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Ciao
Baby Cucina Italian restaurant in Basingstoke's Festival Place,
celebrated the Hampshire Food Festival in July in true Italian style
with a 5-course Gourmet supper, accompanied with complimentary
specialist wines from Hampshire, Italy and South Africa, introduced
by wine expert, Mark Bedford of Caviste Wine Merchants.
Guests'
taste-buds were brought alive as local businesses were offered
freshly prepared, home-cooked food using locally grown products in
season to showcase the restaurant as a venue that can be used for
meetings and social occasions in peaceful and comfortable, yet
contemporary, surroundings.
Another first
for Ciao Baby Cucina was a Master Chef Cookery Class and Cocktails
evening, hosted by the manager of the restaurant, Rita Swart. "Cooking
for me is a passion," says Rita, "What I know about
cooking, I love about cooking and I want to share my passion with
other food lovers, whether they be complete beginners or Cordon Bleu cooks."
Rita freshly
prepared a variety of dishes, including Bruschetta with tomatoes and
peppers, a ricotta pesto and spaghetti with tomatoes and olives pasta
dishes, finishing off with the piece de resistance, a mouth-watering
dessert called Millefoglie (pictured). Accompanied with a special
Ciao Baby Cucina cocktail made up of grappa, prosecco and cherries,
Rita presented and prepared each dish in front of an appreciative
audience, which was then sampled by the guests.
The informal
evening was alive with conversation and Rita was delighted to answer
questions from the audience as she enthusiastically talked through
each dish. "The idea was to learn about fresh food and how
you can quickly and simply prepare a beautiful meal. It doesn't need
to be complicated." Rita commented.
The event
proved to be so successful that Rita is planning on hosting regular
Master Cookery Classes throughout the year.
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