Author: Aditi Malhotra
Marketing & Social Media Consultant | Content Writer & Columnist | Events & Wedding Planner | Award Winning Home Chef | Home Baker | Artist | Photography Enthusiast

Kashmir 90- Book Review

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

A word about the Author first, Vineet started his journey from Dehradun having done his schooling there before moving to Bangalore for his engineering from B.M.S.College. Having completed his engineering he joined the Corporate World and since then has been working at various locations in India n Abroad. He completed Executive Program in Business Management from IIMC and is also a PMP certified professional. He is presently settled in Mumbai and is working in the field of Project Management. This is his second book having written,Vinu, I am getting married earlier and working on his third book titled Twin Trouble.
Apart from writing fiction, Vineet Mishra has other hobbies including his passion for riding.
He is also a proud HOG (Harley Davidson Owner) and enjoys long rides.

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Now about the book Kashmir 90 ,as the name suggests it relates to that horrific period in our modern history which is really a shame on our country.
The book traces the the journey of its main protagonist Shiv Pandit, a Kashmiri Pandit who lives a carefree life in the Jannat of our country Kashmir.
His life from the age of 18,living in a well to do family, loved by all and popular among his friends to the devastation. He and the family go through that darkest of dark periods forms the crux of this book.
The book has been beautifully written and the life n journey of Shiv Pandit unfolds in a simple but riveting manner.
The life in College with friends, the faint sensibility of finding love to the kindness and love of the family to losing it all in a sweeping series of events that follow the unrest and subsequent exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley.
How he goes through all the losses and almost losing his sanity to again joining the mainstream of the society with some semblance of success with the one regret of losing his college crush/love Maya.
Does Shiv manage to find Maya? Makes for a fascinating read. Highly recommended.
Go grab your copy and feel the trauma of the in numerous people who went through this sad ordeal of being outcaste from your own land n people.

My Rating 4/5

Available on Amazon for Rs. 225 for paperback.

Guilt Free Indulgence at the Diabetic Dessert Trail…!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

As part of the Diabetic Food Trail, Diabetic Dessert Trail was a day of guilt free indulgence for me. The event which was conceived with the objective of offering diabetics, pre-diabetics and health conscious people a reason to enjoy their food and desserts without any apprehensions, has tied up with 200 restaurants across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Pune. The Diabetic Food Trail is presented by Britannia Nutrichoice Essentials in association with Biocon, the largest Indian Insulins Company. Britannia and Biocon have once again partnered with DFT, this year along with Fitternity.com, Health & Nutrition and Burrp. Its been conceptualised by Seema Pinto, Director, Semora Entertainment Works along with her husband.

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This particular dessert trail meant restaurant hopping with 4 different participating outlets showcasing their healthy desserts and it also meant that we were going to eat a lot of desserts but without feeling guilty about it, so all I had to say was bring it on..!!

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We began our sweet journey with Bercos in Greater Kailash I, in a cosy atmosphere, we were served with Sugar –Free Lemon Cheesecake (Kcals: 162.2, Fat: 14.2g, Carbs: 4.1g, Protein: 6g) and Sugar –Free Caramel Custard (Kcals: 378, Fat: 28g, Carbs: 32g, Protein: 6g). The Cheese Cake was so delicious and sugary sweet that not even for one moment it felt that it was sugar free, I simply loved it. The Caramel Custard wasn’t as sweet as the cheese cake, but it was nice too.

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Our next stop was right across the road, and after one fulfilling experience we went to explore the other. Getafix too appeared a cosy and comfortable place where you could enjoy a happy meal with your family or friends. Here on the menu we had Sugar –Free Carrot Cake (Kcals: 396, Fats: 26.1g, Carbs: 37.1.6g, Protein: 4.9g) and Sugar –Free Lime Pie (Kcals: 136, Fats: 4.7g, Carbs: 21.3g, Protein: 3.1g). The Carrot Cake was simply mind blowing, dense and yet super moist, I could just go on and on with it, it was so delicious, and you must try. The Lime Pie was good too, but somehow I was hooked to the Carrot Cake.

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Our next halt was Bohemia in Greater Kailash I, N Block Mkt, the place oozed out comfort and a suave ambience. Though we were now already full from the last two indulgences, I was really looking forward to this one, because they had my favourites Sugar –Free Tiramisu (Kcals: 340, Fat: 18g, Carbs: 40g, Protein: 4g) and Sugar -Free Chocolate Fudge (Kcals: 250, Fat: 10g, Carbs: 38g, Protein: 3g). Guilt free chocolate desserts are like a dream come true. Both the Tiramisu and the Chocolate Fudge were awesome. Extremely delectable they didn’t taste as if they were sugar free, they tasted as normal as prepared with sugar. I loved them both.

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Oh, after 3 stops, this dessert trail really seemed very fulfilling, filling the stomach too :), but nevertheless, we reached our last stop, which unlike others wasn’t a restaurant, but it was a bakers den called G’s Patisserie. Here we were served Sugar –Free Warm Apple & Cinnamon Cobbler (Kcals: 237.2, Fats: 9.8, Carbs: 36.7g, Proteins: 3.5g), Sugar –Free Chocolate Zucchini Cake (Kcals: 160.2, Fats: 6.4g, Carbs: 25g, Proteins: 3.3g), Sugar –Free Banana Oats Bar with NutriChoice Essentials Oats Cookies (Kcals: 87, Fats: 1.8g, Carbs: 17.2g, Proteins: 21g). I personally loved the Apple Cobbler and the Oat Cookies, which were also live demonstrated by the owner of the place. The entire experience was worth remembering.

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The Healthy Dessert Trail was introduced to give food bloggers and media a glimpse of some of the innovative and healthy desserts that restaurants in each of these cities had specially designed, for the Diabetic Food trail 2016. With desserts featuring on a larger number of menus this year, it was a perfect window to showcase these treats, while debunking the myths that desserts could only be high calorie, and hence not suitable for diabetics.

A key aspect of The Diabetic Food Trail has been to address certain myths associated with what a diabetic can and cannot eat. The most common one being that desserts are a big no no. And thanks to our restaurant partners on the Dessert trail, we were able to demonstrate how easily desserts can be made healthy yet delicious, wherein not only a diabetic, but also a regular individual with a sweet tooth could enjoy them. I am glad I was part of this journey and I really urge to the restaurants to keep continuing these items in their menu on a regular basis so that people can really eat guilt free!

 

Rich Graviss Organised Rich’s Gourmet Guide, Showcasing Foods and Trends in Savouries, Beverages, Desserts and 250 number of Cakes

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Rich Graviss recently organised a world class event, Rich Gourmet Guide, where in the showcased the latest foods and trends in savouries, beverages and desserts. The chef team live demonstrated these global trends in foods in event via applications of their existing Rich’s products available in India. It was a visual delight to see plain Jane cakes turning into a work of art.

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Rich’s also displayed a showcase of more than 250 cakes in the show. With different categories like logs, buttercream decoration, whipped cream decoration , macaroons, glaze cakes etc, this was one mouth drooling exhibition. The cakes were so beautiful that I could not take my eyes off it.

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There were concept stalls wherein live demos went on in each of the stall round the day, which emphasised on different decorations using whipped cream, the use of Rich’s products in making beverages and savouries.
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The main objective of the event was to make bakery and food service customers aware of global trends and also global cuisines which could be made using Rich’s Products. The purpose was to inform and upgrade the quality of offerings of both bakery and food service operators to general public.
A new product named BETTERCREME was also being launched first time in the market. It is a unique Non-Dairy product with a buttery flavour, heavy mouth feel & good stability. It is ideal for bakery preparations for making colourful & robust cake decorations.
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They also highlighted its unique benefits on their Educational Booth that will be especially focussing on various applications of Bettercreme ICING & FILLINGS. Rich also launched its android based app where in we can multiple recipes, know about the products and do so much more.
I thoroughly enjoyed this event, tasting goodies made using Rich’s products, the demonstrations and the showcasing of so many beautiful cakes.

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ABOUT RICH GRAVISS PRODUCTS PVT LTD
Rich Graviss Products Pvt. Ltd. came into existence following the collaboration between M/s Rich Products Corporation (USA) and Graviss Food Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (India).
The launch of Rich’s Whip Topping in 1996 sparked a revolution in the Indian bakery industry; as it became the first-ever and the largest-selling non-dairy whip topping of the country. Since then, the market reputation and business growth has only elevated.

Today, Rich’s produces a wide range of products for both the bakery as well as the food service segments.
Rich’s in India has 2 manufacturing facilities at Pune (Maharashtra) & Kala Amb (Himachal Pradesh). The combined production capacity of both the plants is approx 24000 tonnes per annum. This directly translates into assured quality products for its customers, as well as a consistent supply throughout the year.
The company caters to more than 150 cities across 27 states through a highly competent cold chain distribution network.
For more details ,pls visit on www.richgraviss.com

FICCI organised Foodzania, a food service retail conclave, partnered by Foodmaniacs

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

FICCI organized, the first ever Foodzania, a Food Service Retail Conclave on November 18,2016 at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi. Invited by Vickrham, owner of Foodmaniacs a food based portal, which happened to be the Online Partner for the event, we felt privileged to be a part of such a prestigious event.

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The whole day conclave started with a nice spread of Tea, Coffee and Breakfast for the participants. The Conclave was divided into six sessions each touching a particular aspect of the Food Retail Industry. The first session touched upon the State of the Industry & Food Policy. After the welcome address by Piyush Patodia, Chairman FICCI Task Force, the session was addressed by Sh.Hem Pande, Secretary, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food n Public Distribution, (MoCA). He touched briefly on the state of Food Industry and emphasized on the need for the Industry and the Government to work closely for the benefit of the Consumer.img_6230

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The session was also addressed by Shri Pawan Aggarwal, CEO, FSSAI, who strongly believed that more n more of eateries of all tiers be recognized by FSSAI so as to be able to educate and monitor even the smaller players there by ensuring safe n hygienic food to reach the consumers.

The session saw a wide range of speakers like Mr Scott S.Sindelar, Minister Counselor for Agricultural Affairs, American Embassy in New Delhi, India. Mr Sunil Kapur, Chairman,K-Hospitality Corp, Mr Rahul Singh, Hon.Secretary, NRAI, Founder & CEO, The Beer Cafe, Mr Henrik Osterstrom, Country Food Manger, IKEA and Mr Amit Lohani, MD, Max Foods and Conveyor, Forum of Indian Food Importers. Each one them spoke about the on growing demand for the Industry to be given its due recognition by the Government to ensure further organized growth in this sector.

Session 2 saw the discussion moving to another very important aspect of the Food Retail Service Industry, the availability of skilled manpower. Rightly titled Skill Development Gaining Critical Importance in F&B Sector-“Elevating Skills”. The session was addressed by Mr. Praveen Roy, Chief Executive Officer, Tourism and Hospitality Skill Council, Mr Chetan Arora, Development Agent and Multi Unit Owner, Subway India, Chef Y B Mathur, Executive Director, Culinary Design & Application Group and Ms Diksha Pandey, Head, Mountain Trail Academy. They emphasized on the need for more training centers for the F& B sector and especially in two or three tier towns n cities to facilitate the young there to pursue their dreams of joining the Food Industry.

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Session 3 namely Creating one stop shop-“Making Food in India & Ease of doing Business” was addressed by Mr Atul Chaturvedi, Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy n Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Mr Rajat Wahi, Partner and Head, Consumer Retail and Agri Sectors, KPMG in India, Mr Sumitro Ghosh, Managing Director and CEO, Tata Starbucks India, Mr Unnat Verma, MD Pizza Hut India Subcontinent, Mr Pankaj Chaddah, Co founder, Zomato, Mr Murli Parna, CEO, Sagar Ratna, Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, Celebrity Chef, Entrepreneur, Restaurant Owner and Mr Rakesh Banga, Founder, Farmland Premium Foods LLP. Lots of grievances on part of the Industry were put forward, the main being the License Raj, which surprisingly continues to harass the industry. Multiple government departments issue licenses for the same project often over lapping each other. It was really sad to know that to even start a Restaurant in our Country it needs anywhere between 20 to 30 licenses which may take over a period of six months to a year to acquire.

Another session to follow was Disrupting Food Pallet which was addressed by Mr Rajesh Sawhney, Founder, Inner Chef. Mr Nandan Reddy, Co founder, Swiggy, Mr Saurabh Kochhar, CEO, Food Panda, Mr Raghav Verma, Co -founder, Sunshine Teahouse Pvt. Ltd (Chaayos), Mr Ankur Gupta, Co founder, Drifter’s Cafe, And Mr Vikrant Mishra, Co founder, Eggjactly & Sushi House Mafia. The emphasis here was on the emergence of increasing online business in Food Retail and some innovative offline business models like Food Trucks, Food Aggregators and out of the box OSR models. These business ideas are in for a quantum leap in the coming years and do seem to be the disruptive force to regular Food Retail.

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The session Extraordinary journey of Extraordinary Chefs saw Ms Kavneet Sawhney, Director Culinary Communications, Founder of The Gourmet High Street talk us through with Ms. Nita Mehta, Celeberity Chef, Author and now a Restaurant Owner. She traced her journey from Ms. Nita Mehta being a housewife to now a Celebrity on her own. Ms. Mehta shared her personal experiences, her trials and tribulations along her journey. A real role model for any budding entrepreneur.

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I also got a chance to get clicked with the legendary Ms Nita Mehta and she came across as a very warm person. She also shared a beautiful message for all aspiring chefs.

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The last session “Going Beyond Borders” With Celebrity Chefs Ranveer Brar and Vicky Ratnani was a really enjoyable one with their most candid comments. Everyone at the event was waiting for this finale of the conclave and looking forward to their interaction with these both celebrity chefs. Ranveer as usual had his answers ready for everything with a heavy dose of wit in them, while Vicky was at his intellectual best. I also got a chance to get clicked with my favourite chefs.

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All in all a wonderful Conclave. Kudos to FICCI for organizing it and bringing forth the problems of this ever-expanding industry to the fore. The Conclave also had lunch catered by The Embassy, New Delhi.

Cocktails and Dinner was followed at the end of the conclave. I am really grateful to Vickrham and Foodmaniacs for making me a part of this amazing journey of learning about the food industry and a chance to rub shoulders with who is who of the food world.

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Add Some Raftaar To Your Food Scene…!!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Raftaar Lounge and Bar located at Club Road, Punjabi Bagh held a Blogger’s meet over lunch recently and I was glad to be a part of it.

First things first, its a huge property spread across three floors and ample parking space, and you don’t even have to bother for parking your car as they offer valet service as well. As the name suggests, the whole concept of the lounge and bar relies on speed. It has a high on energy and power packed ambience, the place is a complete gear of fine dining and clubbing with family and friends. The place is meant to indulge you into delicious food and drinks and makes you party all night with electronic dance music.

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This luxury lounge and bar is designed for an evolved nightlife experience. From the very boulevard it looks like an edifice of energy. Eerie from the first step and it gets a whole lot interesting as you walk up the stairway of the Raftaar, a nightclub/lounge that’s not just on the fringe, it’s completely detached from the real world, bringing back the treasured world of dance and entertainment with lifestyle experience.

With the expanse at three levels, each with different experience of its own like Sophisticated Car lounge, Rustic Bikers Place and first ever Private Pool Dining at Open Terrace, this place is just worth the visit.

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Raftaar has exactly what you need for a bull blown party and it comes bigger, bolder and stronger with its state of the art sound walls, fantastic lighting and sound system reverberating with gut – busting music ranging from national and international top charts, house, electronic and percussion. The staple entertainment also boasts of Live Acts – concerts and live bands that are edgy, raw and play with bone – jarring enthusiasm promising a night that’s erotic and high profile.

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The food menu is set as per the tastes and preferences of the Delhiites. With wide varieties serving the customers with their vegetarian as well as non – vegetarian menu, it has something to suit every taste bud. To start with they have Caesar Cardin Salad, Hawaiian Boat, and Oia Greek Salad with Feta en-routing with Dahi ke Kebabs, Malai Soya Chaap, Murg Tikka and Amritsari fish with Prawn Recheado and Finding Nemo. On your way to final destination with NH – 1 burger get fuelled up with energizing appetizers and drinks. Paneer Bemisaal, Dil Khush Malai Kofta, Pindi Chana, Murg Lahori with Amritsari Kulcha and Pesto Naan will be greeting you at the table. Special appearances of Parmesan Chicken, Kerala Prawn Curry and Grilled Chimichurri Fish will make the journey more lip smacking. Highway Glory and Alive by Brownie Sundae will be waiting for you at the finishing line before you get indulged into a sweet affair.

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Our culinary journey started with Nachos Crusted Fish Fingers, which were nice but slightly overcooked, they could have been crispier.
The Mogewala Tangri Kebab was a real treat. It was really properly cooked with meat melting in your mouth.
The Nimbu Adraki Murgi was another delicious dish made to perfection.The flavours of Nimbu and Adrak blending perfectly.
Their chilly chicken was yet another well made preparation nice n soft with the right amount of chillies.
The cocktails n mocktails to go along were equally presentable and mouthwatering.

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The main course had the Dal Makhni,Gosht Nihari and Methi Murg Lahori n must mention all three dishes were simply superb, easy on the palate with very subtle flavours.

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To round up this mouth watering journey of a scrumptious spread was the Dessert Sunday. It was like heaven for chocolate lovers, don’t miss it.

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All in all a great place to spend some cool time with your friends and family.Strongly recommended.

Raftaar - The High Speed Lounge & Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Fashion Brand Ira Goes Online…!!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Joining the growing trend of brick-and-mortar companies seeking to tap a chunk of the booming e-commerce sector, IRA, one of Bangalore’s most reputed exclusive designer collection stores for women offering high fashion at affordable prices is proud to announce the launch of its highly anticipated online store.

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As owner of the brand Som Dutta Singh puts it, “We’ve had enough of ‘business hours’. We now want to open 24X7 and what better way to stay connected with your clientele other than being online? We are thrilled to launch online shopping for IRA that’ll allow us to expand our reach and deliver across India.” IRA’s online store will offer the same collections as in-store, giving customers access to a wide range of ladies clothing and accessories and soon to launch complete children’s line and western wear.

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Some analysts and financial experts believe that e-commerce sales can touch a whopping $60 billion by 2020 which is a huge jump from the below $6 billion sales last year, driven by the manifold growth in smartphone users to more than 500 million across India. According to a report by UBS Securities India Pvt. Ltd., fashion wear, including apparel and footwear is expected to be the largest retail category online soon with sales of $3.9 billion, larger than sales of electronics and consumer durables online at $3.5 billion.

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“This significant milestone is one of our major multichannel offerings. Our customers will now have 24 hour access to the best of our fashion via their computers, smartphones and tablets from anywhere in India.” added Som.

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IRA showcases collections of designers like Gaurav Gupta, Ritika Bhasin, Manish Arora, Suneet Varma, IRA, IKSENA and many more.

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The e-tail market in India is still nascent and so far has been dominated by pure play e-commerce companies who have grown rapidly. Online retail is now a $14 billion market as compared to a $1 billion in 2012 fuelled by venture capital investors, who pumped in more than $9 billion over the past two years alone.

About IRA:

Bangalore houses some of the most fashion conscious women across the country and as such, the demand for couture wear is quite high. We bring to you a range of designer wear that is bespoke and select, minus the expensive tag. Our clothes are created by well known designers and are endorsed by famous faces. Eighty percent of our clothes are Indian wear as we believe that women look for more exclusivity when it comes to Indian wear. Our designers specialize in the same and are known to create designs that leave you wanting for more.

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We also house Western designer wear collections that are otherwise hard to find. This is not it; we also take up customized designing and stitching. So if you have a requirement, our designers will accomplish that for you. We also house wedding collections and not just for the bride, we take up orders for your bridesmaids too! We believe in affordable fashion.

To have a look of the collections please visit http://iradesignhouse.com/

IRA Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/IRA-House-of-Designers-952457658141643/

 

Vanilla Moon Mesmerizes Mumbai

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

‘Give her the right shoes, and she’ll conquer the world.’ These are the word that resonated across my ears as I had closer looked at the masterpiece which was crafted to romance her feet.
Vanilla Moon is a one-of-its-kind brand which painstakingly crafts footwear to amplify the attitude and confidence of womankind. It’s a brand that adroitly blends in Italian designs and Indo craftsmanship.

 

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The brand’s launched its new store in the island city’s prominent fashion districts on the 19th of November 2016 at Linking Road in Mumbai. Augmenting the brand’s philosophy, the store serves its guests and patrons an array of contemporary designs that redefine the essence of intricate workmanship.

 

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Since inception, Vanilla Moon masterpieces are crafted by the world finest Italian Shoemakers who constantly are in quest towards presenting the most elegant yet comfortable footwear.
The Linking Road, Mumbai store commands attention and has an air of opulence. The store launch was graced by Bollywood celebrities like Gul Panag.

 

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The Parisian styled store wordlessly expresses its unequaled panache with the collection it has to offer. Mirrored pillars complemented with muted wallpapers amplify the interiors and the collection of premium footwear discreetly bewilder the beholder’s senses.

 

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From luxury Heeled & Flat ankle boots, staple ankle boots and chic high heels to comfortable flats, fashionable sketcher to dazzling ethnic footwear.

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Vanilla Moon is a brand that offers a whole host of glamorous designers and an irresistible range of styles, heels and colours.

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With more and more fashion week audiences turning their gaze downwards, designers lavishing more attention on the shoes they send down the runway.

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It’s for the suburban chic to make the world bow down only start their admiration right from the footwear she flaunts.

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Hyatt Place, Gurgaon Celebrates 2nd Anniversary with a Lavish Sunday Brunch..!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Brunches to me are celebration of food, you get to explore so many tastes, cuisines and flavours under one roof, and what would you call a brunch that was organised to mark completion of 2 years of a modern essential business hotel, double celebration! Yes, Hyatt Place, a modern business hotel, strategically located in Udyog Vihar, the heart of Gurgaon recently completed two years and a grand celebration took place with an exclusive buffet laid out at their Gallery Cafe. Hyatt Place in association with CrazeMag and Saddi Dilli, two very successful online publications, invited a selected few bloggers to be a part of this celebration, and I was privileged to be one amongst them. A sweet gesture of sending a personalised invite made me look forward to the event even more.

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It was a warm Sunday afternoon and I headed to Hyatt Place with lots of excitement in my heart, I was looking forward to the lavish celebration brunch and also meeting fellow bloggers. A very warm welcome by the entire staff including the hotel General Manager, Ms. Maulina Gupta and Head Chef Gaurav started the event at the right note. While entering the gallery cafe, the dessert lay out caught my attention right away and I was already eyeing it. an array of cocktails and mocktails were being served and, a special Hoegaarden Beer counter was set. I tried the Mango Marry and this mango version on the likes of Virgin Marry was awesome. I really loved it. I also tried a orange mocktail and it too was made perfectly.

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Chef Gaurav, briefly explained about the menu of the day, highlighting the fact that it has got something for everyone, even preferences of children were kept in mind while designing the menu. After this brief introduction and welcome address by Ms. Maulina Gupta, we were all set to explore this culinary journey.

There was a wide range of breads like French Baguette, Multigrain Loaf, Pitta Bread, Soft Rolls, Focaccia Breads, Puffs etc.to choose from along with a plethora of dips, Roasted Vegetable & Parmesan Dip, Marinated Olives, Mustard Vinaigrette, Flavoured Butter, to name a few.

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Antipasto, which is an Italian word for ‘before the meal’, also had a lot of options to choose from, soups, salads, cold cuts and some traditional snacks were a part of this section. I tried Roasted Pear, Baby Spinach & Walnut Salad and it was amazing, I also tried Pineapple Carpaccio, Smoked Chicken with Arugula & Quinoa and Peppered Fish. There were other dishes like Squids, Khandvi, Dhokla etc as well and the spread had a wonderful balance for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. For me it was a very satisfying experience, I loved each item, and now my expectations from the main course and live counters was raised very much.

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Eggs to order and Pastas as per choice were being made tirelessly by the chefs at the live kitchen. For starters there was Murg Malai Tikka, Fish Fingers, Chilli Paneer and Corn & Cheese Poppers. Being a non-vegetarian I opted for Murg Malai Tikka and Fish Fingers, the tikka was melt in a mouth kind of an experience, the chicken was so tender and mildly spiced, and the marination made it very very delectable. The Fish Fingers were crispy outside and soft inside, just the way they should be.

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My next halt was the TEX MEX Live Station, which was serving Burritos, Quesadillas, Enchiladas, Nachos and Various type of salsa and refried beans. I tried the Chicken Quesadillas and they were out of this world, I could not resist a second helping and enjoyed every bite of it. I even propagated it to the fellow foodies.

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The next Live Station was of Barbecue and Grill, and the sheer aromas of meats getting grilled pulled me to this counter. I opted for some Lamb Kibbeh and Paneer Shashlik, as my son who was accompanying me is very fond of Paneer.

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This entire area where the Live Stations were placed was a gastronomic as well as a visual treat. The lawns with lots of greenery, cane furniture and wooden sheds made it an idle spot to sit back and enjoy tasteful meals. With approaching winters I am sure this place will be a favourite for many.

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Coming to the main course, it had Indian, Asian and Western items. My tummy was filling, but I had no intentions to miss the main course and hence I tasted a bit from every cuisine. The Indian section consisted of Murgh Musallam, Paneer Laung Lata, Methi Chana, Aloo Gobhi, Mirch Baigan ka Salan, Dal Makhani and Mutton Biriyani.

I picked the Mutton Biryani and my son settled for Dal Makhani and Murg Mussalam. The Biryani was undoubtedly the best I have tasted in recent times, the mutton was tender and juicy, the spices perfect and loved the fried onions that topped it. I started by taking only a spoonful of it, but after tasting it, I had to help myself with a better serving. The Dal and Murg Mussalam as per my son were equally outstanding, he being a blogger and a foodie has become an expert in Dal Makhani over a period of time, and he generously and willingly gave it a 5/5.

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The Asian Section had Vegetable Hakka Noodles, Seasonal Vegetable with Hot Garlic Sauce, Fish in Lemon Sauce and Chicken in Soya Ginger Sauce and I tried the Hakka Noodles with Fish and they were good too. By now I was already convinced with the quality of food at Hyatt Place, because I didn’t come across a single food item which was disappointing or below my expectations.

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The Western Section had Poached Fish in Tomato and Saffron Broth, Bouquet Erie of Vegetable, Double Baked Potato and Roasted Chicken. I tried the roasted chicken and the double baked potato, the chicken was nice and juicy, the potato too had a perfect taste, just that the outer shell of potato was slightly hard making it little difficult to cut through.

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Now coming to the best part of the brunch, the desserts, the spread was so beautiful and lavish that it was hard to choose on what to pick and what to leave.

But being a chocoholic, I am a little biased towards chocolate desserts and hence tried Chocolate Orange Dacquoise, it was dense and flavoursome, I quite liked it. The next I tried Burnt Chocolate Gateaux and I can again say that this was the best I have ever eaten, it was so moist and delicious that I ended up helping myself with two generous servings. There were drool worthy Indian Desserts as well, but I guess I gave my all to the Chocolate Gateaux but I am sure the other desserts would be as delectable as the ones I tried.

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There was a special counter for kids which served interesting pan cakes, assorted cupcakes, chocolate dumplings and more.

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Then there was a small cake cutting ceremony lead by Ms. Maulina Gupta and the entire Hyatt staff and it brought my pleasant day to an end.

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The experience at Hyatt was soulfully satisfying in both culinary and overall way. I really look forward to visiting the place again sometime soon. Here is to the fond memories of the day..!

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Enjoy your Sunday at Hyatt Place Gurgaon with SOCIAL SUNDAY BRUNCH at GALLERY CAFÉ where you choose from an elaborate buffet spread serving a wide selection of Indian, Asian and Western delicacies. Get spoilt for choice and select from an expansive range of salads, Antipasti, Live Counters and Desserts.Spend the day with us and we will make sure to make it a memorable one.

Hyatt Place Gurgaon Hosts SOCIAL SUNDAY

Timings: 12:00 Noon – 1600 Hours

Rates:

INR 1199/- plus taxes per person for non-alcoholic

INR 1699/- plus taxes per person for the beer buffet

INR 1899/- plus taxes per person for unlimited IMFL

 

Gallery Café - Hyatt Place Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Diabetics have a reason to rejoice.. Diabetic Food Trail is here..!!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

After receiving tremendous response and enormous success from its first edition, The Diabetic Food Trail® is all set, once again, to offer Diabetics, Pre-Diabetics and Health conscious individuals, a wonderful culinary experience at over 200 restaurants across Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore & Pune. The Diabetic Food Trail is presented by Britannia Nutrichoice Essentials in association with Biocon, the largest Indian Insulins Company. Britannia and Biocon have once again partnered with DFT, this year along with Fitternity.com, Health & Nutrition and Burrp!By extending their support, Britannia Nutrichoice Essentials and Bioconunderline their belief, in this ground-breaking health initiative with a profound social objective of triggering the food industry on the needs of healthy diabetic friendly cuisine.

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Keeping in mind, the hectic lifestyle of today’s youth and adults, it has become extremely difficult to maintain one’s health. Upon seeing this, they will be introducing two main attractions to this edition’s Diabetic Food Trail- 1) Diabetic Masterclasses 2) Diabetic Fitness Bootcamps. The Diabetic Masterclasses will help individuals understand the ingredients, nutritional values, read packaging labels, learn exciting recipes which will help elevate the eating habits of diabetics without compromising on taste. These masterclasses will be held by renowned nutritionists and chefs across the 5 cities. With special focus on getting fit, the Diabetic Fitness Bootcamps tailored for diabetics will be conducted by fitternity.com

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Held at the Hyatt Place, Gurugram the first Diabetic Masterclass event saw their executive chef Gautam share some interesting recipes incorporating the new range of Nutrichoice biscuits launched by Britania, keeping in mind the diabetic consumer.
The focus was to introduce you the diabetic or health conscious consumer to different recipes to fulfill their craving for sweets without running the risk of consuming sugar.
It was a really innovative and commendable effort by the chef, and I think overall its a great initiative.

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As Seema Pinto – Director, Semora Entertainment Works and the brain behind this initiative said, “The focus of the second edition is on Diet and Fitness in effective Diabetes management. For a person with diabetes, eating nutritious and well-balanced meals with a regular fitness routine is vital in managing diabetes. This applies to pre-diabetics and the health conscious too”

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Really a very thoughtful idea. The Masterclass held by Executive Chef Gautam was a treat to watch and a great learning curve for the ignorant as he touched upon various myths associated with consumption of sugar based sweets and it’s general intake in day to day life. All in all a nice learning experience specially for those associated with this dreaded ailment.

Neha Motwani, Founder – Fitternity.com, seemed very happy about partnering with the Diabetic Food Trail, this year. She said, “DFT is a great platform that enables users to experience healthy eating and manage diabetes in a fun and sustainable manner. It resonates with Fitternity’s philosophy of holistic fitness and helping users start & sustain their wellbeing journey through both aspects of ‘working out’ and ‘eating right’. We are excited to partner with the Semora team to introduce a never-experienced-before initiative that combines fun, food, fitness into one trail!”

The Diabetic Food Trail will continue to showcase special diabetic friendly menus across participating restaurants. The menus are engineered to be under a specific calorific meter with the help of chefs and acclaimed nutritionists from the country. Some of the restaurant favourites will also make it to these menus and these dishes will be reengineered to suit the requirements of diabetics.

Also for those who miss their sugar dose, the Diabetic Food Trail will also introduce a special Diabetic Dessert Trail which will allow diabetic patrons to sinfully indulge in a guilt free manner in their favourite dessert. The dessert found on this trail will use no processed sugars. I am already looking forward to be a part of this and I hope this initiative a kind thought reaches new heights sooner so that even the diabetic people can enjoy regular food and desserts guilt free.

Second edition of Windmill Festival – ‘India’s First International Children’s Festival’ to be held in Mumbai on January 14th and 15th

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Windmill Festival – ‘India’s First International Children’s Festival’ is back with its second edition, and is scheduled to be held on January 14th and 15th, 2017 at Reliance Jio Garden, BKC in Mumbai. The festival is a joint initiative of Event Capital and Tribe Asia. Windmill Festival, aimed at children of all age groups, has something to offer for everyone – from toddlers to pre-teens and the parents too!

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What sets Windmill Festival apart from other children’s festival is the content curation in place. The festival would include aday care centre, play areas, centre for robotics, centre for art, workshops, music and sports arena, and much more, all categorised to suit the needs of different age groups of children.

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Speaking about the genesis of the festival, Mr. Swaroop Banerjee, CEO, Event Capital, said, “Tim Hortons Festival in Canada, Easter Bunny Festival in Sydney, Cangary, Edinburgh, LA, Singapore and now even the Middle East celebrates the Kids Genre in the most professionally curated manner. The Edinburgh festival of Science came to Bangalore;theatre productions are making their way here with ‘Beauty and the Beast’ leading it. There has never been a better time for the Kids Outdoor Entertainment segment.The first edition of the Windmill Festival in Bengaluru saw over 6,000 families make their way to what was a truly internationally curated format, Mumbai makes it mainstream for us. Nowhere in the country, has a bracketed age festival focussed on 0-3, 4-7 and 8-11 years as a core.”

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Mirza Baig, Director IP, Tribe Asia, said, “Windmill Festival was started with a vision to make it a global property. Windmill Festival came to the audiences at the right time, and the experience was overwhelming for the first year in Bengaluru, with the focus on getting children outdoors. The festival saw families come together for spending quality time with kids, and for once the parents focused on ‘what the kids wanted over this weekend’.”

For the second edition of the festival, India’s leading online parenting platform, MyCity4Kids.com has come on-board as the ‘Online Parenting Partner’ of the festival. Commenting on the association, Banerjee added, “MyCity4Kids (MC4K) and my friends Vishal and Prashant the founders showed great faith in us the first year as partners, this year we take the partnership more seriously than ever and pave the way for the next three years with MC4K. I personally believe there is nobody in the segment as diverse, as informed and with such foresight equipped to deal with online parenting as a platform. We are proud to announce this partnership with them.”

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Prashant Sinha, co-founder and COO, MyCity4Kids, said, “We at MyCity4Kids are really excited to partner with the second edition of Windmill Festival, which is a first of its kind experiential festival for the entire family. We will be delighted to promote the festival with our 6 million mums and 2,000+ blogger community, and provide the online ticketing platform for the event.”

Entry passes for the Windmill Festival will go live in December 2016, and will be available on MyCity4Kids.com and ticketing platform, Insider.in.

About Event Capital

Event Capital is one of India’s fastest growing live event IP specialist company. A Laqshya Group Company, Event Capital was founded in 2013 by Mr. Deepak Choudhary in partnership with Mr. Alok Jalan (founder of the Laqshya Media Group). Over the past three years, Event Capital has curated and executed various live event IPs across genres like kids, music, fashion, lifestyle, trade and education.

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Event Capital has successfully created and acquired over 15 iconic live event IP brands including the Bollywood Music Project, Windmill Festival, Bike Festival of India, India Kids Fashion Week, Manifest, The Edutainment Show and Fulcrum Awards. With its bouquet of global festivals Event Capital speaks to over 20 million urban Indians and Millennials directly or Indirectly.

About Tribe Asia

Tribe Asia is in the business of producing, conceptualizing and curating global consumer engagement initiatives and live intellectual properties for brands, promoters and investors. We specialize in the design and delivery of high quality live communications. What will differentiate us is our own network of collaborations around the globe that help us in bringing to our clients’ clutter breaking and new age technology for their experiences.

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