[Romantic Dining Spots]

Continuing with my series of romantic dining spots, this time we decided to try out Villa Danieli at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel Kuala Lumpur. The Sheraton Imperial KL is a 385 guest room 5-star hotel which is pretty centrally located in KL’s central business district along Jalan Sultan Ismail and if you’re heading over from PJ/ Damansara traffic is not too bad because you’re going against it.

Villa Danieli is a free-standing trattoria, styled after a country home, and serves authentic and traditional Italian favourites. This time we headed over to try the 4-course Frescobaldi Italian Wine Dinner conceptualised by Director of Culinary, Restaurant & Bar, Rajesh Kanna featuring some specially prepared Italian dishes paired with a selection of Frescobaldi wines for what we anticipated was going to be a journey of tongue tantalizing flavours and textures!

Here’s a little info on the Frescobaldi wines:

The Frescobaldi family’s wine making heritage of thirty generations over a period of 700 years has resulted in the production of quality Tuscan wines. With great dedication to their art passed down from generation to generation, the Frescobaldi family believes in absolute respect for tradition coupled with openness to research and experiment, with the objective of creating wines of the highest quality.

The start of such passion is said to have begun in the year of 1300, while in Pomino in 1894, the Frescobaldi family built the first Italian gravity-fed wine cellars and distinguished themselves with their specialized vineyards. Today, they have over 1,000 hectares of estate vineyard in 5 states in Tuscany, and a quality distribution network in over 65 countries worldwide.

Now on to my experience at Villa Danieli.

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On level 5 of the Sheraton Imperial next to the swimming pool is a little Italian villa!

My partner in crime for the night was pretty impressed by the romantic ambience. Scored some brownie points for myself ha ha!

The restaurant itself has various sections. As you enter the first section you will see is the bar with high-tables which is good for or a drink before/ after your meal

The dim lighting and soft piped-in Italian music in the background makes it a really romantic place to bring your date. The dark timber fittings and roof further adds to the warmth of the restaurant.

If you’re into wines perhaps you’d like to dine in the “wine cellar” area

We opted for the cosy sofa/ table in the main dining area under a high ceiling with murals of people dining. The Italian style columns gave a rustic and classic feel to the place.

The restaurant has an open kitchen where you can watch the chefs prepare your food however it was the wood fire oven which is used to bake the pizzas which really caught my eye.

Some sparkling water to start the meal

Amuse Bouche – Creamed Cod and Cauliflower Mash and Crispy Salted Cod Chips

This was paired with the Remole Bianco (Vermentino&Tribiano) 2012 which was light, not too dry, and easy to drink.

Antipasto – Rosemary smoked salmon and beetroot mille foille, ash sauce and sour cream (right) and Burrata and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Mousse, Mediterranean Vegetables and Raw Tuna Salsa (left). This was just a festival of flavours! The saltiness of the smoked salmon combined with the sweetness of the beetroot eaten with the sour cream made me just want to continue eating it while the tuna with the creamy burrata was balanced out with the acidity of the tomatoes. This has got to be one of the best antipasto dishes that I’ve ever eaten.Top marks for this!

The antipasto was paired with the Pomino Bianco (Chardonnay & Pinot Bianco) 2011 which was slightly dry but also slightly sweet at the same time but was overall not a very strong flavourful wine which was GREAT because it complemented and enhanced the flavours of the antipasto. (A wine expert once taught me that your wines should ideally either complement or contrast with your food. Eg. A spicy dish with a spicy wine will leave your palate feeling overpowered )

Pasta – Potato and Mascarpone Ravioli with Light Pepper Goat Cheese Fondue and Crispy Cured Beef Ham. The pasta is very light in colour so you’ll really need to look at the photo properly to see it but believe me it’s there. The ravioli was rich and creamy due to the cheese while the beef ham added distinct savouriness to the dish. The vege on top (not exactly too sure what it was) added a different dimension in terms of texture and it’s green taste ensured that the richness didn’t make you feel sick. I was quite happy that the portion was just right too. Not too big or small.

The pasta was paired with the Tenuta Di castiglioni IGT 2009 which was a slightly spicy and rich wine which was great because it totally balanced out the flavours of the rich, creamy pasta!

Main – Pan Roast Lamb Rump with Thyme Pumpkin Puree and Sautéed Asparagus and Citrus Glazed Lamb Jus. To be honest I expected a big chunk of lamb with a bone sticking out so this was rather unexpected. This turned out to be great though as the meat was cooked perfectly and it was tender and flavourful. The pumpkin puree added some sweetness and I moped up every last bit of the delicious lamb jus! This was definitely my favourite dish of the night!

The lamb went with the Castelgiocond Brunello Di Montalcino DOCG 2005 which had slightly bolder flavours than the previous wine but not too bold as to overpower the dish. I think the rich, slightly spicy, earthy flavours really complemented the lamb.

Main – Cod Medallion Stew with Mediterranean vegetables in tangy tomato sauce, lemon chick pea mousse. We decided to change one of the mains to a fish dish because she wasn’t a big fan of lamb. Of course I just had to try her main and I must say that this is the first time that I’m eating cod with a tomato based sauce (usually it’s a creamy sauce) but it went very well indeed and the fish was very fresh. The chick pea mousse was a welcome surprise as dishes like these are usually atop a bed of mash potato. I thought it was somewhat unconventional but hey it tasted good!

Dessert – Small Pears and Custard Cream Sable Pie with Frozen Yogurt Mousse. I’m not much of a dessert person but I enjoyed the frozen yoghurt with the pie. Not too sweet and it was a good balance of flavours (sweet and sour) and richness.

The dessert was paired with the Illyquore coffee Liqueur which was served on the rocks. As the dessert was rather sweet and creamy, I took a bite of the dessert then a sip of the coffee liqueur and let the flavours mix in my mouth. A very good pairing indeed!

The look of satisfaction on her face!

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The Frescobaldi Wine Dinner is priced at RM220.00++ per person, and this special four-course set meal with pairing of Frescobaldi wines is only available for dinner from 4 to 31 October 2013.

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Tomcat says – she was very impressed by the ambience and she enjoyed the food and wine pairing especially the antipasto. I thought the price (which is RM510.40 after tax) was acceptable for a 4-course dinner paired with wines (if you’re having a fine dining dinner at other restaurants in KL/ PJ and opened a bottle of wine it would probably come up to about the same anyway). I really enjoyed the lamb. I expected it to be a big chunk of meat like it usually served but having it served thinly sliced made eating it so much easier and I moped up every last bit of the flavourful lamb jus on the plate.

The ambience is great for you to bring your date and we saw a few other couples enjoying the food and ambience there as well. There was even a little birthday celebration where the restaurant staff came out to sing a birthday song which was not the traditional “Happy Birthday” song but rather NKOTB’s “Happy Birthday to You” (I’m an early 80’s kid so I recognised it immediately). The girl who was celebrating her birthday looked so happy that even my partner was tearing up seeing her with her boyfriend (I was kinda singing along with the staff).

Romantic ambience: 9/10

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Villa Danieli is located at

Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur

Jalan Sultan Ismail,

50250 Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia.

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Telephone: 03-27179900

Email: restaurants.imperial@sheraton.com

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Opening Hours:

Lunch from 12.00 noon to 2.30pm from Mondays to Fridays

Dinner from 6.30pm to 10.30pm from Mondays to Saturdays.

The restaurant is closed on Sundays and Public Holidays.

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Parking: There is ample parking in the hotel’s basement parking lot. Don’t forget to validate your parking ticket at the reception to get the flat rate.

Website: http://www.sheratonimperialkualalumpur.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sheraton.imperial.kuala.lumpur

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Do your part for the community! Save the children!

For the past 16 years, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has been working closely with UNICEF to better the lives of mothers and children in poor and developing countries.

This year, money raised by the UNICEF charity program strengthens UNICEF’s education programs in the Asia Pacific region. Funds raised help build and improve school facilities, provide quality teacher training in impoverished areas, provide essential school supplies, help children return to schools after emergencies with ‘School-in-a-box’ kits, provide teaching programs for ethnic minority areas and awareness of gender and health issues in schools.

UNICEF works to provide all children with access to a quality basic education. In one year alone UNICEF provided more than 12 million children with educational materials. The impact of a child’s education is long-lasting; as children of educated mothers are 50 per cent more likely to survive until the age of five than those whose mothers did not have the chance to go to school.

For more information on UNICEF, head over to http://www.unicef.org.

Every participating Starwood hotel and resort all around the world will have their own initiatives to help raise fund for UNICEF. This year, Sheraton Imperial KL aims to create awareness of the charity campaign by connecting people with one of the local favourites – Briyani rice. In addition to the hotel’s continuous effort to give back to the community, this charity allows the hotel to educate people on the importance of their contribution to these children in need as well as to help provide better future to them by supporting UNICEF’s education program.

Join Starwood hotels and Sheraton Imperial as they aid these children in changing their lives by supporting UNICEF’s education programs this year!

You can do this by simple redeeming Sheraton Imperial’s signature briyani rice at only RM15.00nett each at Toastina Café & Bar. You can purchase the UNICEF coupons from the front desk.

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Published by Tim Chew

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