An insider's account from the Signature Premiere partnered The Telegraph Food Guide Awards 2013!!

     "There's no sincerer lover than the lover of food!"       

  ~ George Bernard Shaw.

On that note, the truest 'lovers' of Kolkata rubbed shoulders on a glamourous night at Galaxy, The Park, on 12th August night ! Partnered by SIGNATURE Premiere, THE TELEGRAPH FOOD GUIDE AWARDS 2013 , was another step by the leading daily, to reward those ,who have put their hands up, to take the dining experience in Kolkata to an altogether new level! The Galaxy was truly a conglomerate of stars as the best of Kolkata food connoisseurs who assembled to receive their prizes for excellence in preparing 'feelgood' dishes , mingled with the stars & starlets of Tollywood , fashion designers & Industrialists! A lucky few who managed to grab passes , courtesy a Signature twitter contest, were a starstruck lot, as they got the chance to get up close& personal with the celebrities from the city's  elite circle!

                   The evening started off on a grand scale with the elegant Abir "Byomkesh" Chatterjee & Paoli Dam unveiling The Telegraph Food Guide for 2013 to thunderous applause! The book lists fabulous eateries all around Kolkata , and is destined to make its way into the 'must-have' collection of every foodie in the city! Then started off the hoardes of awards being given away across all genres of food available in and around the city !

Gaurav, Ridhima , & Moinak on-stage to give away an award,
while Sonika Chauhan looks on

 Hosted by the gorgeous Sonika Chauhan, the evening panned out beautifully, with the rocking beats in the background making sure , nobody was left sitting idle on their seats! A packed hall applauded in unison as eateries like Oh! Calcutta , Veda, Mainland China walked away with the best Bengali, Mughlai, and Oriental cuisine awards respectively! For Italian, we had Sphagetti Kitchen, and for continental , Bistro & Cafe 23 were on target! Vegetarian-enthusiasts cheered wildly for Rajdhani ,while Bridge, Zodiac, Aaheli , Astor also made the honours board! Giving away the prizes were eminent personalities like Singer Anupam Roy, Nandon Bagchi, tv starlets Gaurav & Ridhima, columnist Rita Bhimani, director Moinak Bhaumik. Sitting in the audience and clapping from the front rows were Fashion Designers Sharbari Dutta, Abhishek dutta, Kallol Dutta, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Agnimitra Paul.

the stand-up comedian was right in the mood

 In between , stand up comedians kept the crowd in split with their witty one liners! One of them joked about getting married at the unimaginably tender 'Bengali' age of 24 , and the fate of modern day engineers who are invariably trying their hands in other fields like Music direction, Theatre, Columnist, politics and what not!  

Shaheb Bhattacharya & Abir Chatterjee

 While the revelries went on, those who bagged awards  in the crowd heartily congratulated fellow winners, whilst those who missed out strengthened their resolve to hike their efforts for the next year! 

Once the celebrations inside subsided , the focus shifted to the brilliantly arranged bar, where vodka, white & red wine ruled ! Whilst Parno Mitra and Gargi Roychowdhury gelled , Abir was seen chatting away with Shaheb Bhattacharya! Paoli asked for a glass of red wine ,and Mainak gladly obliged! 

Gargi Roychowdhury & Parno Mitra

Nondon Bagchi obliging a fan

"My Favourite eatery bagged a prize, Did yours??" Moinak seems to be asking Raima

Shutterbugs had their flashes working overtime , as Raima Sen turned up, looking fetching in a lovely sari! Some of the youngsters ventured to request the glitterati for photos, and were delighted to get themselves clicked with the stars!!

The food that followed was an utterly divine experience! Starting with the Soya Haleem with small crispy Rotis, and Biryani with Lotus stems, the entire spread was sumptuous!! If Sushis cried out for attention , so was the divinely prepared Pork & Mushroom dishes! 

   

 Garlic Rice live & fried Parse-Live were a perfect foil to the Gnochhi station ......all these were served , piping hot straight from the pans! And to finish off in style, the delectable Dessert items were a hit , and not surprisingly, flew off the shelves in a hurry!! 

            

Fans taking away some "Signature"-styled memories

 As the party people munched away to glory, revelling in a thoroughly enjoyable atmosphere, the clock struck 10:30pm! A few dignitaries like ABP head honcho Mr Aveek Sarkar, director Aniruddha Roychowdhury , and others chatted around ! But for some of us, it was time to head home, after a memorable evening that had promised the moon, but truly delivered the 'Galaxy' !! Signature deserves our vote of thanks for gifting us an experience worth remembering ! 

Your Blogger, at the end of an eventful evening

An insider's account of the Signature Premiere partnered The Telegraph Food Guide Awards 2013, at Galaxy, The Park, Kolkata on 12 August, 2013! Sincere thanks goes out to LIVE IN-STYLE  for the invite!

the beautiful candles that adorned every table