Tuscana Pizerria, Chennai (it’s so much more than a pizerria that it should be called pizetcetra)

Like I have mentioned earlier I enjoy trying out different kinds of cuisines or eat-outs & this Sunday we chanced upon a wonderfully different place.  I relish the idea of going to a restaurant which strives to offer some new cuisine or at least a new feel. Earlier I wrote a post on Sparky’s Diner which tries to represent the casual style of America. Tuscana Pizerria, as the name suggests tries to represent fine dining & Italian cuisine. Not tries, does represent the Italian food and art. Yes, art…they have put up some excellent paintings. Now ,I am no art expert here but I can guarantee that no body, even the person who has least interest in paintings can ignore the scenic paintings which adorn the walls of this Italian cuisine outlet. I regret to the utmost that I hadn’t taken my camera with me as it wasn’t a planned visit. Looking at those paintings made me realize why art thieves exist (now I understand Neal Caffrey of White Collar more & admire the flick- The Thomas Crown Affair more). Tuscana, which is located in the posh Wallace Gardens, Numgabakkam area of Chennai is undoubtedly one of the finest dining area in terms of ambiance and food. Our visit to Tuscana was a chance visit. We have been hearing about this place for past one year since it opened in November 2009 but never got a chance to check it out. This Sunday when we were just ambling around Wallace Garden, thinking of a place to eat we just happened to spot Tuscana. We were about to leave the place considering the parking headache. We were hungry, lazy, not in a mood to squeeze  the car or abandon it 2 kms away from the destination and then walk to work up the appetite as it was already pretty worked up, in fact almost fatigued ( we had had just 2 slices of toast and a poached egg for b’fast…what ? what are you frowning at? I know Sunday b’fasts are special but didn’t you read the letters l-a-z-y just now), just then we saw the board which read ‘Valet Parking’. A sigh of relief and a quick mental tick mark. We walked into the restaurant and we were welcomed by a very good looking Italian (?) gentleman who asked us if we had a reservation (the place was quite full and like Sparky’s full of expats) and was upset to know that we didn’t. He requested us to be seated at the small reception area from where you can see the kitchen area through a semi-glass wall. After a quick discussion with someone in the restaurant he came back and led us to a table meant for two. A waitress quickly pulled the chair out for me and saw to it that we were perched up comfortably. I was too awed by the paintings and smitten by the very vibrant colored cutlery and dining table accessories to even smile at her let alone thank her. As soon as I came back to my senses I looked at my husband and both of us said simultaneously –“NICE” which sounded more like “NAAEECE”. One thing I want to mention here is that although this place is wonderfully done, it is small and please do not mistake it to be a kind of place to cater to your needs of having tables far apart from other guests and have a pool or garden to look at, like you would on a very special romantic occasion like marriage anniversary, or proposal etc. This is a nice place to get your spouse, family or friends for a nice tasty lunch or dinner in a very pretty set up for a special occasion (not romantic although). It's full of people but it’s not noisy, although you can overhear some alien languages like Spanish or Italian from across the other tables. In the backdrop a good selection of music can be heard.

Anyways let’s get down to Business- FOOD. The menu is categorized in 7 parts- Bread & Foccacia (you get Bruschetta here-some 8 options are there); Soups & Salads; Pizzas – Veg & Classic (Non-veg); Pastas; Gnocchi & Others (includes lasagna and ravioli); Desserts; Shakes & Smoothies (includes chillers & aerated drinks).

We ordered  a 9” Classic pizza –Bolognese, Lasagna di pollo e Asparagus and a fizzy drink which had strawberry, mint and lemon – I can’t recall the name. The pizza had an exceptionally thin crust, I know this is something that is taken pride about but functionally it got too soggy to cut with a fork & knife or to be taken into hands and eaten. I am sure all those who rave for thin crusts would love this but personally I would have preferred a softer and fatter crust- not just because I enjoy soft breads also because of the ease of eating it. The sauce of the pizza which by the name you can understand was Bolognese (we opted for beef as suggested by them—another mental tick coz I hate it when the people taking orders have no clue as to what’s being served) was just perfect with marinara sauce as base and wonderful toppings of mushrooms, spinach mozzarella and a dollop of shave Parmesan. The pizza was just excellent and very different from what you normally get at pizza outlets. It just defied my idea of not ordering a pizza at a specialty restaurant. My argument being that we have pizza anyways so let’s order something else. It was hubby’s call to order a pizza and lasagna. 

Lasagna di pollo e Asparagus- this is just half the portion. You can see the layers of chicken,asparagus, pasta, and the sumptuous layer of cheese.

The Lasagna di pollo e Asparagus was layers of pasta filled with chicken & asparagus along with Béchamel sauce and feta. The whole lasagna put together was a smooth and soft casserole which while eating feels like tender and light but by the time I finished my portion (we had split it into two) I was like it’s quite filling. It just tasted the way it should smooth and creamy with a nice hint of asparagus although I liked the pizza more and this version of lasagna was a slightly bland choice.

The strawberry fizz drink which was served in a BIG glass was just superb. We were too full to order a dessert, maybe next time.

I almost forgot on giving an account on the prices.  As expected it was a little pricey. Our pizza was Rs.405, lasagna was Rs. 520/- and the drink was Rs. 155/-.  So if you include a dessert which would be around Rs. 200-/- and soup of Rs. 200/- (you can’t have so much), meal for two would come to Rs.1800/- Considering that you can’t have a soup, a drink and a dessert with the main course, my guess would be – a meal for two (2 main course, 2 drinks/ soups and 2 desserts) would cost Rs. 1200/- to Rs.1500/-

 A little bit of trivia- the MD of this place Mr. Vipin Sachdeva, started his venture into the food business by opening  Subway franchise in Chennai and then down the years he decided to pen his own brands starting with Fresca- Italian Gelato (ice cream parlours) and then Tuscana in 2009 and Kryptos by Willi (who is the director and COO of his food business team) in Sep’2010. The new ventures to look out for are ‘ Burgundy’s’ (a 24 hr dine in restaurant) , ‘The Jade Wok ‘( will serve authentic Chinese cuisine ) and ‘ The B-Bar’( a social music bar).

This is the place to be if you are hunting for a place to not only offer you authentic Italian food but also make you feel that you got a glimpse of Italy through the paintings. After our lunch the very courteous staff bid us adieu and brought our car in no time. I think they know that they feed us so well that we can’t stand  for a long time with a bloated tummy. The tummy which had hunger pangs and growling when we walked in, was now loaded with cheese and pasta and was in no way going to complain for another couple of hours and we headed home for a nice Sunday siesta.

Pizza, Italian Pizza, Burgundy, chennai eat out, Pizza outlet, Fine dinning, Kryptos by Willi, willi chennai, willi the chef,Tuscana, Tuscana Pizza outlet, restaurants with Valet Parking, Bread & Foccacia, Foccacia, Bolognese  

Atta Girl!!

Well, that’s what I wanted to say to myself when I made a pineapple pound cake with “Atta” as in wheat flour. I never thought that a cake made with wheat flour could actually be as tasty as a cake made with refined flour. May be it wasn’t exactly a baker's delight but it was really tasty. Now, as usual, I later learnt that there does exist a concept of wheat flour cakes. But when I had started or rather pushed…nah thrown into the journey of baking a wheat flour cake by the husband, I had no clue that baking wheat flour cake isn’t uncommon. I kept on arguing with him that have you ever heard of a Atta cake or have you ever seen at a baker’s place an option of  Wheat flour cake. But him being him until and unless you give him a logical reason, he wouldn’t stop pattering (I don’t know if that’s even a word, but that’s what it sounded like). I had nothing much to loose as it was Saturday night and we were through with our dinner (my first pizza in my new oven…a post on it later someday) and it was only 8 p.m., I didn’t mind baking a simple cake. And his argument was just too simple to refute…"if you can bake bread with wheat flour, why not a cake". I am not an expert cook (am not even a cook) so obviously I didn’t know the exact reason but I had an idea that it’s something to do with gluten. I muttered under my breath “gluten…leavening agent" but quit arguing after looking at my husband’s puckered eyebrows. So, I went ahead with a very simple recipe (didn’t want to waste time and energy over something which was to go into the bin directly). The only thing I changed from my usual Pineapple flavored pound cake recipe was adding an extra pinch of baking powder and baking soda…of course apart from substituting the refined flour with wheat flour (I use Ashirwad atta, just in case that matters although I don’t think so).

The Pineapple Pound Cake Recipe

Here you go:

I  am giving a lot of details hence the process looks lengthy. For any one who has baked before the steps are simple Pre-heat oven (if its not convection), Grease & dust the baking tin. Combine dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Combine the wet and the dry ingredients; mix well. Put in the baking tin and bake away!

Pre-heat the oven only if it’s an ordinary baking oven and not a microwave convection oven. Pre-heat for 30 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Grease a baking tin with butter and dust it with refined flour (ha! It finally made its way into the picture). To dust it you need to put pinch of flour in a scattered manner. Shake the baking tin nicely so that the flour spreads out. If there is excess flour (lumps) on the tin, invert the baking tin over the kitchen and pat on its back gently.

In a bowl combine the following:

• 250 gms wheat flour
• 250 gms powdered sugar (you can powder sugar in a mixer or you can use granulated sugar but that will just increase your effort and time, in case using granulated sugar add baking soda in the end that is just before putting the batter in the baking tin and mix well)
• 1 level tsp baking powder
• 1 level tsp baking soda

In another bowl mix the following:

• 1 tsp pineapple essence
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp oil
• ½ cup milk

Now add the wet contents to the dry one and mix well. The batter’s consistency should be that of condensed milk. You can use a blender, I just mixed with a fork real fast.

Just taste the batter for sweetness. If you love it real sweet, you can add more sugar but generally this proportion is ideal.

Now put the batter in the baking tin and bake it for 80 minutes at 160 degree C if baking in a microwave convection oven (just using the convection mode) no microwaving is required.

In case of a conventional baking oven, pre-heat oven 375 degrees F for 30 min (mentioned earlier) and after placing the baking tin, bake for 60 minutes at 325 degrees F.

Notes:

If the cake is wet when you check by inserting a knife then bake it for further 10 minutes.

You will notice that the sides of the cake is slightly darker that is because the wheat flour cake takes long to cook specially at the center so by then the sides darken a lot but the dark crust tastes really good.

I later learnt that in case of wheat cakes one should add one egg extra. If you decide to try that out then reduce the baking time by 10 minutes. And check after 40 minutes to avoid a disaster. In case the center is wet and wobbly like pudding bake for another 40 minutes, if its just moist then bake for another 30 minutes.

The Manchurian Candidate!

Okay there were candidates, pros-cons with each and then the quick election. It was saucy and spicy. And it was accepted by the audience (my dear husband) well. For all those who are wondering that when did the classic movie Manchurian Candidate become saucy, I’ll explain- It didn’t.

I was just trying to come up with an interesting title for the post other than the typical -Soya Chunk Manchurian. This post is about Soya Manchurian and how soya got elected over the other more popular candidates like chicken, paneer (cheese cottage) and gobi (cauliflower) in my kitchen district.

Well, I had just reached home after a relaxing day at office and I wanted to cook something nice yet easy. Considering I had an exceptionally relaxing day at office, I didn’t really want to spoil the day by getting busy and sweaty in kitchen-why break the monotone. There was rice in the fridge which I knew I have to use coz I really don’t like stuff lying in the fridge for more than a day. Even this rice got into the fridge coz the husband announced after I put the rice on stove that he had a lunch appointment. Obviously then there’s no question of me coming home alone for lunch. So, in (fridge) went the rice and out came the mayonnaise and tomatoes. I quickly made a sandwich & packed it for lunch. That’s how I had a pot of rice leftover which I wanted to use the same day itself.

Rice was on the list for dinner’s menu tonight. And a quick peep into the fridge and I knew it was going to be Chinese fried rice. The spring onions had to be used. Chinese fried rice & Chicken Manchurian –lovely combination but there was no chicken at home. No time to sit and make paneer and no patience to cut the cauliflower heads, dip it in the corn flour mix and then fry that separately etc etc. Suddenly it struck me, how about Soya chunk Manchurian! Believe me, I thought I am the first one to get this ingenious idea until I googled just before writing this post. Anyways, I quickly took out the soya chunk and dipped it in boiling water and it puffed up in two minutes. Drained the soya and kept it aside. This is something my husband (let’s call him ‘S’, his name is real long to keep typing) taught me. Oh yes! I had never had soya chunks until I got married, the general curries made with soya chunk is still not in my list of things I like. So I used to make it really differently, generally substitute it for Chana in chana masala recipe only then I started liking it. Okay so going back to Soya Manchurian, this is what I did with it.

1. Soak soya chunk in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain. Keep aside.
2. Heat oil in wok, add some finely chopped garlic, spring onion and ajinomoto & about 1tsp of ginger garlic paste.
3. Throw in a dash of soya sauce, tomato sauce (I used tom-chi), and Schezwan sauce. A little bit of vinegar and pinch (just  a pinch) of sugar.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. In the end add the drained soya chunks and mix it well with the sauce.

And tada- Soya chunk Manchurian is ready. This is how mine looked.

It definitely doesn’t taste as good as chicken or gobi but it’s a close contender for paneer. The soya chunks have no taste of their own so the more you let it fry in the sauce or simmer in the sauce the better. Even if my soya chunks won the election by default, this Manchurian Candidate delivered more than what it seemed to be promising when I started!