When you think of Italian food, pasta is one of the first things that comes to mind. Speciality Restaurants’ Cafe Mezzuna is celebrating the Italian favourite with a special food festival, ‘Pasta La Vista’. The cafe’s Forum Mall location is hosting the month-long food fest, which features an indulgent menu curated by chef Sabyasachi Gorai aka chef Saby and team Mezzuna. My Kolkata dropped in for a bite of the specials
All photos by Amit DattaOne of the highlights of the menu is a Parmesan Cheese Wheel Pasta, which is dressed inside a huge wheel of cheese. A 32-kg wheel of parmesan has graced the table at Mezzuna for this special dish. The core of the giant wheel is melted with a blow torch. Cooked spaghetti is then dressed in the molten cheese and served with a dash of truffle oil and truffle shavings for an umami twist
The a la carte menu includes vegetarian, non-vegetarian and vegan options. The pastas are handmade and eggless. In picture, a Linguine pasta with calamari and green chillies, in a charred leek sauce
The Conchiglie al Forno is for meat lovers. The shell pasta is stuffed with mutton ragu (minced meat cooked with tomatoes), served in a tangy tomato salsa and topped with cheese
Nuvala is the shrimp pasta on the menu, made with the sheet-like nuvole pasta. Hiding under the sheet is a generous serving of flavourful shrimp
The Gnudi pasta on the menu is a cousin of gnocchi. Instead of potato flour, semolina is used to make this soft Italian dumpling. The vegetarian pasta dish has a nutty pistachio pesto, drizzled with lemon butter sauce, and topped with crispy artichoke crumbs
Another vegetarian showstopper is the Creste di Gallo — ruffled, crescent-shaped pasta in a caramelised onion cream sauce with crunchy and earthy chopped walnuts. It is all topped with some shredded blue cheese for a twang of sharpness
The Casarecce is a tribute to the Sicily region of Italy. The short twisty pasta is dressed in a heady truffle butter, with a generous amount of juicy grilled mushrooms and parmesan
The Agnolotti pasta dish has pretty parcels of cheerful pink and yellow filled with fluffy asparagus mousse and laid on an aromatic lemon cream. It was finished off with toasted almonds and a tomato-based pasta sauce. The pasta gets its pink colour from beetroot while saffron gives it the yellow tint
Rigatoni is penne with a shot in the arm. The dish at Mezzuna is served with butternut squash cream and herby sage butter. Bits of fresh burrata on the top adds to the creaminess
Speaking about the festival, chef Saby said: ‘Just like India, Italy too has a varied topography. While the cities around the Alps love their riso (rice) with parmigiano and balsamic, down south around the sea, Italians boast of their fresh mozzarella. One thing that stays constant is pasta. With this gourmet spread, we intend to serve quality Italian ingredients and flavours in Kolkata’
The ‘Pasta La Vista’ festival will continue till the end of December at Cafe Mezzuna in Forum Mall. Drop in any day between 12.30pm and 11pm. The pocket pinch is Rs 495 onwards