Culinary Flair Comes to Hyde Park Deck @TsogoSun #SSHydePark #TsogoTasting

Hi Friends,

Summertime in Jozi is the perfect excuse for sundowners in a spectacular setting, and there are few as perfect as Southern Sun Hyde Park Hotel’s pool deck. To celebrate the new season, warm summer evenings and highveld sunsets, the hotel’s popular Island Bar has revamped its menu to add some culinary flair to what is already a popular destination for Jozi’s trendy crowd.

Southern Sun Hyde Park Hotel (https://www.tsogosun.com/southern-sun-hyde-park-sandton), located in one of Sandton’s most exclusive suburbs, features beautiful views from the breath-taking pool deck and is a trending spot to ease into the weekend, with weekly Friday Sundowner (https://www.tsogosun.com/southern-sun-hyde-park-sandton/offers/friday-sundowner) sessions featuring top local and international DJs playing the best in House and Deep House.

Grant van der Riet, Executive Chef of Southern Sun Hyde Park Hotel, whose culinary philosophy is ‘Life is too short for a bad meal’, says the new menu focuses on fresh, original and delicious flavors, and more than a touch of Italian finesse. “Island Bar now offers something for every appetite with options for any time of the day or night, from tapas plates for sharing and tasting, to sushi, hunger-busting burgers, light meals, and desserts.”

The tapas selection offers a tempting array of vegetarian, meat and fish dishes featuring a fresh take on traditional favorites, including Crumbed mushrooms and garlic pesto aioli; Cheese & corn poppers; Mushroom & mozzarella arancini; Sriracha chicken wings; Grilled sliced sirloin with rosemary jus; Pulled beef taco served with pickled cabbage and sour cream; Lamb & coriander kofta; Braised pork taco; Chorizo and lentils ciabatta; and Crispy calamari, lemon & sriracha aioli.

Burger options for meat-lovers include the signature Hyde Park beef burger with a 200g patty topped with honey-glazed bacon and melted emmental cheese and the Hyde Park chicken burger with a 200g grilled breast with bacon and a blue cheese sauce. The Banting option promises to be a winner, offering a Carb-free beef or chicken burger with fresh Asian greens, tomato, gherkin, a 200g patty, mozzarella, pineapple chutney, and avocado.

The salad selection showcases Chef Grant’s culinary prowess, and includes Tian of feta with cherry tomatoes, grilled eggplant, arugula lettuce, carrot, cucumber, and toasted bruschetta; and a unique creation titled Beetroot of textures, with grilled baby beetroot, candy stripe beetroot, pickled golden beetroot, beetroot jelly, dried beetroot, and grape & walnut salad and goat’s cheese; and a Greek salad.

Not-to-be-skipped desserts include Chocalatissimo chocolate soufflé with a melted chocolate center, vanilla ice cream, shortbread crumble, and fresh berries; Chocolate torta with passion fruit served with mango sorbet, crumble and berry coulis; and Pistachio & matcha pannacotta.

Tsogo Sun has a portfolio of over 100 hotels and 13 casino and entertainment destinations throughout South Africa, Africa, and Seychelles. For more details, visit https://www.tsogosun.com, follow on Twitter @TsogoSun or like on Facebook /TsogoSun.

All the images are clicked by me on Samsung Note 8 which I bought last year in January 2018. 

Cheers!!!

Contact me at thelifesway@gmail.com to collaborate on your products, events, and services. #TheLifesWay #PhotoYatra!

@FrysFamily Vegetarian Event @ Capsicum Culinary Studio, Johannesburg

Hi Guys,

Recently, I was invited to experience something I always wanted to learn. It was an introduction session to cooking Fry's Family products by Chef Candice-Lee Clark. The evening included an interactive cooking session instructed by the Chef along with enjoying the scrumptious vegetarian meals, we prepared using Fry's range of products.

Here is the amazing Veg Chicken-Style Burgers served to all the invitees. They tasted amazingly good with a slice of pineapple over a bun and Fry's Meat Free Burgers.

The venue for this event was Capsicum Culinary Studio in Johannesburg which is also in 5 other locations namely Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and others.Follow them on twitter, facebook & instagram.

The Chef Candice-Lee taking all of us through some of the best cooking sessions and lessons for life. We were all given the same amount of ingredients and instructions to cook and present our dishes.

Here is my first dish made using Fry's Cruspy Prawns cooked in Coconut curry, Chick peas along with some rice and wrap.

The second round was to make salad using all the veggies available along with Fry's Chicken Style Strips. I used avocado to make the DOME and won a party for me and my 9 friends fully sponsored by the Fry's at my own house. They also gifted us with amazing range of Fry's products to make them at home along with a Fry's recipe book.

I really loved the amazing session and learnt a lot to cook Fry's food in the fastest possible time. Follow them on instagram, twitter, facebook, Pinterest, and website.

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review /sponsored posts on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com  Checkout my Instagram (araijain) page or www.photoyatra.blogspot.in  Like The Life's Way Page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TheLifesWay

Movie Review - CHEF (2014)

Hi Guys,

With his career and personal life suddenly at crossroads, a once-celebrated L.A. chef embarks on a cross-country culinary odyssey with his best friend and young son in an effort to rediscover his creativity and love for cooking. When he started running the kitchen at trendy Brentwood eatery Gauloises, Carl Casper (Jon Favreau) was on of the hottest chefs to hit the L.A. food scene. Now, a decade later, the restaurant is still always full, but creatively Carl is running on empty. Divorced and disconnected from his 11-year-old son, he's convinced cooking is the only thing he's good at- and he yearns to reignite the spark that made him love doing it in the first place. When he learns that popular food blogger Ramsey Michel (Oliver Platt) is coming to review the restaurant, Carl plans to dazzle him with an adventurous new menu. But the restaurant's owner Rive (Dustin Hoffman), insists he serve the same safe and predictable dishes that have kept the place packed year in and year out. Disappointed at the meal's lack of originality, Ramsey writes a scathing review, which- along with a video of Carl's embarrassing out-of-control response- quickly goes viral. With his illustrious career suddenly reduced to a punch line, Carl finds himself jobless with no prospects for work.

Chef is one of those movies which is worth your time and money. This movie is definitely going for Oscars this year and might win some for sure. It's the most uplifting story and you will really enjoy every scene of the same. The cinematography is great and so is the food shots. The food truck travels through some of the towns of America and you will really love to see the variance in culture. The social media channels has been used to perfection in the movie and are the underlying theme of the movie also.

 

I really loved the acting of Jon Favreau and he is one who has written and directed the movie too. Robert Downey Jr is amazingly cool in one of his scenes. Scarlett Johansson looks beautiful in every scene she is on the screen. But the movie belongs to Emjay Anthony who is the soul of the movie. All the scenes between father and son in this movie will bring you more closer to your heart. It's really a heartfelt movie and if you are blogger like me, you will definitely learn some tips and tricks of the trade. 

Go for it! First day First show! -Starting from scratch never tasted so good

 

Movie is releasing in Ster Kinekor on 8th Aug 2014. Book your tickets now. More info on twitter and facebook.

Cheers!!!

Contact me for your product's review on twitter @araijain or @thelifesway or email - thelifesway@gmail.com

 

My Gourmet Indian Kitchen Party with ITC Chef's

Hello Everyone, 

It feels great whenever you are invited to a party or you are throwing a party because it gives you a lot of time with your loved ones and helps you relax, unwind and enjoy the moments. I was too planning to throw one since my daughter's bday last year where we enjoyed a lot. There were some things which were missing in the bday party of my daughter and I wanted to improve upon them this time. This time the occasion will also is different. The time is to celebrate the new home and I am throwing a housewarming party for all my friends and relatives. Making a house is a lifetime achievement award and I feel great that with the help of my parents I got this reward. Thanks a lot!

Let's start with the planning that goes into making a party which includes setting up a place, food & drinks, decorations, Music, games and finally a good garbage disposal system.

Last time, the music was not properly programmed and there was no playlist saved. This time I have all the music set with the help of my laptop and pendrives. This music will be connected to the best  speakers I have with me. They are not loud enough to disturb the neighbours but will set the mood right to dance. Ipod/iPhone docking with aux in cable will be kept in a room if anyone wants to play his own music and wanting to turn DJ, he/she will be most welcome.

As this is a housewarming party the place will be drawing room, lobby, kitchen, balconies of my house. There needs to be plenty of seating arrangement that needs to be taken care of, for that I will be fetching extra chairs from neighborhood.

Ambience will be a lot of shadow lights in the form of table lamps and wall lights. With soft music on the play in the background, it will be soothing to talk to people around and enjoy ourselves also. All the kids will be given a bedroom with TV as they can watch their favourite cartoon characters like Doramon and Chhota Bheem. They will also be playing with my daughter's toys if she shares and allows them to. Otherwise, TV is the best option with chocolates in their small hands.

Before the food is served it will be time to play some general games like Tambola. Tambola prizes will be those which I have showcased on my website www.thelifesway.com . Some of the lucky people will surely get great goodies from tshirts, bags, music CD's & headphones/earphones. Whosoever will be the lucky winner will have to perform a dance on his/her favourite number to claim his/her goodies. This will be the added twist that will make everyone twist and swirl and bring in a lot of fun to the evening.

Finally coming to the food and drinks part of the party which is the most challenging part as it makes or brakes the party. This time instead of ordering food from local vendors I have chosen special ITC Chef's for my party. Kitchens of India is one the great products crafted by the ITC hotels Chef's. The variety of products available will break away or atleast bring flavors to the regular dal and paneer in a vegetarian party. To check the whole range of dishes available I checked the website http://shopping.kitchensofindia.com/  and narrowed down the following items for my party.

To make it more effective so that food don't spoil all the fun on the D day, I went to the nearest superstore to check the products before buying them in bulk for the party. I picked up Mirch ka Salan and Mughlai Paneer as my favourites to taste beforhand.

@araijain

Mirch ka Salan has a taste which was totally different from what we have ever eaten. This was the taste of Green chillies cooked in white gravy and will be great as an additional dish. So I will be buying 2-3 packets for my party. This is priced at Rs. 95/- for 285gms.

@araijain

Mughali Paneer is a great Paneer dish and that's maximum Vegetarians can do at their homes or order from the market so Paneer has to be included in all the parties in various dishes. I will be procuring 5 packets of the dish priced at Rs. 100/- per packet of 285 gms.




Dal is a compulsory item as many of the people don't like paneer and other dishes and what's better than ITC world famous Dal Bukhara. I will be procuring 6 packets of the dish for my party.

I will also be serving Vegetable Biryani Masala Mix – 3 Packs and Paneer Makhani Masala Mix – 3 packs as an added servings.

This will all be served with the Laccha Paranthas and tandoori roti procured from the nearby Dhaba or if possible will ask my maid to make roti's for the people who don't like both the above ones.

For the Desserts, Ice cream will be the first choice in summers & will be always available at my party, but then I will introduce people to Hazoori Petha Halwa – 3 packets and Jodhpuri Moong Dal Halwa – 3 packets.

So overall, I have a big list of Kichens of India products to buy from the market and need to find out any discount stores for the upcoming party. I am procuring around 25-26 packets of dishes and will cost me around Rs. 3000/- only.

For drinks we will be providing the basic cold drinks available in the market – all the three flavours generally sold in the market. I would love to add APPY Fizz as the welcome party drink because it will set the right taste on everyone's tongue. As a valedictory gift for their coming to our home and celebrating our happiness, I will give them a pack of sweets per family procured from best sweets shop in town. We can also think of gifting KOI desserts also if I get them at discount and if people like to break away from Laddoo's and Barfi!

Thanks all, I hope you will feel to come to my party...thanks for reading and enjoying! 

Cheers!!!

A good garbage system will save you from tension as you can push all the used stuff like paper plates, tissues, glasses and packaging in big black bags and keep them in a corner for ready throw early next day. 

More about KOI - Kitchens of India brings to you a wide range of Ready to Eat dishes and desserts, giving you a gourmet meal in the comfort of your home - just Heat and Eat ! Each of these recipes have been crafted by the Masterchefs of ITC hotels, from royal recipes guarded closely over the ages. You can also choose from exotic chutneys and conserves to add the perfect twist to any meal.