Le Meridien witnessed glam and glitz when Hairomax Miss Kerala 2011, Elizabeth Thadikkaran was crowned on 8^th October.  Completing the victory trail, Sruthi Nair bagged the first runner – up and Maria John became the second runner-up.

Elizabeth backed 19 elegant contestants and bagged this most coveted title. She belongs to Cochin. Presently she is doing B.D.S. in M S Ramaiah medical college, Bangalore. Sruthi Nair too hails from Cochin, while Maria is a Pune Malayali.

Team work plays the important role in setting up an event at its excellence. Impresario Event Management India Ltd, being at their organizing best brought the wonderful panel of judges, pageant coaches, hosts and entertainment.

Twenty Miss Kerala 2011 aspirants sizzled competing for the most desirable crown. Walking the ramp down in the costumes designed by Semu and Atit brought their optimum grace. Being trained by eminent pageant coaches like; Ritika Ramtri and Justeen Bhatt helped them showcase their best on the stage.

Without the finest panel of judges including; Neha  Hinge; Miss India International 2010, Poornima Indrajith; actress, Shan Muttathil; international make-up and hair stylist, Asmita Marwa; Indian fashion designer, Arshina Trivedi; Gladrags Mega Model 2010, Roshan Abbas; Bollywood director and Siddhique ; Indian film director, it would have been a real tough job to pick the best.

Inorder to set Hairomax Miss Kerala 2011 stage on fire and to enhance the entertainment quotient of the beauty pageant, some leading performers comprising; Stephen Devassy; Indian Pianist, Dazzlers; the dance troop, George Peter and Neha Nair; singers amused the audience with their brilliance.

Supremacy of the show was held high with the radiant hosts; Ranjini Haridas and A.K. Rahman.  There were other sub title winners too, displaying their individual premier.

 

 

 

Le Meridien keeps treating Kochi to amazing food festivals. After Italian, Thai & Punjabi, we now have the Arabic Food Festival coming our way. If you want to try out some authentic Middle Eastern food and Arabic desserts drop by at Treasure Trove, Le Meridien Kochi. But dont waste time. Aroma of Arabia is on till October 9th 2011.

Anyone with a sandwich fetish would be happy to know that Le Meridien is having a Sandwich Carnival at the Library Lounge, Le Meridien’s 24 hour coffee shop. Check out the carnival with a cup of illy coffee (yes, there are brands of coffee other than Lavazza) and a book. The Sandwich Carnival is running through the month of October.

Le Méridien Kochi is decked up to transform its Treasure Trove Restaurant to recreate the delicacies and the festivities of the land of Punjab. The spicy tangy Punjabi flavors are sure to take the creative guest to encompass the perfect setting of Monsoon. Le Méridien plays host to Punjabi food and Cultural fest from the 1st July to 10th July 2011 between 07:30 pm – 11:00 pm. The fest is not limited to scrumptious Punjabi food but an array of cultural programs like Bhangra and Punjabi music.

A food connoisseur can begin the journey with the traditional beverages like Aam Ka Panna and Jal Jeera. To continue the food sojourn, indulge in Punjabi dishes like Kadi Pakodi- a traditional Punjabi dish, the Rara Gosht – a mutton dish steeped in a gravy of spicy mince and soaked with rare spices, Murgh Makhanwala- chicken cooked in soft and melting butter, Sarsson da Saag – a Punjabi treat made of Mustard leaves & spices, the Baingan Bhurtha – brinjals cooked with a simple combination of spices and herbs. For those having a sweet tooth, relish varieties like Phaldhari Ras malai, Dakke Wali Kulfi etc.

Taking the festival to an interactive mode, Punjabi  recipe handouts are circulated to the guests who would like to try the recipes back home. Chef would also share some handy tips on the preparation of Punjabi cuisine.

If you are a die hard cricket fan and you are wondering where to watch the matches from, head to Le Meridien and watch the matches with happy hours. Remember to place your last order before the match is over. Offer is valid only during the game.

We had the delight to experience the Thai Fest that is going on at Le Meridien. Having experienced the Italian Food Fest a couple of months ago, we had similar expectations. And we sure weren’t disappointed. On entering the Treasure Trove restaurant we were lead to our seat and we met with the Thai chef who was specially flown down to personally manage the fest. He explained the whole array of foods and his selection of the night’s menu. Thai food can be quite sublime and straight up at the same time. But he had a selection of Indian food to suit his Indian and international patrons as not all will be able to appreciate the Thai flavors.

But it takes just a little ‘trying out new things’ to actually enjoy things like this. We started off with the Tom Yum Soup, it was looking too clear from what we were used to from the local Chinese restaurants. We had our first spoon with an aura of doubt, but when the first spoon crossed our lips, the blend of flavors that hit my tongue was excellent! There was a live Som Tam counter, which btw is a spicy blend of a salad made from Papaya, but we diverted paths seeing the pieces of Tenderloin being cooked.
The main course seemed more appealing. Most of the people being unfamiliar with Thai cuisine or atleast the terminologies, the staff had nicely placed their English description underneath each dish tag. It was very helpful in identifying each food item. Starting off the main course, the Pla Sam Rod was very nice, deep fried fish, tasted like fish fritters with a nice subtle sauce splashed all around it. Fish was a commonplace on the menu, but the next dish, was the highlight. Beautifully grilled Tenderloins or Paneang Neu with Panang sauce, which melts in your mouth, the meat was so soft and you could bite through it like butter. We even stayed to watch the next set being grilled. Poetry in motion, hats off to the chefs for this masterful creation! Other notable dishes was the Kai Pad Med Ma Meung, stir fried chicken with cashewnuts, black mushrooms, huge and juicy. Even the Tofu was nice; it was mushy and had a well balanced flavor. To go with these dishes were a choice of Thai fried rice, stir fried noodles and a mix of breads. And there was live grill section which had a Thai version of our chilli chutney with grilled prawns…a must try.
This was not the end of the dinner, the desserts looked similarly impressive. Although their descriptions sort of confused us, a Mr Arun Stepfen was very patient and helpful in getting us the names of various dishes and their literal translations. The king of the desserts was the humble Thai custard, made with wheat flour and duck eggs. Sublime, mellow and wholesome, it tastes just about right; the perfect end to a good meal. Other desserts like the Pisang Goreng or banana pancakes tasted fruity, the Thong Yip a mango mousse was a contrast of sweet and milky tastes.

The fest is running till the 13th of Feb and it will set you back 850 bucks excl taxes. But if you want to try some real nice Thai cuisine, definitely head to Le Meridien for a different experience!

Food lovers in Kochi has been having a lot of interesting things to do (or rather eat) around the city lately. We just came to know that Chef Chang, a Rock Star in the chef circuit, is on a tour of India and is in Kochi now. He is at Le Meridien, Kochi from Feb 7th to 13th and his creations can be tasted at Treasure Trove for the dinner buffets. Here is your chance to get closest to Thailand without actually going there. We even heard that the staff at the restaurant have one of those oriental beards to give it an authentic feel. . We have a review coming up real soon guys.

Contact 0484-2705777 for reservations.

After an eventful journey for the 16 finalists contesting in the Hairomax Miss South India 2010 by Pegasus. The last leg of that journey was at Hotel Le Meridien on the 6th of November. The final had a nerve racking set of rounds for the contestants with a host of music and dance shows in between to entertain the crowd. And again the crown goes to another Bangalorean, the beautiful Shubha Phutela, Geethu Christy, a Malayalee was the first Runner Up and Nikita Narayan an Andra native was the second Runner Up. A huge congrats to Shubha and the rest of the contestants and also to Pegasus events for a great event for all us to enjoy.
Now photos from the night.
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We also got a chance to interview the brains behind Hairomax Miss South India. Read it here.

Photographs by Gifen, Adheeth and Myself

Gone are the days when the only role of women was cooking and child rearing. Women in India (especially in the more conservative south) are gradually playing a more visible role in society , and perhaps there’s no greater affirmation of how far we’ve come than the Hairomax Miss South India Contest, where young women from various social and cultural backgrounds come together to show off their talents, brains and of course, not inconsiderable beauty.

Four beautiful young women have made it to the finals from our very own state of Kerala: Aiswarya Muraleedharan, Geethu Christie, Priyanka Mohan and Denita Anand. The auditions were held at the Hotel Wyte Fort on October 19th, and judged by former Miss Kerala Ranjini Haridas, Miss Andhra Pradesh Valentina Mishra and Managing Director of Nupal Remedies Mr. Krishnakumar. These contestants will now go through grooming sessions emphasizing all round development: yoga, meditation and personality development for the mind, as well as photo shoots, catwalk training and beauty sessions. These sessions will be under the guidance of Mr. Arun Ratna from Fashion Runway, Mr. Sameer Khan from Elite Model management, Valen’s Model Management, and Mr. Jayagopal and Mr. Jaison Paulson from Jaison Fitness First.

The finals will be held at the Le Meridien Convention Centre in Kochi on November 16th and will have four rounds interspersed by cultural performances. Four representatives from each of the four states Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka will battle it out for the crown, over designer saree, casual, black & black and linen wear rounds, sporting ensembles designed by Sajimon Parayil.

The judges include actors from all of south India such as Swetha Vijay (also a former Miss India) Aditi Chibber and Kaushal Prasad, model Simer Motiani, fashion designer Sajimon Parayil and media personalities Vijay Babu and Thoshma Biju.

The title winners will get a gold plated crown designed by Prakash Parakkat, and cash prizes of `1 lakh, `50,000 and `25,000 for the first, second and third positions respectively. Apart from these, other titles include Miss Beautiful Hair, Miss Beautiful Smile, Miss Beautiful Skin, Miss Beautiful Face, Miss Beautiful Eyes, Miss Congeniality, Miss Cat Walk, Miss Perfect 10, Miss Talented and Miss Photogenic.

This beauty event is not without a heart, literally. The organizers, Pegasus Events, will use part of the proceeds from this event to cover the expenses for heart surgery for two children at Sunrise Hospital,
Go out there and do us proud, girls!
The contestants from Kerala

We gave you the buzz on the Italian food fest that started on the 15th at Le Meridien, the ‘Festa Italiana’. We got to check the fest firsthand ourselves yesterday. The fest at the Treasure Trove restaurant and the Italian ‘air’ can be seen as you reach the entrance. The whole placed is decked in the Venetian sort of style and the bright colors that do relate to Italy. The staff is similarly attired, friendly and warm. The spread looked impressive on a quick look over; we were greeted by the captain of the restaurant and offered Italian country bread with some pesto sauce, a light gentle start to ‘our’ Italian Fest. The buffet also offers beverages from beer to wines, red or white and the assorted juices or aerated drinks.

We checked out the Classical Minestrone Soup with pesto, the flavors of the herbs were gentle and it was just delightful. What’s wonderful about the subtle flavors of the herbs which can really make a difference to a dish. We checked out the assorted breads which had some interesting candidates like the pita bread, basil pesto bread, soft herb rolls, to be short, there were quite a few . To go along with the breads were a nice set of cheeses. We took our time enjoying the varied tastes of the breads and cheeses over a glass of red wine.
Our next step took us to the cold meats and salads section. You have your usual salad-material, lettuces, balsamic vinegar, olives, olive oil, zucchinis and a lot more of the green. What interested us more was the set of cold cuts, which did look pretty good and tasked likewise.

Over to the main course area, they had dishes that were already cooked and set, and then they had live stations. The live stations churned out food to-order. From a seafood station to a pasta and pizza station, it took us a while to decide on what to try out. On the main course section, we tried out the Grilled Beef with rosemary and red wine sauce. The meat was finely cooked, tender and properly done on the outside, tender and pink in the inside. That was indeed a fine sight, the meat was delightful, with the rosemary flavor being a little on the heavy side, but it being rosemary, who can complain. There was a chicken and a veal dish that tasted quite good too, cooked with tomato and white sauces, the main course had quite a good feel to it. There some side dishes like the wild mushroom fritters and roasted potatoes with Italian red onions which went well with the main course.
We were very lucky to get a plate of the grilled seafood, which had salt crusted Sea Bass with fennel and lemon salsa and calamari’s. The Bass was the dish that stood out, it was juicy, it was crispy, it was subtle, it oozed gentle flavors and it was succulent. That was the highlight for us, five stars for that dish, it was perfect!
We tried out their pastas which was again a lot, they had sauces from alfredo, carbonara, arrabbiata, mixed seafood sauces and many more. What interested us over the pastas they had was the two that was house made, Gnocchi and Tagliatelle, it added a nice authentic touch to the whole fest.

With the main course done with it was the Dolci ( sweets in Italian ) that we eyed. The dessert section was beautifully set up, there was an arrangement with resembled a tree on which Pannacotta’s were placed. The whole place looked quite nice and being the dessert section, it even intrigued us further. So with no further adieu, we tried out the different sweet savories. The Chocolate Pannacotta was heavenly. There were other like Kiwi, berry, they were also nice, but to me the Chocolate really stood out. And as I hoped they had Tiramisu and it was a welcome addition to the marvelous meal we had.

A good meal should always be topped off with coffee or tea and they brought us fresh cups of the same, as we sat back and looked back on the meal we had, I can say it was quite good. Service was very good, with the staff being very friendly and prompt on bringing you with anything that is required. The whole ambiance was nice and well toned, the spread was nice and varied, authentic to the feel. As a whole on the Italian Fest, is where you can take your family, your date, your friends or yourself for a nice dinner over a nice glass of wine ( or without), it is quite worth it to try out.