Washington Apples HighTeaMeet at St. Regis Hotel

An invite by FBAI for an exclusive Washington Apples high tea meet  at St. Regis hotel on 38^th floor is something that nobody can refuse, specially not me.

I was running late, but reached in time to attend the live demo of ‘Puebla Avocado Tartare’ by Chef Himanshu Taneja.

This was followed by a talk by Keith Sunderlal – India Representative of the Washington Apple Commission who spoke of health benefits of Washington Apples. Rebecca Lyons, International Marketing Director of the Washington Apple Commission (she flew all the way down from Washington USA). She  spoke widely about different apples that are grown in the orchards on western belt of US and how they are harvested. She said “The apples don’t just fall off the tree like mangoes, or other such fruits, but they have to be hand-plucked, every single piece.” Did you know that 50% of apples are from US and 30% of Washington Apples are exported?

Whoever said “One apple a day keeps doctor away” knew the nutrient value of this fruit. It contains vitamins, minerals and fibres. It reduces the risk of Alzheimer and Parkinson’s disease., it controls blood sugar level, it is useful for treating anaemia, helps prevent cancer, facilitates digestion, the list is endless.

A dessert is a must, so we had another demo of ‘Seb Ka Chenna Payesh’

Apples, apples everywhere, as far as eyes-sight could stretch. I was attracted immediately to those shiny brass pots at the end of the room, a panipuri station and was completely bowled over by crunchy, spicy Puri stuffed with apples and vodka…yes, I loved it.

It was spicy  but very tasty, had just two then walked over to the apple drink station of sweet and sour apple juice.

Alhambra, the banquet room on the 38th floor of the hotel St. Regis had a big spread of savories and sweets, all made of one main ingredient- Washington apples. There were pies, quiches, savories, mustard broccoli quiche, Granny Smith, clove with cottage cheese sandwich, the apple jelebi, sweets, drinks and more

Did you know that apple float in water because 25% of their volume is air.

It was nice interacting with other food bloggers and got into conversation with interesting ones, some spoke of their travels and some of food photography and some simply about food blogging.  We sat by the window, 38 floors up and has bird’s eye view of Mumbai city where rich and poor live side by side, both dependent on each other for finding a better shade of comfort.

It was an lovely afternoon spend with like minded people all who loved Washington apples.

Enjoyable event indeed! Thank you FBAI for lovely afternoon.

One Evening at True Tramm Trunk

True Tramm Trunk at Juhu seems to be the favorite hangout place for youngster. They have the most peppy music that is quite loud and catchy, the leaves little quiet moments for conversation but everybody was tapping their feet, swinging their body as they sipped on drinks and enjoyed the finger food.

The ambience is good, with low-lit rooms, seating is either on high table-chair or a comfortable islands of easy sofas with cushion for relaxed evening. Two walls address a big TV screen playing some sports or other, while other walls have attractive wall art. There is a separate large room where one can have private parties.

It was interesting to see tables lined up with crushed ice at the centre of the table, where one could keep the bottles to cool while they feasted on finger food.

I was there on invite to #FBAISoiree and sample the new drink, ‘Turning Point Sangria’. It’s specialty being that you could drink straight from the bottle, while on the go. There were two unique flavors: Metropolitan and Nashik Mule.

Metropolitan is the combination of red wine, sugar and nature identical flavors of orange and cranberry. You could drink it chilled, directly from bottle, or pour it in glass, add some chopped apples and oranges and top it with ice.

Nashik Mule is the perfect blend of white wine, sugar and nature identical fruit flavors of orange and ginger ale. You could drink it chilled or pour it in glass. Add some chopped apples, oranges and curry leaves and top it with ice.

A brief hic-story of Sangria

In 200BC, the Romans plant vineyards in Spain. The locals make merry of concocting a fruit punch which was referred to as Sangria and have been thanking Romans ever since

In 1964, the Big Apple gets its first taste of Sangria at the World Fair. Americans take to it like fish to water.

In 2014, Turning Point Sangria launches in India and turns the century old drink into modern and cool beverage!

It was great meeting other food bloggers. Our ‪#‎Quizmasters Alok and Saher killed it with the ‪#‎FBAIQuiz with 5 teams asking questions on all things Food and Sangria! There was continuous stream of finger food appearing at intervals, which was tasty and spicy.

There were other cocktails too, served in bottle with Bihari names, innocent drinks but with funny names, that created the curiosity to taste just a bit.

Rest of the evening was spent watching others dance……a wonderful evening indeed!