published in Frappe Sept 2010
History was made (!!) at the Pod’s Italia on the evening of the 25th last month.
Not one but two wonderful and ‘each-of-them-very-opinionated’ couples UNANIMOUSLY agreed on this : That the Tartufo pizza was the best pizza they had ever eaten in a long time ! But first, a look at the start to the evening before we go about delivering final verdicts on Italia’s crisp new pizza menu lovingly created by Chef Rajesh, Director of Food Production at The Park.
Shravan Subramaniam and his lissome wife Rupa along with Mithun Sacheti and his winsome wife Anjali arrive at the Pod. The women are visions in white and the men, all dashing and dapper in black ! Conversation flows like the cocktails. After all, the guys are ‘round-tablers’ and the women….well…do women ever need any catalyst for conversation ?! So over martinis, caprioskas and beer, the buddies catch up. Rupa’s just finished doing up their home, Mithun insists that he hasn’t lost weight, “it’s just the perfectly-fitting shirt dude”; Anjali is showing me her angelic-looking baby daughter’s picture and Shravan pores, pensively, over the menu.
We decide to uproot the entire (imaginary) vegetable patch at Italia and have them as toppings on our pizzas. So, over the next couple of hours, we decide to try the entire gamut of them and do a countdown of sorts. Once the order is placed, it’s a pleasant wait with baskets of warm foccacia helping us bide our time.We can’t decide what’s superior: the ones with provolone, sundried tomato and basil or the ones with taleggio, red onion and rosemary. Both, absolutely delish !
You can smell the Tartufo even before it hits our table ! The woody, musky black truffle shavings and alba truffle butter headily heighten the flavours of the taleggio, porcini and morel mushrooms. Two wedges down and you’re almost reeling under its sharp aroma and strong flavour . That’s when history is made !
Shravan and Rupa (self-confessedly) quite diametrically opposite in their tastes nod away (mouths full) that this could easily be Pizza number 1; never mind that they haven’t tasted the others as yet. Mithun has fallen silent and is eyeing the one remaining wedge, looking to see if anyone else wants it. Anjali, smilingly, inches it towards him. “This is the best pizza this evening” they concur.
Once the Tartufo has been crowned as the king of the vegetarian pizzas, we sample a whole stack of others: the Tricoloré which is a beautiful salad pizza with baby spinach, rocket leaves, cherry tomato, parmesan shavings and with a dijon and balsamic dressing. This we crown- the queen. The Fresco has pesto, bocconcini, marinated avocado, tomato and olives. Filling and very nice too ! The Siciliana with its marinated artichoke hearts, sundried tomato, grilled zucchini, goat cheese and chilli is “too spicy” for Mithun and doesn’t really make a lasting impression on the others either. The Quattro Formaggi with a generous blanket, almost, of mozzarella, fontina, parmesan and gorgonzola cheeses is a heavy number. We feel that the chefs could go easy on the cheese and top up the servings of asparagus and toasted pinenuts.
No room for desserts but who can refuse the chocolate grand- marnier pot?!! While we wait for dessert to arrive, I sneak to the wood-fire oven area where dear Chef Rajesh (a culinary wizard,if you ask me !) and the ever-smiling Chef Archana treat me to a Pollo-e-carciofi topped with cacciatore braised chicken, marinated artichoke, asparagus and taleggio.(You absolutely must try this slice of sublimity!). Tartufo may be “King” but then comes the Emperor, the King of Kings-the Pescatora with its tender bits of arctic scallops, lobster and prawns; juicy semi secco cherry tomatoes and fragrant pesto. Oh what a pity the others are vegetarians and can’t taste this Primo of all Pizzas at Italia !!
I almost tell them that but they’re all digging into their desserts ( organic vanilla bean pannacotta, hazelnut and ricotta torte and the chocolate grand-marnier pot ) and looking like they’re in another realm altogether. I don’t have the heart to bring them down to earth. So, I dig my spoon into the deep dark depths of the chocolate pot and levitate to join them.
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