A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a fabulous #ZomatoMeetUp at Hotel Xenia to celebrate the stunning regional cuisine from the Lucian region in Italy and chef Mario Demuro's work. Aside from the delicious food we were treated to hands on classes from the chef (despite the Italian/English language barrier), front row seats at the bar and some serious blogger chat with my fellow writers.
Image from Posh Broke Bored
We sat in the glass conservatory which featured an open bar space for the lovely Chef to teach us how to make his exquisite dishes. I sat with Vivian , Jasminne from Posh Broke and Bored, and Tasmin from A Certain Adventure. We chatted all things food and blogging whichever as an utter joy to do. It can be a little tough when you're out blogging on your own, so meeting other foodie bloggers was really fun.
We dined on a range of beautifully designed dishes from the Lucian region, starting with a interesting take on beans and pasta. Served in a glass to show off the layers, the dish featured a soft bean cream matched with gently cooked pasta and topped with a rich foam. Next up a truly intriguing dish of potato with mushrooms and Parmesan. The chef created a shell of cooked potato which was filled with a mushroom cream, soft wild mushrooms and topped with a Parmesan crisp and a breaded poached egg yolk. The egg yolk was a really nice touch and a great surprise when cut into.
Our main course was a dish of roasted lamb wrapped in salty ham with spring vegetables, a unique macedonia vegetable collection, a timballo spinach and a bitter sweet fruit chutney. I found this quite rich but the freshness of the salsa helped to balance the lamb well.
We finished our evening with a fantastic dish of chocolate soil, strawberry sorbet, lemon and meringue pieces. This dish was a fruity sweet mix without being overly chocolatey, and featured plenty of texture thanks to the meringue pieces.
Thank you so much to Zomato and Hotel Xenia for hosting us! The evening was a true indulgence and a joy to meet my fellow bloggers. You can find my Zomato reviews here.
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