Firsts! A Review and Awards...

This has been an extremely busy week for me, but in a wonderful way. I had an excellent week of work, blogging, cooking, baking & eating, lots of time spent with my little girl & family, and I got my first set of foodie awards from not one, but three of my blogger friends! :)

This week, I also got to meet with a great group of food enthusiasts in my city. It was really nice to share a meal with people who shared my love of good food. The Chennai Food Guide group was invited to review a new Italian restaurant in the city - Tuscana on Chamiers by Chef Willi.

The building that houses the restaurant is a charming old bungalow, and the interiors were pleasant and inviting. I especially loved the 2-10 seater private dining rooms scattered all around the two level bungalow. We had the pleasure of dining with the owner, Vipin Sachdev, whose passion and love for quality and for food was very evident. Chef Willi made an appearance too, and regaled us with some stories from his youth.

Now, on to the main part. The food. On the whole, the food was very good. We started with a very simple, but extremely flavorful classic rosemary & rock salt focaccia. It was exactly the way a focaccia should be. Crispy, golden crust, and soft fluffy interior. It was delicious, especially dunked in extra-virgin olive oil. There was another focaccia too. But I don't remember it. This was followed by soup & pizzas. The soup was a chunky vegetable minestrone, which was a lot more flavorful than I expected it to be. The pizzas, which are baked in a real wood-fired oven, were good too. There were both vegetarian and chicken pizzas to go around.

By the time we got to the mains, I was already a little full from eating too much focaccia (lesson learned!). The first main that came around was the Veal Scaloppini. Ah! They were perfectly cooked, well-seasoned medallions of veal, with great sides of mushroom, tomatoes & capers and pasta. I could have eaten just those sides for lunch and left very satisfied. They were excellent.

Then came the chicken breast escalopes. I somehow wished it hadn't. The chicken breasts were overcooked, dry and under seasoned. Very disappointing. Maybe if they trim the breast down so it is evenly thick, it would help with uniform cooking, because eating the thinner, narrow end of the breast was really not a pleasant experience.

But I got over it very quickly, when I saw the Lamb Shanks Ossobuco. Those lamb shanks were so juicy and tender & falling off the bone. Yes, they were slightly under seasoned, but after I added some salt, they were just perfect. I wish I had tried some of the Char grilled Swordfish they brought next, but I had no more room. The skin looked crispy and the flesh moist, and I am sure it would have been delicious.

There were some nice vegetarian options too, which I did not try. The one that looked most appealing to me was the Gorgonzola & Cream Cheese Tart. It was pretty, but the crust did look a little dried out. I didn't try it, so I won't say more.

Dessert is always the highlight of the meal for me. Tiramisu and Panna cotta with a berry compote were brought around. The panna cotta was very pretty with the tiny specks of vanilla, but a tad too sweet for me. Especially the compote. Then, I tasted the Tiramisu, and forgot everything else for a few minutes. It was really, really good. What I liked best about it, apart from the texture, was that it was only mildly sweet. It was the perfect end to an excellent meal.

The service was very good too, but then again, we had the owner of the restaurant at our table, and I am sure that makes a difference! Thanks again to Vipin Sachdev & Chef Willi of Tuscana on Chamiers, and my new friends at Chennai Food Guide for a great lunch & wonderful company! Overall, I really enjoyed most of the food, and I would go back for more.

Now, on to my first awards! Yay, how exciting! :) You can go to my new 'Awards' page to see them.

First, I received awards from Xinmei of Pudding Pie lane. She is an extremely talented (and very young!) cook and photographer. Her posts are so funny, and always have me in stitches. And her recipes are really great too! You really should visit her site.

Then, Manu from Manu's Menu also dropped in to tell me she had left me an award. She is such a great cook and I absolutely love Manu's recipes, which range from Italian to Indian. Each of her dishes look and sound absolutely delicious and I wish I lived closer so I could sample them - especially her picture perfect macarons!

Finally, Mary from Inside a British Mum's Kitchen, left me a couple of awards! I have been visiting her site for a few weeks now, and she makes some amazing & healthy food for her family! I wish she would adopt me just so I could eat some of the stuff she makes.

These bloggers are all fantastic & I am so grateful that each of them thought my blog was good enough for one of these awards! I hope you all visit their sites and don't forget to tell them all I said 'hi'! :)

Okay, now I am supposed to share seven things about myself. Here goes-
1. My faith is very important to me. I love God and the relationship I have with Him.

2. I love colors. My favorite color has changed several times in my life. And now I finally realize I can never choose one color. They're all so beautiful. However, there are some shades of blue and green that I cannot bear.

3. I LOVE nutmeg and lime. These are two flavors that rock my world.

4. I am a huge LOTR fan. (Does that make me sound geeky?)

5. One of my ambitions in life is to learn cheese-making. Right now, I can make my own cottage cheese and marscarpone. I really would love to learn more.

6. I used to be a cat person, but then this crazy, ugly dog came into my life and changed me.

7. I am very, very gifted at drawing apples & eyes. I don't know how that will help me in life, but it might. You never know.

Now, to pass on these awards. I would like to pass these awards on to three of my blogger friends.

1. Sharizat of 1000+1
2. Jackie of Galexi Cupcakes
3. Rachel of Eaternal Bliss

I love these three blogs & the bloggers are such fabulous people. I'm so glad I've met them! You should visit their sites & get to know these fantastic people! Sharizat, Jackie & Rachel, please stop by my awards page & pick up your awards... I am so happy to pass them on to you!

Disclaimer: The review of Tuscana on Chamiers was not a paid review.

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