Fun Times: Bombay Food Bloggers Dinner

What happens when you take a bunch of food bloggers and throw in a wine expert? You get the first Bombay Food Bloggers dinner of 2011. It was an event courtesy of the UB Group who wanted to introduce us to various wines, from their Four Seasons brand, that can be paired with the different parts of a full four course meal.



The next thing you get is a lot of people with a lot of very professional cameras pointed at their food. I know what people say, but size does matter, and I felt quite inadequate with my little point and clicky.



The star of the evening was Mr. Abhay who, along with the UB Group, was our host for the evening. He took us through a delightful evening of wines and answered all the questions we posed.



It was a full four course meal with our choice of vegetarian or non-vegetarian dishes. The starting course had a vegetarian choice of a Wine Cured Grape and Goat Cheese Salad.



My personal choice was the Smoked Salmon Salad.



This was paired along with a glass of Four Seasons Sauvignon Blanc, a white wine.



For the second course i chose a Baked Fillo - Wrapped Brie. (anyone know where I can get Fillo dough in Bombay?)



The runner up option (which I was hard pressed to resist) was a plate of Char Roasted Prawns.



Our wine pairing for this second course was another glass of white, the Four Seasons Viognier.



For the main course there were a number of options. I was rather engrossed in a conversation with
Vinda (From Lett'uce Eat) and Aneesh (from The Connoisseur) and I was not able to click the pictures of what others were eating, however I did manage to click my helping of Braised Lamb.



With our main courses we were given a chance to try two types of red wine. (A wine tip from Mr. Abhay, as the glasses go from left to right, the wine becomes more full-bodied).



On our left was a glass of Four Seasons Merlot.



And on our right we have a bottle of Four Seasons Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This is one of my favourite wines and therefore I do recommend you give it a try. (Also do read the disclaimer at the end of this post).



The desserts were the final course in this meal. We were given some Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee and a Wild Berry Cheesecake.



This was paired with a Wine Cocktail. Thats right, a cocktail with Four Seasons Blush, Cointreau, Strawberries, and sugar syrup.



It was a fantastic chance to meet a lot of bloggers in Bombay. These are people who are passionate about food of all types and a wonderful set of human beings. I am proud and honoured to be part of this community. I look forward to meeting them often in the coming years and exchanging ideas , recipes and concepts. Bon Appetit everyone.





Disclaimer:
I have not reviewed any of the food or wines on this post. As this was a PR event it would not be ethical of me to do so. This blog post is about the wonderful evening that we had and I offer no comment on the food, the wine or the pairings of the same. The Barrique Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is an exception as I personally have liked the wine well before this event took place and thus am willing to offer a positive recommendation for it. I thank UB Group for hosting the wonderful evening.