DWC Brunch: Italian wines and Prankster food- Made for Each Other

The first Sunday of the New Year 2018 was one of the rare occasions when the Delhi Wine Club chose to organise a brunch instead of a traditional wine dinner, But nevertheless five Italian wines were poured, being imported by Lake Forest Wines, the sole distributor for wine and other alcoholic beverages in Haryana for 2017-2018. Following wines were served with 16-dish sit-down Lunch:

1.       Raphael Dal Bo Brut Extra Dry Prosecco

2.       Collefrisio Trebbiano D’Abruzzo 2016

3.       Luca Bosio Gavi de Gavi 2016

4.       Cantalici Baruffo Chianti Classico 2013

5.       Belcolle Barbaresco 2012

Prankster is a restaurant in Gurgaon with a difference-first the ambience and style-it is an attempt by the Banga (Inderjit Singh and Jasmeet Singh) brothers, the young, talented restaurateurs who gave a new definition and face to the restaurant business in NCR-what with the huge restaurant split into several independent sections reminiscent of your college days- with classroom, amphitheatre, library, parking lot, chemical lab, a lovers lane and even the stinking community urinal. They are all connected with a common bar as the nerve of the restaurant (I am told the bar table is the longest in Gurgaon). One could sit in any one of these formatted areas and reminisce over the college days, with dozens of dishes with a Prankster twist curated by Chef Harangad Singh who is as talented as he is humble.

The restaurant still lacks the wine culture in that a limited variety is served-although their exquisite bar has plenty to offer. We started with the curd rice Arancini which was a crunchy snack that went very well with Raphael Dal Bo Brut Extra Dry Prosecco as we started the afternoon, followed by 2 Egyptian pizzas (called Fatirs)- both vegetarian and non vegetarians. Raphael Dal Bo Brut Extra Dry Prosecco was the perfect fit with the snacks. The crisp, zingy bubbly from Glera grapes was a good match with all 3 snacks. Being extra dry and thus a slightly sweet (between 12-17 gms/liter) made it a comfortable match with the snacks before we moved to the ‘Classroom’ after a few pictures taken from the bar, of the members and their guests sitting in the Amphitheatre- a first time event even for the Prankster Restaurant.

The sit- down lunch started with Collefrisio Trebbiano D’Abruzzo 2016, served with veg and non-veg Sushi. The wine was fresh, fruity with notes of peaches and appears and generally a good balance, a perfect match with Sushi. But my favourite white wine was the light golden coloured Lucia Bosio Gavi di Gavi docg 2016. Made from the dry Cortese grape in piedmont, it was full on the palate and with long end it was truly divine with another excellent dish chhole bature doughnut which went well with carrot chutney but the chhole curry did not add much to the donut flavours.  Dahi Bhalle chaat was outstanding-but acted as sorbet and did not need wine with it.

The best was yet to come! The main dish combo of butter chicken with spices from Old Delhi, Lamb Chops and the Allepy Fish Curry were all with different discernible flavours but the Cantalici Baruffo Chianti Classico docg 2013 with balanced acidity, good structure, floral perfumes and fruity character with plums and cherries up front, long length, made the ripe tannins in the background a good match for two of the three dishes-not chicken as much. But the second red wine, a Belcolle Barbaresco docg 2012 –was a perfect match for the main course. The feminine, elegant and well-balanced wine with rose petal perfumed from the Nebbiolo grapes, was well structured and aged well enough to drink as it opened up nicely in the glass.

This was truly an amazing, relaxing four and a half hour- lunch- reminiscent of an Italian Christmas Lunch, was experiential.  With a lot of bonhomie, excellent food (16 dishes-each better than the other and the number  cut down from the original 19 for practical reasons) and an excellent service-not an easy job when 40+ people sitting in a class-room for around 30 are served 16 dishes and 5 wines-all at perfect service temperature. Thanks to Inderjit Banga, Chef Harangad and Neeraj Sachdeva of Lake Forest Wines and Sherry Ann Sudan, the National Sales and Marketing Manager  for making the afternoon happen.

Subhash Arora      

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Videos :

Welcomes DWC members to Prankster - Vol 1       Vol 2       Vol 3      Vol 4        

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