Beat the winter with grills and stews, calamari crafted the Venetian way and shots of single-origin chocolate

Venice on a Plate
Spaghetti Kitchen at Select Citywalk turns into a Venetian roadside dhaba in the evenings, offering cicchetti (bite-sized food) paired with ombra, a slang for tiny glasses of wine. Bill Marchetti’s kitchen brings a little bit of Mediterranean with baked scallops with pesto butter (Rs 250), grilled peppered salmon (Rs 250) or a bocconcini with stuffed rice fritters (Rs 100). “With winter setting in, we have put emphasis on fried food. There are calamari, prawns, rice fritters and stuffed olives to choose from,” says Marchetti. You can pair them with a tiny glass of red or white wine for Rs 190.

Meal for two: Rs 1,000
Contact: 42658430

Steak Everything
The Smoke House Grill at Greater Kailash II goes all meaty, with Irish Angus Rib Eye steak, stewed in its own juices and served with Yorkshire pudding; grilled steak served with gorgonzola and peppercorn soufflé; German bratwurst sausages and Brazilian T-bone on a bed of sautéed vegetables. If you are game for something unusual, there are bacon-wrapped, braised lamb shanks with zucchini gratin and pistachio mash, pan-seared duck breast with honey glaze and grilled ostrich fillet paired with green tomatoes and sherry risotto.

Meal for two: Rs 2,000
Contact: 41435530

Iron Hot
The swanky Aqua at The Park is back with its barbeque. There is an ocean on the griddle, with bhetki, groupers and sand lobsters skewered right before you. “We will use saffron, paan ki jarh, star anise and Sichuan peppers to make the dishes warm for winter,” says chef Bakshish Dean. You can spike the evenings with jumbo scampi and salmon with Thai herbs, dig into pork spareribs with barbeque sauce or maybe indulge your fad for foie gras and mushroom glaze.

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