having something to do with chocolate, I simply gave up on self-control and served myself a slice of tiramisu (combining the flavours of rich cream and Italy’s specialty espresso coffee), an amaretto baked pear and some bite-sized lemon meringue pies – this is something frequently featured in The Dining Room’s dessert spread and I’ve never been able to resist its melt-in-the-mouth deliciousness. Launched on 12 September and running until 21 September, the Italian cuisine celebration is priced at Rs. 2,555 all inclusive per person and the dishes have been prepared using the choicest and most authentic ingredients. Instead of focusing only on the typical pizza and pasta fare, the spread draws from the rich history of Italy. Every dish is presented beautifully in the elegant setting of The Dining Room and choosing what to eat is not easy, so it comes down to either eating what you know and like or deciding to try out something new and be surprised. Stuffed to bursting point, having enjoyed the starters, mains and desserts and tried out a bit of everything that caught my attention, here’s the verdict on The Dining Room’s Italian celebration: It’s a delightful dining experience that’s not to be missed! Pix by Nirmala Dhananjaya