Sometimes something estimable
incident happens to one’s life unexpectedly and that leaves an everlasting
glimpse of contentment in his/her life. I treasured one such exquisite
experience recently that left recherché retention to my life. I was spending a
blissful vacation in Pune at my Sister's place and supposed to return on 14th
October'13 to Mumbai at my Parents' nest. The day before 14th Oct'13 I received
a message from Sameer Malkani, the Co-Founder of Food Bloggers Association ofIndia (FBAI), if any member of Kolkata Food Bloggers could attend the Award
Ceremony in Mumbai taking place on 14th Oct'13 at JW Marriott. Happy and
excited I was, my mind didn't allow me to let the opportunity to go away as I
would be in Mumbai on that very day. And yes heartiest thanks to my husband;
only for his effort I was able to witness this unforgettable Indian FoodBloggers Award Ceremony (IFBA).
"The Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI) has been created as a central point
of contact, resource and 'goings on' in India through the blogging community.”
It is a great endeavour to promote the world of food blogging in a different
podium where the main goal is to reach out and show honour to the food bloggers
by spreading their creative passion and hard works with the world. The Award ceremony held at JW Marriott which is
situated just at the sea shore end of Juhu Beach. Elegant and grand with a posh
exterior and interior, we (me and my husband) directed straight to the Grand
Sangam Ball Room. We settled ourselves in the room and my eyes started to hunt
for some known faces. Immediately we were welcomed with refreshing juices
followed by hard drinks and mouthwatering starters. After a while we were
warmly greeted by Sameer Malkani who led us and introduced with some Mumbai and
Pune based Food Bloggers. I am happy to say I know most of them. In a while we
all became busy in chitchatting and kept our mouth busy with the mouth watering
starters. The starter list:
Potato Bravas
Chicken and Leek Yakitori
Murgh Nawabi Tikka
South Indian Batter Fried Prawn
Smoked Salmon Bruschetta
Arbi Ki Chapli
Drunken Goat Cheese with Olive Baguette
Tomato Aranchini
Alaskan Salmon and cucumber maki roll
Peruvian Asparagus and takuan maki roll
Lobster Chaat Tacos with refried beans
Paneer Pin wheel
Mini Caponata of vegetable tartlet with
pine-nuts and basil foam.
No
need to say, each dish was well presented and tasted sumptuous. I was literally satisfied
with the catering service of the Marriott Team. They never let anyone stand for
a while without having anything. Their sweet and gentle gesture proved the high
end account of professionalism. 
The Award Ceremony started
after an hour. The remarkably experienced
jury consists of the best names from the gastronomic world. The panel includes Sanjeev Kapoor, Kunal Vijayakar, Zoravar Kalra, Kajal Tejsinghani, Rushina MunshawGhildiyal, Ritu Dalmia, Rashmi Uday Singh, Sona Bahadur (BBC Good Food Editor), HariNayak, Aneesha Baig, Vikram Doctor and Chef Aditya Bal. Among all the 11 jury
members 5 were present at the ceremony. There were all most 700 Food bloggers
shared their links and the panel of judges did get a hard time to chose the
winners of this year.
Some new
faces were introduced and got awarded. But the happiest moment I enjoyed when
heard the names of my known and favourite Food bloggers got nominated and
awarded. Here the list of the winners:
Best
Food/Culinary and travel Blog:
KalayanKarmakar
Best
Recipe Blog :
FarukShadab Ansari
Best
Writing and Story telling Blog :
CharisBhagianathan
Best
Single Food Shot:
Sonal
Solanki
Best
Facebook Food Blog:
SandeepSreedharan
Best
Regional Cuisine Blog:
AlkaKeswani
Best
Photo Blog:
Yeshi
Best
Baking Blog:
SaminaPatel
Best
Group Blog:
Kumar Jhuremalani
Best Restaurant Review Blog:
Adarsh Munjal
Best New
Blogger:
KajalBhatia
My heartiest Congratulations to all the winners and also to those whose blogs got nominated.
After the inspiring speeches by the honourable guests
and the award ceremony we were welcomed by the dinner buffet spread. A lavishly
organized delectable spread made all of us drooling. The main course comprises
from the cuisines of North India, Italy and Asia. We thoroughly enjoyed the
sumptuous dishes but I got awestruck when I saw the dessert section. I think
almost 20 to 25 desserts were served. The beauties were worth seeing. I wanted
to taste each one of them but was only able to taste 5-6 items as I got full by then. No need to say that
the desserts were tasted too good to describe in words. The evening was one of
my cherished memories of my life. The event itself was well organised and very motivating for the Food Bloggers like us who blog out of passion without having any monetary benefit in mind. I would like to thank Sameer Malkani from
the bottom of my heart for the invitation to the Kolkata Food Bloggers group. I
was literally overwhelmed by his sweet and humbled gesture I missed by KolkataFood Blogger friends too much. But yes it is a promise we will have such
ceremonies in our own city Kolkata sooner or later.
.For more Photos check our HERE.