It’s a culinary combination you don’t hear about all that often: Indian-Italian fusion. But on Saturday, Crystal City’s Cucina Vivace restaurant will be devoting an entire night to it.
The exotic cuisine will be prepared as part of a collaboration between two local chefs: Gordon Vivace of Cucina Vivace and Pritha Mehra of Falls Church-based The Mystic Kitchen. The two came up with a 10-course, $69 prix fixe menu that blends “Indian and Italian staples into dishes that remain true to both specialties.”
The menu includes:
- Papri Chaat: Flour crisps topped with potatoes, mascarpone cheese based cream, tamarind chutney and chickpea shavings.
- Polpetti di Paste e Pollo: Patties made with Chicken, Potatoes, Spaghetti and Cheese served with Chutney.
- Insalata di Kachoomber: A lemon flavored salad mixture of Indian and Mediterranean fruits dressed in lemon zest.
- Tandoori Chicken Pizzetti: Flat bread with a thin layer of tomato, topped with Tandoori Chicken, onions, arugula and pine nuts.
- Salmon Bruschetta: Salmon grilled in an array of spices served over olive roasted toast.
- Pesto Paneer: Homemade Paneer in a tangy pesto chutney sauce.
- Curried Shrimp Polenta: South Indian Shrimp curry over creamy polenta.
- Raja’s Cannelloni: Fresh pasta tubes stuffed with Indian-spiced spinach and paneer baked in an Italian tomato sauce, flavored with Indian five-spice.
- Spaghetti Keema Bolognese: Indian spiced beef curry in an Italian Bolognese style sauce over freshly made spaghetti.
- Risotto Dolce: Cardamom flavored Arborio Rice pudding topped with fruit.
The menu is being offered for one night only: Saturday, Nov. 19, at 7:00 p.m. Reservations can be made online or by calling 703-979-7676.