An Unfortunate Christmas Incident at NeroVivo

A mischievious Mr.V, an IT geek, at a ripening age of 20, had the unfortunate role of unleashing the spirits of Christmas a little to early before the 25th of December.

As you can see below, the surprised look of Ms.R as the feisty spirits of Christmas raced out of the magic crystal ball, streaking around the dining room of the newly renovated NeroVivo Italian casual fine dining ristoranté, awakened from their deep slumber from the year past, filled with vast energy of cheer and joy, to dispense to the world.

It just wasn’t right thought Ms.R…

It just wasn’t the right period to be rejoicing the season of yule this early! We haven’t even celebrated Thanksgiving yet, she exclaimed. You see, minutes earlier, Mr.V had snuck away this electrifying magic red crystal ball from the 2 unusually happy women sitting across from him.

These 2 under the disguise of human form, were guardians of the Christmas spirits’ home, the red crystal ball.

A year prior, the 2 guardians had replaced the aging security system of lock and bolt on the magic ball with an advanced system of circuitry and keypads to keep up with the times. They had made one fatal mistake. They had not upgraded to the thumbprint and retina verification package which only cost 10 percent more. Mr.V with his youthful vigour for code breaking had unwittingly figured out the unlocking code and released the spirits too early from their slumber. It was fortunate that the 2 wise women were able to contain the situation and draw the restless Christmas spirits back into their crystal ball with the help of Chef Paolo Petris who quickly whipped up fresh tortellinis to appease the hungry spirits.

Ahhh.. so since some of the magic of Christmas had spilled out to the dining hall, Chef Paolo, the new chef at NeroVivo, decided to create a special Christmas menu for the evening to celebrate Christmas a little earlier at NeroVivo. Chef Paolo brings over to NeroVivo 34 years of international culinary experience collected from his various postings around his home country of Italy, and international luxury hotels and resorts in Bali, Bucharest, Tokyo, New Delhi, Bangkok, Dubai and more. He should be an advisor to the Santa department!

Alessandro Boneschi, the new restaurant manager attentively went around, checking on our comfort during our early Christmas ordeal. Rasberry Bellini’s plus whites and reds was served to help calm our shaken nerves.

Soon our early Christmas dining experience began.

Orange cured salmon, salmon tartar with salmon caviar, salmon gravlax

A selection of Tasmanian salmon served three different ways. Light flavors which prepared us for the oncoming dishes.

Home made tortellini in chicken broth with drops of white truffle oil

Light tasting soup with freshly made tortellini’s stuffed with chicken. A little thick with the wrapping but you can’t go wrong with dumplings in chicken broth and truffle oil. Exudes a sensation of a warm family gathering.

Pan-seared Sea Bass Escalope, Fennel purée, taggiasche olives and caramelized orange zest

The diners around me unanimously agreed the fennel purée was heavenly.

Porcini mushroom & red radicchio fresh made lasagnette with smoke scamorza

This was my favourite. A modest portion of lasagna cooked al dente and layered with smoked cheese and mushroom. Unlike the usual heavy tasting lasagna’s which many of us are accustomed to, this dish provides a refined direction on an Italian classic.

Smoked duck breast, leg duck confit on a red cabbage, potatoes gratin and honey lime juice

This main dish exuberated the fine Italian-French dining experience. Having just experienced a cooking session at Le Cordon Bleu, I found this dish perfectly prepared to meet the expectations of the fickle diner in me. The potato gratin complemented well with the smoked duck and duck confit. I felt I could have been in Southern France.

Panettone semifreddo with orange sabayon

Desserts are always my favourite dining experience. I have a sweet tooth.Traditionally, panettone is a type of cake normally served during Christmas, semifreddo is a mixture of ice cream and whipped cream to make a frozen type of mousse, and sabayon (also zabaione) is a light custard made with eggs, sugar and sweet wine. The combination of these items provided diners a final cool Christmas dining experience in warm KL.

Since Chef Paolo has created this wonderful Christmas dining menu experience at short notice, NeroVivo has decided to keep it running. You too can enjoy this hearty menu at only RM178++ per person.

Thank you Alice George for the invitation, Mr.V for shaking it up, and NeroVivo for cooking up a mini storm!

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