Fresca Pizzeria - Pre-launch dinner

It's a privilege to be dining in a restaurant before it's thrown open for public. And this is not the first time I've done this. It's a pleasure and a surprise each time because you don't know what's on the menu and there aren't many reviews to go by except the credibility of the restaurateur, in this case, Sandesh Reddy. He's already famous for his chocolates and desserts at Sandy's.

Fresca is located in the basement of United Colors of Benetton / Cascade, on KNK Road, Nungambakkam. A white board outside proudly announces "Opening Shortly".

Red ceilings, well set deep brown tables, white crockery, silver cutlery and black napkins - loved the color combination and the interiors. And, the overhead lamps were quite good. (S - you'll like the lamps and of course the food too)

The evening started off with Sandesh explaining the items on the menu card (there were 2 cards - 1 for the eggie-veggies and one for the non-vegetarians. There isn't much for the non-egg eating vegetarians.) There were 4 courses and each course had 2 items to choose from. (Of course, this is only for the pre-launch dinner. Once the restaurant opens, the menu card is going to be exhaustive) K and I decided to order one dish each and taste, so we get a feel of all the dishes in the menu. Whatte idea sirji!

We started off with small pieces of poached pears with blue cheese and I didn't realize pears can taste so good. It was served in a small cubical shot glass. The cutlery were replaced each time - truly fine dining.

Course 1 consisted of a cold soup - Ajo Blanco and a salad consisting of stewed figs, bocconcini, zucchini and honey balsamic. My pick - the salad. A big fan of cheese, I found the bocconcini chewy, yet soft and melting in the mouth. Perfect ! Not that the soup was any less better !

Each course was well paced; it allowed conversation to flow freely, as also prepared your taste buds for the next course.

Course 2 consisted of Three cheese ravioli and spinach gnocchi. The buttermilk in the spinach gnocchi was a magic touch, subtle yet flavorful. The cheese from the three cheese ravioli did a delectable dance in the tongue, making us feel as if there was a fourth cheese :-)

As we moved on to course 3, it was past 1 hour. In times where restaurants look at chasing out people  and having waiters hover around, it was quite a refreshing change. (Sandesh - would you let us dine for 2 hours even after you have thrown it open for public?)

Course 3 was pizzaaaaa. When the interiors suddenly became hot, we realized the pizza was in the oven. And I knew the pizza was ready, because I could smell something charred. I'd ordered the margherita - the traditional pizza and K ordered the quattro fromaggi - four cheese pizza. Each of us were served half a pizza. The pizzas were thin, like an appalam, and the cheese dripping from them - mmmmm - just loved it. The crust of the margherita was good. On a couple of slices the corners became dry. You could see curved corners of the pizza left out on most plates. Perhaps this is the difference between wood-fired pizzas and oven made ones?. I've eaten wood fired pizzas and the corner crust is soft, even when the pizza is taken out of the fridge.

The pesto with artichoke pizza made its round to the table. It was too pesto-y, garlic-y, olive-y and Sandesh felt this could be because of the lack of cheese. This would be an awesome pizza if we toned down the pesto, garlic and olive flavors. It just hit me right there, and I couldn't eat more than one bite. Of course, this was harried cook's favorite. Ah taste buds :)

And it was time for dessert. Without a second thought, I ordered a Tiramisu. K ordered a bocca negra.

As we waited for the dessert to be served, came in small cups - the palate cleansers - made of green apple and lime - it just cleansed your tongue of all the cheese and olive oil, and had it fresh and ready for the dessert.

Tiramisu had the perfect blend of alcohol, well soaked in the sponge; And it also had nutella :-D. I sure could have managed one more, but will keep it for another day. Loved the texture of the bocca negra - There's nothing called too much chocolate :-)

Commenting on the non-vegetarian dishes would be un-fair and I'd leave that to those who sampled those dishes.

Sandesh - take a bow ! We'll drop by again once you open for public !

(Do pardon the quality of photographs - I didn't take my Nikon with me, and had to make do with my Samsung phone)