Review: Swiss Food Festival at Out of the Blue, Bandra

When I hear Switzerland, I think about the Alps Mountains, Snow, Beautiful landscapes, Swiss Knife, Swiss Cheese, Lindt Chocolates and the watch Tissot. Switzerland also became a favourite shooting spot for Bollywood movie makers after DDLJ was shot there. So now lets talk about the mini Switzerland set up at Out of the Blue in Le Sutra Hotel, off Carter Road, Bandra where Mr. Sameer Malkani (FBAI) invited me for a unique chocolate fondue Master Class. I love chocolates a lot and I'm always game for chocolate fondue. I accepted the invitation and was ready for a cheesy and chocolaty dinner.

When I entered OOTB, it was crowded for a Tuesday evening. Probably because of the festival as it started from the 16th January and has been in the limelight for a while. I interacted with some amazing foodies and bloggers and bonded really well with them. So I can say that meeting so many brilliant and talented people, live music (accordion played by Mr. Sammy Ruben) and fun over cheesy and chocolaty food was the highlight of the evening. But, but, but, actually, the Fondue-Making Competition among the bloggers was the biggest highlight.

Before we could get the whole insight about the fondue-making and our competition, we were served the house drinks and appetizers. I opted for my favourite red wine. And as discussion went from "introduce yourself-where do you work-favourite cuisine-Mumbai-Kolkata tales", we were served the Spinach and Mushroom Quiche with Mixed Salad and Chicken and Spinach Corn Quiche. I couldn't decide which was the best one as I loved both the vegetarian as well as the chicken one. Perfectly done with the creaminess and cheesiness of the filling with adequate chicken and corn inside the filling. Smooth, tantalizing, cheesy and even their salad had an amazingly unique rich cheesy taste in it. Highly Recommendable!
We were also served the Mushroom Spinach Corn Vol-au-Vents, which is like a chicken puff. The stuffing inside was really delicious and rich in flavours but the base was not upto the mark.

Chicken Quiche

Spinach and Corn Quiche

Vol au Vents (Puffs)

Now time for the interactive fondue-making class. We were shown how the fondue was actually prepared and that with an induction and a sauce pan, one can prepare a good fondue. We were introduced to a variety of chocolates like the Belegian chocolate (71%) and Berry Callebout (54%).
We were then divided into 4 teams consisting of 3 members and were asked to go wild with our idea of a chocolate fondue. I'm a disaster in my own kitchen honestly and my heart was beating faster. But then, it was all about having fun. We were given a list of ingredients and accompaniments through which we could make our own fondue like the Belegian chocolates, White Chocolates, Hazelnut, Kahlua, Rum, Peanut Butter, Maple Syrup, Dry Fruits, Gems, Marshmellows, Strawberrys, Grapes, Paneer etc. (Don't even ask me what a disastrous  fondue I made with my team. :P) We also got the opportunity to taste the fondue's prepared by the other teams.

Chef demonstrating fondue-making

My Flop Fondue. :P

After the competition, I was partly full with so much of sugar rush that we decided to go for Racklet Fondue which was extremely creamy, classy and cheesy, prepared with the aged, medium-sharped cheddar, racklet and emmenthal cheeses, white wine, garlic and seasonings, served with toasted bread. I never got an opportunity to taste the Zurich Trio Cheese Fondue. Looks interesting.

Racklet Fondue

For the main course, I decided to go for the sizzler Chicken Cordon Blue with Swiss Style Potatoes Rosti and Grilled Vegetables served on an iron skillet. The drizzled cheese sauce went the best with it accompanied by the sauted veggies. The chicken was crispy, however, it could have been more tender and easy to chew. That was the only minus according to me. Otherwise thumbs up for this dish.

Chicken Cordon Blue Sizzler

This place has an amazing vibe to bond with new friends over wine, quiches and fondues. Both the chocolate as well as cheese fondues are worth trying here. The Swiss Food Fest continues till the end of this month in their Bandra outlet and they further continue their fest in their Powai outlet from 1st February to 9th February. Go relish out some amazing fondues, wine and main course at their festival.