VIKHROLI CUCINA SEASON 2: A MEMORABLE EVENING

Tanya Dubash, Executive Director & Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group

My evening of 19th February was well spent in the company of some of the famous names of the culinary world in India and fellow bloggers. I was at the much awaited food event of the year Vikhroli Cucina Season 2. This sundown soiree was abuzz with activities right from the start.

The itinerary for the evening included master class by renowned names like Chef Irfan Pabaney, Chef Varun Inamdar, Chef Rakhee Vaswani, Rushina M. Ghildiyal amongst the many luminaries present to felicitation of “Quintessentially Mumbai” eateries by Chef Michael Swamy to a fun food quiz held by Sameer Malkani and team from Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI).

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Tanya Dubash, Executive Director & Chief Brand Officer, Godrej Group welcomed everyone at the occasion and briefly put across the notion behind creation of Vikhroli Cucina. I feel the entire event aligns very well with Godrej’s business presence through brands like Yummiez from Godrej Tyson Foods, Godrej Nature’s Basket and Godrej Appliances in domains closely connected with the culinary world.

The sessions were not merely demonstration workshops, but were converted into exciting competitions.   While only a handful got lucky and donned the chef’s apron to be one of the contenders, the rest cheered on filling the atmosphere with jollity. Alongside these sessions, the food and wine flowed in abundance with tasty hors-d'oeuvre doing rounds along with wines from Grover Zampa that kept everyone in high spirits.

My personal favorite amongst the workshops held was the ‘The Chocolate Doodle’ one conducted by Rushina M. Ghildiyal of APB Cook Studio and master chocolatier Chef Varun Inamdar. Participants were provided with sketches of some of their favorite foods like burger, cupcakes, pizza etc. The whole experience reminded me of my childhood days spent in a fun-filled painting class. Just that the paint brushes were replaced with piping cones and colors with three types of chocolates – white, milk and dark. I also have a small secret to share - we ended up eating a lot of “painting” chocolate as well.

The evening culminated in a grand way with an enjoyable quiz revolving around the topic of food. Quiz masters from FBAI ensured the five participating teams were kept on tenterhooks through all three rounds – basic Q&A, theme-based round and the rapid fire. The questions were spread across various aspects of the gastronomic world ranging from those on Indian spices to French cuisine to food shows around the world to food production amongst the various `topics.

It was indeed a memorable evening and I cannot wait for the next season of Vikhroli Cucina to arrive.