Review: Izu Brasserie and Bakery, City Walk

Food: 5/5
VFM: 4/5
Ambience: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Veg Friendly: 4/5

An extremely delightful restaurant that I was glad to have experienced. Everything here was so delicious, I can't wait to tell you about it!

Mocha Coffee - It was so cute, with teddy bear latte art. It tasted pretty good too - strong and not too sweet, just the way I like it. Great to laze over, sitting in the shade, on slow afternoons.

Raspberry Iced Tea - With bits of fresh raspberry, this was uniquely refreshing. I love trying out different kinds of iced tea and trust me this was one of the better ones. Writing this is making me think about it again.

Burrata with Peppers and Pesto Sauce - This was served with a generous drizzle of olive oil over the whole dish, and freshly baked bread on the side. The fresh greens made it better, as did the pesto sauce. And the burrata. So creamy and delish. I think I will always fall in love with burrata a little more, everytime I try it.

French Toast - with fresh berries, berry compote and chocolate cream. Hands down the most delicious French toast I've had the pleasure of trying. On some days, it still comes back to me in my dreams.This was delightfully soft, enchantingly chocolatey, and all round delicious.

Eggs Benedict with Spinach - Beautiful runny yolk, which we mopped up with aforementioned fresh bread. The presentation was delightful as well, and I love that they added spinach so generously. Adding greens and herbs to any dish will always do the trick for me.

Izu Burger -An amazing, meaty burger that was delicious and filling and the only thing on the table I refrained from, being a vegetarian. But I am told it was absolutely amazing with great sauces, too.

Rigatoni with Cream Sauce and Truffle Paste - Rigatoni isn't my favorite type of pasta (hello, Tagliatelle!) but it worked here because it had so much space for sauce - and the sauce was kickass. The sauce was super creamy, and the truffle was just right.

Tiramisu - Soft, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth tiramisu! They made this fresh too! The ladyfingers were soaked in very strong coffee, and the combination was just beautiful.

VFM: The ingredients were so good and fresh that I believe it was absolutely worth the price.

Ambience: A beautiful place with great decor and cozy, homely elements. We didn't even realize how we spent so much time there!

Service: Attentive staff, and very helpful with suggestions and recommendations.

Veg Friendly: More than enough vegetarian and vegan options, I did not find it lacking in the slightest.

In this world of processed food and fake ingredients, Izu stands out by their commitment to real food, made fresh.

*This review was on invite, and the meal on the house. However, all views are unbiased.*

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Fabelle Chocolates Launch at ITC Maratha, Mumbai

ITC has come up with a new range of Premium Chocolates called Fabelle. Fabelle Chocolates have been in the making for a decade now, with extensive research and innumerable trials in the company's pursuit to craft the finest luxury chocolates in India. They knew what they wanted, and God, they have succeeded! A ten year research and sourcing chocolates from the very corners of the world, just to ensure the best premium ingredients. 

Fabelle was created by international chefs working in conjunction with ITC master chocolatiers to craft the finest quality chocolates. The taste just proves that their efforts paid off. Each offering was unique and exquisite.

We were first given a presentation by Mr. GK Suresh – Vice President, New Category Development, ITC Foods. We learnt a lot of interesting things, for example, that their ganache is conched for 12 hours to give the perfect melt-in-your-mouth feeling.

Let's start with the Fabelle Elements. They're intricately crafted pralines inspired by the elements of nature - Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Wood.

From L-R: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Wood

Chef Prashant Sabne suggested I eat them in this order - Earth, Fire, Air, Water and Earth. Get a box of this, go ahead, treat yourself! Amazing stuff. I couldn't get enough of these. My favorites were Wood and Fire. Wood combines coffee chocolate and cinnamon. Classically favorite flavors for me, so this one was obvious. But Fire was a surprise. Made with Ancho chili and candied mango, this was an exquisite experience to say the least. You definitely will need the Air and Water after this one!

Next up, Fabelle Ganache - velvety soft cubes of exotic cocoas delicately churned with butter and fresh cream. There were three variants - Creamy Milk, Rich Dark, and Dark with Apple and Cinnamon.  

I am a huge fan of Dark Chocolate, and I loved that ganache. But when I met the Apple and Cinnamon, it was love at first bite. I never thought I would like it so much, because I am generally wary about flavors barging into my dark chocolate, but this one did a great job! I had so many of those. I regret nothing.

Fabelle As You Like It – personalized chocolate cup creations offering myriad possibilities of fillings and toppings, with endless combinations that you can experiment with.

I had so much fun creating my chocolate cup. We all named our cups after ourselves, so mine is called 'As Myra Likes It'! Do you guys wana know what was in my personalized chocolate cup?
It’s a dark chocolate cup, the first layer of filling inside it was a berry preserve, topped with a generous layer of dark mint creme, topped off with a powdery layer of arabica coffee. Everything I loved, and it was so awesome! I wasn't sure if berry would go well with dark mint creme, but then I remembered what surprises the ganache gave me, and then I felt better about making this chocolate cup!

Fabelle Single Origin Cacoas – single origin bars, crafted using cocoa from different countries (Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Ecuador, Sao Tome and Ghana), each asserting its own distinct flavour and hence adding a unique flavor to each bar.

 
Fabelle Gianduja - This is a recreation of a tradiitonal Italian delicacy from the Napoleon era fashioned with an infusion of hazelnuts into rich, creamy milk chocolate. Not usually a fan of nuts in my cocoa love, I was quite impressed with these delectable bits. I tried it very hesitantly, but I shouldn't have been worried, it was really good. Even someone like me loved it, so of course people who like nuts in their chocolate would go absolutely mad about it.

After all this, there was still dessert! God, I was already on a sugar high by now, and then I see dessert. Space creates itself in one's tummy when faced with chocolatey goodness.

White chocolate cheese cake jars -

The goodness of Philadelphia cream cheese and white chocolate caught in a delicious house cheese cake recipe, embellished with berry coulis. The rich creamy cheesecake with the tart fruits - what a play of textures! Foodgasm right there. Also, it's eggless. That was probably the most amazing part. To get that smooth creamy texture without using eggs; wow.

 84% signature dark chocolate petit cake with fleur de sel -

Signature dark chocolate (84%!) with fruity and intense undertones explored three ways - a pure ganache, a citrusy chocolate cream and a rich chocolate mousse, on a textured sea salt-nut sablé, enrobed in cocoa glaze. Now, I love anything that uses fleur de sel. It just adds so much texture. So I knew this was going to be a treat, but even then I was underestimating it. It was just that perfect. Look at it. Even the glaze is perfect.
Vanilla cremeux bar with St. Domingue chocolate mousse -
  

Single origin 70% Saint-Domingue chocolate with strong cocoa notes, paired with a light cream of Madagascar vanilla and fortified with an almond hazelnut crunch, this was bliss. I thought nothing would ever match up to the petit cake and I was wrong. This was so so so good and rich, I was just done. This was a very very fitting last bite for such a scrumptious, chocolate-filled day.

Mind you, the three desserts shown here are all tasting portions. The actual menu items are larger in size but equally rich. You can just imagine what that would do to your dopamine levels. 

Heartily recommended!