Cena Perfetta con Giuseppe Verdi

In the end, It turned out to be the perfect belated anniversary celebration for M and I, thank you Philippe .

A gala dinner concert celebrating the 200^th birth anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi also marking the launch of the Rigoletto  pen( dare I just call it that and not (in a posh accent) ‘a writing instrument’ ??) from Montegrappa. 

For me, Montegrappa meant nothing until the invite was brought home the day before in a typical Mahesh fashion. ‘’Listen, we have an invite to this thing tomorrow and dress code is ‘’Elegant’’.  So, that meant a day of frustration, turning my wardrobe upside down looking for Elegance. (Sadly missing from my pile)  Going back to this Montegrappa , so is it a wine, Mahesh? It certainly sounds like one.  I was very quickly enrolled into a basic Montegrappa 101   course and was enlightened.

Our attempt at Elegance!!  

The dinner concert was held at the very fancy Raffles hotel which was amazing in its grandeur. It was our first time there as well which made the experience even more brilliant.  It was clearly a very classy  affair. Met at the door by beautiful women to formally welcome us, a line of waiters holding out flutes of bubbly  and the works.(Now why didn't I take that flute off the tray with arched eyebrows and a propah’ thank you’ ,I wonder,)  I was too busy taking everything and everyone in. Beautiful men and women standing around  holding  flutes of bubbly, looking  like they belonged there.  It was a bit daunting but dear Philippe was a fantastic host and escorted us towards familiar faces. 

The hall was arranged in a formal round table seating with the tables beautifully dressed with a fantastic centre piece,  bottles of wine, different glasses and  a confusing array of cutlery  (  remembered the rule of starting from the end ) Table 15  was nicely placed towards the front of the hall and we had an excellent view of the orchestra.

Already served on the table when we sat down were the entrees.

Buffalo Mozzarella and Burrate with heirloom tomatoes, fresh Basil, Avocado and Olives from Gaeta.(of course it had to be from Italy right?) Sadly I forgot to take a pic of the same. But it lived up to its description, the tricolor (green, red and white) ensemble  dressed in a light vinaigrette was delicious . The heirloom tomatoes tasted different to the ones that we normally use for salads. Of course I had to look it up.

According to Wiki “ An heirloom tomato  is an open pollinated , (non-hybrid) variety of the tomato propogated and grown in isolated communities  , probably grown during early periods in human history , certainly not grown in large scale agriculture. Increasingly popular and more readily available in recent years, they are grown for a variety of reasons, such as historical interest, access to wider varieties, and by people who wish to save seeds from year to year, as well as for their taste, which is widely perceived to be better than modern tomatoes  

So we had historical tomatoes!

Soon after the plates were taken away, the concert started with a video of   G. Verdi and of course cleverly flowing into the Montegrappa history as well. I have to be honest here, some of the pens looked ugly and  thick and I wonder how comfortable it is to actually write with it . The music was really nice but must admit that the ladies sang way better than the men. Of course they weren't Pavarotti or Bocelli   but they were good .  The arrangement was done very thoughtfully as well , short ,dramatic, playful excepts from Verdi’s different  compositions  with quite a few from Rigoletto.(seeing that Montegrappa  was celebrating their Rigoletto pens). It was very enjoyable and the singers had the audience spellbound.

Soon after the 1^st act was over and the performers left the stage, the next group of performers, read waiters came around with the main course. Perfectly synchronized , they placed the plates down with a flourish at our table in unison. (Fantastico!)

Roast chicken, Asparagus, Potato & Pumpkin tart, aged Balsamic Jus, at the right temperature.  Tender chicken with the jus and Asparagus created a wonderful explosion of flavours and I had the urge to savour every mouthful and not hurry through it. The pumpkin/potato tart was crisp on the outside and soft and mushy inside . I especially enjoyed the pumpkin, not being a big fan of potatoes. In short keeping the elegance and classiness of the event in mind, it was rather delightful  , I say.

The bearers were excellent in not being ‘seen’ but suddenly there to dramatically whisk the plates away all the time, perfectly in sync. Act 2 followed soon after.  I decided to try the wine that was on our table and I must say I liked it, not sweet, slightly dry. Sorry fellow foodies, neither M or I can remember the name of the wine.

The finale , the desert (not the performance) was a layered Almond Sponge , topped with Orange Sorbet and biscotti completed a wonderful dining experience .

It was a fabulous night out . I am really thankful that M and I  got to experience such a wonderful classy concert dinner with extremely powerful music , scrumptious fare , great company  and  of course with one another too.

Psst we also got return gifts.(No, not pens ,..opps I do aplogise ,no, not  writing instruments )Guess!