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Special Chocolate Brunch : Flying Elephant, Park Hyatt, Chennai

3/6/2016

1 Comment

 
The Sunday Brunch at the 'Flying Elephant' (which incidentally is celebrating its 3rd Anniversary this week ) is by itself a very expansive and an exquisite experience. Then the Chefs at Park Hyatt decided that they want to try something different last week and had a 'One day only' Special Chocolate Brunch where they integrated the finest chocolates, whose beans have originated in exotic lands like Madagascar, Peru, Venezuela and Ecuador into their dishes. The result was definitely 'Out of the World'. I have tried to document the dishes and the ingredients.
The Flying Elephant is a multilevel restaurant having many different 'stations'. 

The Welcome Drinks

Exotic Cocktails and some Chocolate infused Mocktails


Picture
A Orange and Vodka based Cocktail
Picture
The Range of 'Mocktails'
 Sopa de Abobora E Coco : Butternut Squash and Coconut Soup, Pumpkin Seeds, Coconut Cream Cilantro..Garnished with Award winning Pure Equadorian Lemon Grass Chocolate.
The soup perhaps set the mood for the rest of the brunch. It was like nothing I had tasted before with the ingredients blending perfectly. 
Picture
Sopa de Abobora E Coco Soup
Picture
The Soup simmering in the bowl
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'The Star' Lemon Grass flavoured Equadorian Chocolate
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The Chocolate being grated as a garnish
Makki Rolls
I tried a selection of Makki Rolls which contained 
Asparagus, Cucumber, Tofu & Spring onions as Vegetarian Options 
Crap Stick, Salmon and Prawn Tempura as the Non Veg Options.
Served along with Wasabi, Pickled Ginger and Soya sauce
Picture
Makki Rolls
Salad
Melon & Wild berries Salad with an Apple Cider Dressing with Organic South India Raw Cocoa Nibs. 

The origin of the Nibs was from Coorg !
Note : Cacao nibs are simply chocolate in its purest form, before anything else is added. They are dried and fermented bits of cacao beans. The texture of our raw organic cacao nibs is similar to that of roasted coffee beans. They have a deep chocolate flavor which can be described as slightly bitter and nutty.
Picture
Melon & Wild Berries Salad
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The raw Cocoa Nibs from Coorg !
From The Charcoal Grill
Grilled Polenta Cheese cake with Pomegranate salad and Honey Balsamic Reduction. the Polenta had 72 % Ghana Dark chocolate integrated into the dish. 
I personally loved the dish...
Note : Polenta is a Northern Italian dish consisting of Cornmeal which is boiled cooled and either had in a porridge form or made like a loaf and then grilled. (Ricotta, mascarpone, Sugar and Vanilla are mixed into the Polenta for the Cheesecake)
Picture
Grilled Polenta Cheese cake
From the Rotisserie
Whole Chicken Skewered on a spit . The Chicken was marinated with Honey Mustard and Rosemary served with Roasted potatoes, Pineapple and onions.  
This dish was a hot favourite amongst the diners and was as yummy to taste as it looked !!
Picture
Chicken from the Rositterie
From the Tandoor
Paneer Tikka : This was definitely a paneer tikka with a twist. This Tikka has a stuffing consisting of Madagascar 70 % Dark Chocolate, indian spices and Amul Cheese ( why Amul Cheese !!! I know not !! )..Another awesome combination !!
Chilgosa malai Tikka : Boneless Chicken with Garlic, Hung curd, Cream, cheese and Pine nuts. 

Note : Chilgosa Pine (Pinus gerardiana )  derived from Persian it means 40 nuts in one cone), is a pine native to the northwestern himalayan region, afghanistan, Pakistan and Northwest india.
Picture
Paneer tikka
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Chilgosa Malai Tikka
RISOTTO
Cauliflower and Vanilla Bean Risotto : Mint oil, Hazelnut containing 100 percent cacao Gold Venezuelan Chocolate.
Another innovative dish which blended the chocolate in beautifully !!
Picture
Cauliflower and Vanilla Bean Risotto
Bistro
​Tenderloin Steak : Crunchy Garlic and Potato blinis, Broccolini, Poivrade Jus

Note : Poivrade sometimes called 'sauce au poivre', is a peppery sauce in French cuisine. It is made of a cooked mirepoix thickened with flour and moistened with wine and a little vinegar, then heavily seasoned with pepper.

BTW : 
Mirepoix
 (pronounced "meer-pwah") is a combination of chopped carrots, celery and onions used to add flavor and aroma to stocks, sauces, soups and other foods :)
Picture
Tenderloin Steak
Late Breakfast
Eggs Florentine :
Creamed Spinach, English Muffin, Poached egg and Grated Parmesan.
This was made to perfection and the runny egg was a delight to watch and taste. I had wanted to taste their version of the Eggs Florentine since the 'Eggs bennedict' festival last month !!

Note :  Eggs Benedict is an American brunch or breakfast dish that consists of two halves of an English muffin each of which is topped with Canadian bacon – or sometimes ham or bacon – a poached egg; and hollandaise sauce. In Eggs Florentine, the Spinach replaces the Ham. Benedict is not actually French. The dish ha definite American/Canadian origin. However since most professional chefs are well versed in French cooking terms, and so when the ham was replaced with a bed of spinach, it was called eggs Florentine. In French Cuisine Dishes prepared 'a la Florentine' almost always include spinach and are often topped with a mornay-or cheese-sauce.
Picture
Eggs Florentine
Pizzas from the Wood Fired Oven
The ingredients that were on offer wereChicken Pepporoni, Bacon and Eggs as Non vegetarian toppings.
Mushroom, Grilled vegetables, sweet corn,jalapeno, roasted garlic, basil, sun dreied tomatoes as the vegetarian toppings
The pizzas were the 'Thinnest Crust' I have had and  had 88% Gold Colombian Chocolate as an ingredient 
Picture
The Chocolate flavored thin crust pizza
Picture
The Patesseries 39
This was the section where the chocolates came on their own and the nearly every dessert was chocolate flavoured with exotic award winning chocolates having origins in different countries.
Some of the Desserts on offer were.
  •  Zucchini Brownies with 70% Chocolate from Equador
  • Chocolate Salami with 70% Belgian Chocolate
  • Ghana Textures
  • Silk Log with 70 % madagascar Chocolate
  • Blueberry Macaroons with 70 % equador chocolate
  • Choclate Fondant with 66% Italian Prendine
​

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Banana Bannoffee Pie
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Chocolate Cake with a layer of Sea Salt in it :)
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Ghana 'Textures'
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Blueberry Macaroons
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Mocha macaroons
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Fruit Tart
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Right Side : Mango Curd Dessert infused with chocolate and vodka Left Side : Coffee Cremeux
Picture
Picture
Pineapple Bond
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Chocolate pops with Coconut sprinkles
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Chocolate Fondant
There were far too many items as a part of the regular Brunch that I did not even attempt to dive into.
Park Hyatt has been at the forefront of bringing in innovative culinary experiences for its diners.
This event was put together in association with Nitin of Chocotrait ! It was a definite revelation for me about a lot of the chocolates and their origins and the things that go into them before they reach our palate.

Kudos to the Park Hyatt team !! 

Prices for the Sunday Brunch:
Non-alcoholic brunch: INR 2,295 + taxes
Alcoholic brunch: INR 3,295 + taxes
Champagne brunch: INR 7,295 + taxes

I am sure they have a lot of innovative surprises for their diners in the coming days !!

​PARK HYATT CHENNAI
#39 Velachery Road, Near Raj Bhavan
Chennai,  
Tel: +91 44 7177 1234
1 Comment
Mahesh link
3/5/2016 02:36:05 am

Dear Madhu Sir,

Pure ecstasy and a delight savouring the pictures and the words.

For the prices quoted + luxury of the highest kind. Will get chocolates from Auroville or Mahabaleshwar and work on some of the recipe concepts described with such vibrant clarity.

Regards,
Mahesh

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