Amici, the sunny Italian cafe which is popular for cosmic Italian delights, now reaches to Select CityWalk, Saket; after gaining a successful foothold in its first outlet in Khan Market. The launch event has been celebrated in a bona fide Italian way with the owner and restaurateur Andrea Pauro playing host to some of the capital’s celebrated chefs from popular Italian eateries.

The chefs participated in a friendly Cook-Off at Amici’s open kitchen to recreate their favourites. The event marks presence of the who’s who of Delhi’s social circuit including model-turned Interior Designer, Fleur Xavier and Italian Commercial-attache, Gianluca Brusco. The super-chefs competing at the event are namely Allesandro Sandrolini  of La Piazza at the Grand Hyatt, Vikram Chanana of Olive Bar & Kitchen, Filippo Guinta of Travertino at the Oberoi and Mahesh Nalwa of Amici.

The Chefs, in together, heat up the kitchen with their respective signature styles put on the Pizzas before the judges, Gianluca Brusco of the Italian Embassy and Bikramjit Ray of CNNIBN’s Secret Kitchen.  Chef Vikram created a 'Summer BLT' pizza with bacon, lettuce, and mayonnaise, a totally modern version of two classic western dishes fused together. Chef Allesandro put his efforts for a Calzone; a folded pizza with filling stuffed inside, while Chef Filippo goes for a classic, vegetarian, light rocket and tomato pizza and Chef Mahesh Nalwa recreates the signature and people favourite Pepe pizza.  

In the end, when the judges and audiences have tried the pizzas, there seems to be dual winners in the front, with Bikramjit choosing Chef Filipo’s as his favorite, and Italian Gianluca preferring the pizza from Chef Vikram. The dilemma has been solved after making a public vote when Chef Filippo Guinta of Travertino has been declared the honored winner.

Speaking on the event, Andrea emphasizes on the growing popularity of Italian food and held, “Amici Di Amici (Friends of Amici) was an event to celebrate the success of Italian food. Even though it is an international cuisine, Italian food has been completely accepted by Indians and is now enjoyed in almost every Indian household.  The popularity of the cuisine was clearly seen in the bonhomie and camaraderie displayed by the Italian chefs that came here today and in the spirit with which they took part in the celebrations. With new authentic Italian restaurants and cafes opening up in Delhi and in India with reassuring frequency, Italian food is all set to grow from strength to strength.”

About Amici: ‘Amici’ means ‘Friends’ in Italian. This is a mid-priced café catered to especially the upper middle class urban youths and serving a thoughtful variety of delicious delicacies such as  pizzas, pastas, salads, fresh juices and shakes. The outlet in Select CityWalk is a fifty cover restaurant with contemporary European bistro style setting.