Last week, I was lucky enough to be invited by one of my favourite restaurants, Carluccio’s to celebrate the launch of their Summer menu sharing platters at their Covent Garden restaurant.
I’ve talked very affectionately about Carluccio’s before, so when they asked me to come along and sample some wonderful food and meet lots of other bloggers, of course I didn’t have to hesitate one moment to say yes! The evening was centred around the new sharing platters which feature on the new summer menu. In Italian food “Antipasti”, literally meaning “before the meal” is served as large platters of cold meats, vegetables and cheeses and shared between all guests in a very social way. I LOVE the Italian culture for food, and Carluccio’s wonderfully capture the spirit of Italian food, as well as the fabulous ingredients.
The crowning glory of the large table was this parmesan cheese, accompanied by a thick balsamic reduction. You can see how much I love balsamic vinegar in this recipe! To be completely honest with you, I could have quite happily sat myself down with this lump of cheese all night and had a good old party by myself, but that may have defeated the point of “sharing” and “socialising”. Oh well.
Plate after plate of food was served, and just as I thought I’d sampled everything, another plate came out that we would have to try! What a shame!
The guys from “House of Peroni” were our lovely cocktail master for the evening, serving us creative Peroni cocktails ranging from ginger and rosemary to strawberry! All were absolutely delicious and perfectly complimented the food and the warm Summer’s evening London was offering.
To finish off (as if I had anymore room!) we were served a variety of mini pastries. Although not the highlight of the meal, we didn’t have any trouble popping a few of these in!
All in all, Carluccio’s put on a fantastic evening, which was no surprise to me. I am a huge advocate of dining at local, individual restaurants where I can, but Carluccio’s is a chain that somehow manages to not feel like a chain. It retains that quaint charm that is so often lost when dining in London. If you find yourself near a Carluccio’s this summer and fancy sharing some great food with some great friends, definitely pop in have a taste of their lovely summer menu!
I was lucky enough to be invited to attend this event as a guest by Carluccio’s. This post is not sponsored and all opinions are my own!
