Italian Restaurant Zanotta Reopens With A Bustling Space (And A Dolce Dome!)

What more can a restaurant offer when it reopens its doors to serve the same cuisine to diners? It's a thought that is sure to cross your mind if you have visited Zanotta in The Leela Ambience Gurugram Hotel & Residences in the past years. But when you step into the new version of the restaurant, you realise that there's always so much more to experience. With fine dining today changing its definition to bring in the good vibes and create a lively space, Zanotta is a perfect case in point with its modern design sensibilities, central live kitchen where you can see all the action, spectacular view of the cityscape and honest Italian food with no frills.

Decor And Concept

Being perched on the 6th floor automatically makes the restaurant a dining space with a view. And it surely puts up a spectacular show as you witness the highway traffic between Delhi and Gurugram from atop in shades of rubies and pearls. In fact, that's what sparked the idea behind Zanotta's decor that centres around these hues. The restaurant and its fine dining experiential concepts are primarily categorised into two sections inspired by two rivers in Italy.

^{The restaurant is primarily categorised into two sections inspired by two rivers in Italy}

The 5-course menu draws its inspiration from the river Lambro, which flows through Lombardy and northern Italy, bringing with it the delicacies from the surrounding regions. Similarly, the 8-course menu is named after the longest river Po, which flows through Turin, Cremona, Placenza and Milan. Umbria, the open kitchen at the centre of the restaurant is where Chef Abhishek Gupta and his team work in tandem, crafting dishes from scratch and plating them with finesse.

The Food

We try the 8-course menu and the amuse bouche includes a simple yet immensely satisfying tomato pinwheel stuffed with cheese and caramelised figs, followed by crunchy delights like zucchini and mozzarella parcel and a jalapeno arancini topped with tomato puree.

^{Tomato Pinwheel and Caramelised Figs}

^{Zucchini Parcel and Jalapeno Arancini}

The antipasto is a homemade burrata salad, where the cheese not only has a creamy texture but is packed with a punch too, and is further uplifted with the pickled zucchini, beetroot puree, compressed melon and a tomato essence that the chef tells us takes 12 hours to make!

^{Homemade Burrata}

The lobster bisque topped with house-made shrimp cracker is a delight for seafood lovers with its intense flavour and buttery smoothness. In pasta, we try a chicken tortellini where the chicken jus truly steals the show, and the Parmigiano-Reggiano risotto is another classic Italian dish that is done to perfection. We love the punch of truffle oil that beautifully balances the richness.

^{Lobster Bisque}

^{Chicken Tortellini}

^Risotto

Next we try a sea bass that is pan-seared and accompanied by cauliflower puree and citrus hollandaise that instantly delights the tastebuds. The pan-seared lamb loin in red wine jus follows, and we love how beautifully the knife cuts through the meat, which is tender and juicy.

^{Pan-Seared Sea Bass}

^{Pan-Seared Lamb Loin}

Dolce Dome

For those with a sweet tooth, your favourite is sure to be the Dolce Dome, which is a room full of Italian desserts, chocolates, gelatos and more to really give into indulgence. We try a range of premium chocolates, gelatos and of course the all-time favourite tiramisu.

^{Dolce Dome at Zanotta}

Where: The Leela Ambience Gurugram Hotel & Residences

Price: 5 course experiential menu at INR 2,999 plus taxes;  8 course experiential menu at INR 3,999 plus taxes