Italian with an A for Authenticity at Prego

The new summer menu at Prego at The Westin Gurgaon has been exclusively curated by Italian food maestro, Chef Emiliano Di Stefano. It reflects a more homely style of Italian cooking that strikes a flawless balance of authenticity packed with wholesome fresh flavours. The menu is rooted in tradition using freshly-acquired produce with innovative preparation methods. As Chef Emiliano himself states, “I endeavour to bring traditional Italian, Tuscan flavours to the table of Indian diners”. Hence, if authentic Italian cuisine is up your alley, Prego is the perfect setting to satisfy your taste buds. Here is all you need to know:

The classic interiors at Prego, Westin

Where: Located in the heart of bustling Gurugram and at IFFCO Chowk nonetheless, The Westin Gurgaon is easy to spot and access. It’s easiest to take the yellow Metro line and get off at the IFFCO Chowk station.

Ambience: Prego surpassed all expectations being cocooned not only in luxury but also a fair amount of greenery; the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the restaurant gives an impression of the restaurant being much larger than it actually is, while also making the space seem much more breezy and open. The light paint and subtle lighting coupled with minimalist artworks adorning the walls help to further amplify the aura, which is rustic yet refined.

Menu: From an assortment of cold starters and anti-pasti, hand-tossed pizzas, delectable risottos and signature desserts, there is something to satisfy all types of eaters. The menu ensures that it is light on the stomach in order for diners to be able to brave the searing summer heat of Delhi.

Recommendations after review:
For starters, choose the Antipasto misto. It consisted of quality cold cuts such as parma ham and smoked pancetta along with grilled octopus (Chef Emiliano insisted I try the fresher fried calamari instead of the octopus), chickpeas puree, rucola and to round it off, olive ascolana. Yes, my starter was a medley of multiple tastes and adventure! Seared Scallops were accompanied by pumpkin and beetroot puree, crunchy parma ham, gingered asparagus and vegetable crudités. The scallops were cooked to perfection and I could discern right away that they had a lovely melt-in-your-mouth texture from the very onset of the meal.

The Carre di agnello, a roasted stack of Australian lamb

For mains, the Pizza Diavola can be a great option. It was a combination of tomato, mozzarella and pork chorizo. It was brilliant due to the freshness of the bread, the perfect amount of cheese in play and the finely-sliced chorizo that had an abundance of flavour. Medaglioni di Filetto Si Funghi consisted of seared tenderloin, truffle mashed potato, roasted asparagus (which Chef Emiliano cleverly replaced with snow peas realising that I had already had asparagus in the starter) in mushroom sauce. I opted to have it cooked medium rare in order to enjoy the succulent nature of the meat. It was cooked to perfection yet again, the meat perfectly pink from the inside.

The Tiramisu is not-too-sweet, giving it a perfectly balanced flavour

For desserts, try the Tiramisu. It was delicately balanced, with a seamless stability between sugar and coffee, with none masking the flavour of the other. The Millefoglie was perfectly flaky with multiple thin layers of puff pastry and hidden among them was a delightful cream that was set just right.

Pocket pinch: ₹4,000 for two people (approx.)

Contact: westingurgaon.com/dining-prego/ 124-4977777