By Divya Dwivedi
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS): As a part of pre-inventing the menu, The Spaghetti Bar and Kitchen, a brand name popular among Italian food lovers, is currently hosting a 'panini fest' called Amore Di Pane.
"Italian food is much more than pastas and pizzas and our extensive menu precisely proves that point," said Davinder Soni, manager, marketing and communications, Pan India Foods.
"We host four food fests in a year, bringing the customers something new each time, and the best responses become a part of our menu, which we keep revising every year," said Soni.
We were welcomed at Spaghetti Bar and Kitchen, Saket, by Soni who explained the entire process of hosting a food festival, and how much hard work goes into finalising a perfect menu.
The restaurant has 10 outlets, excluding the capital, which has three outlets.
The Saket outlet completed six years in December last year. The second outlet is at Tagore Garden, Pacific Mall and the third one in Gurgaon (National Capital Region - NCR). Then, there is one outlet in Kolkata, one in Pune, one in Chennai, two in Bangalore and five in Mumbai.
I had been to Spaghetti Kitchen before, but this was the first time I did not have my usual pasta. Much to my pleasant surprise, the paninis were a fresh change. The menu comprised four vegetarian and four non-vegetarian paninis and wraps.
Vegetarian paninis and wraps were priced at Rs.325 each, whereas the non-vegetarian counterparts were priced at Rs.425 each.
I was served King Alfanzo drink, an iced drink with a blend of mango, coconut, milk and crushed mint. It was refreshing. One should definitely go for the drink during summer to avoid dehydration.
Being a hardcore non-vegetarian, they had a tough time impressing me with their vegetarian fare. But they did!
I ordered vegetarian muffuletta, a baked wrap stuffed with oodles of green vegetables, baby corns flavoured with garlic. I had finished my panini before realising that I was already munching on green vegetables.
I couldn't wait to taste the non-vegetarian section. I started with the roasted beef ciabatta (sandwich), which had juicy chunks of beef along with lettuce leaves and mushrooms between ciabatta bread, which they had prepared themselves.
Then I moved to the non-veg counterpart of the vegetarian muffuletta, which was baked twice and it was lip smacking. It was an amalgamation of smoked cheese, ham and chicken sausages. The crust was crispy and hot.
The ambience was like any other Italian restaurant with soft Italian music humming in the background. The staff was welcoming and treated us well.
Chef Ashun shared a few words about his passion for 'stakes' and let me gorge on Filetto di manzo stake - his favourite on the menu. Served with boiled potatoes and spinach, which was succulent and medium to well-done, jumbled with brown sauce that contained chicken stock, red wine, spices and tomatoes.
The second on my list of favourites was ham and cheese panini, packed with ham, gouda cheese, plum conserves and thin slices of green apple.
The dish was mouth watering, delicious and healthy at the same time.
Each of these wraps were served with french fries and pickled vegetables as the side dishes.
For the whiskey lovers, 30 ml Black Dog was served as a complimentary drink with each panini or wrap ordered. Non-alcoholics had the choice to replace it with any mocktail.
It was a delightful experience. The ambience, the staff, the slow Italian music and my new found love for non-veg muffuletta are definitely going to compel me to visit the place again before the fest ends on June 10 across all Spaghetti Kitchen restaurants in Delhi and NCR.