Restaurant Awards night at the Intercontinental Arena Conference Centre
How I dare to accept invitations to lunches and dinners when I need to be locked up and starved for a few weeks I really don’t know. I always resolve on a new diet when I have just eaten but before long I am hungry again and all resolve is thrown out of the window as I proceed to raid the fridge and the kitchen cupboards for something worth getting fat on. I have stopped buying jars of Nutella and can only look forward to eating some when I go to a daughter’s home. Both families are Nutella devotees so there is always a big jar lurking somewhere in a kitchen cupboard.
I always look forward to the Good Guide to Restaurants Awards Ceremony. I love people watching, seeing what the ladies are wearing and over the years I have never eaten a meal which wasn’t delicious at these Awards. Imagine having to prepare dinner for all those first class restauranteurs. But this is just what the Intercontinental did this 8th December. The enterprising De Cesare’s have now put the skating rink to better use and have transformed it into the Intercontinental Arena Conference Centre – an enormous place with an imposing lobby, it has huge potential and is easily accessible. The parking right next door is a huge plus in my Little Black Book; no risking life and limb on potholes, broken tiles and slippery slopes. At least I could wear high heels too.
Managing Director Lisa Grech, in a glittering gold lamé dress was at her splendid best and gave a witty speech. Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Animal Rights, Roderick Galdes presented the results. I consider him to be a serious and ernest young man and seems to know what he is doing in his field.
Lisa told us that the responses to this year’s Malta & Gozo Restaurant Survey conducted in September returned an incredibly high number of responses with 1,973 participants who dined out on average two times per week which amounts to a total of 205,192 dining experiences in a year. Restaurants are certainly being kept busy. It has to be said that dining out has become a popular form of entertainment. We go out to dine to give ourselves a break from our kitchens, to meet friends and hold a conversation during which we don’t have to nip in and out of the kitchen and to eat something different. According to Lisa there are 37 new restaurants in the Guide which is so useful and beautifully compiled. It is also online.
It’s not just the big and the bold that the Guide celebrates. It champions fabulous neighbourhood restaurants, the best bargain meals, the best ambience, the best venues for family meals, places where the staff is attitude-free and those places that enrich eating and drinking in Malta and Gozo. They are recognized and rewarded. With the opening of more eateries by Italians and Sicilians there is a growing diversity of dining and drinking places on these islands even if not all of them are good. To most families eating out means pizza, pasta or hamburgers. I believe some of these new restaurants are providing different menus which are affordable to a small family who wants to get away occasionally from pizza and pasta. We need more creativity in this area and some tavola calda type of eateries.
I do not want to forget to mention Andrew Forbes from HSBC for this bank sponsors this glittering event and Alfred Cuschieri of Continental Purchasing on behalf of Villeroy & Boch who each year supply the commemorative award plates for the occasion. Noel Debono who has been at the helm of the famed Medina Restaurant for many successful years deserves to be especially mentioned for his restaurant was the most highly rated this year.
And now for the food. We started with Textures of Jerusalem Artichokes with Tomato Cremeux, Pan Roasted Brioche, Parsley Crisp and Black Garlic Gel. How do chefs come up with all these creative ideas? My life is full of cookery books not to mention that my laptop is near the kitchen but I rarely try anything new. This dish looked delicious and if I weren’t hungry I would not have disturbed the beautiful composition. It was delicious.
Next dish was Lightly Smoked Meager (Gurbell bil-Malti) with Fresh citrus Cream, Prawn Tartar, Prawn Crumble, Compressed Cucumber and Lemon Caviar. Another lovely and delicious creation.
The main dish was a Herb Crusted Fillet of Aberdeen Angus with Pulled Beef, Caramelized Onion Purée, Salt Baked Carrots, Wild Mushrooms and Goats’ Cheese Croquette, Truffle Mash and Port Jus. Quite a mouthful that. I am no beef lover and dislike pink meat or fish which to me spells ‘undercooked’. I know, I know, it shows lack of sophistication etc. etc. etc. but there you are. However I loved the pulled beef and the rest of the dish. All these delicately prepared bits and pieces, when merged make a host of unbelievable flavours. It is obvious that in these three dishes the juxtaposition of textures and flavours have been well thought out and were not simply randomly executed. The choice of wines from Austria, Sardegna, Chile, Sicily and Italy too had been planned and supplied by Mirachem (Wines & Spirits) Ltd.
The dessert a Baked Chocolate Mousse, Hazelnut Crunch and Toffee Whipped Ganache with Banana Gel which was served with Passito di Pantelleria brought the four courses to a worthy and happy close. So easy on the palate! Just as well there weren’t second helpings. And throughout every dish tasted as good as it looked. The company too was good and the music – a guitarist - pleasant and in the background so we could talk without making ourselves hoarse. I trust that the chef and his team including the hardworking waiters and waitresses not only patted themselves on the back for serving so many, so well but helped themselves to a glass or two before hitting their beds that evening. Competent cooking indeed. And let me not forget Lisa and Denise Briffa and those who organized this evening which went so smoothly from start to finish.
In my mind I blew a few kisses to the chef in gratitude and hoped he was as good-looking as the food.