Grape Stomping Sunday at The Upper Crust Show

Would a Sunday afternoon be more fun with a glass of wine on a recliner or a vat full of grapes to stomp over? The final curtain call of the The Upper Crust Show that made its successful debut in Pune with The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, came with a fun activity of grape stomping. The antioxidant gush to the skin apart this one was a visual treat with guests to the show, where everyone from 6 - 60 took to their feet to do the stomping.

Team WestiNext in a Vat

Girls Just Want To Have Some Fun

Monika Trivedi joins the kids

Stomping Glory

Celebrity Chef Contest at The Upper Crust Show in Pune

The path of a celebrity chef could very well be along the edge of a knife than as smooth as a spatula, especially when you have four contemporaries going head on against you in the 'Mystery Basket Contest' at The Upper Crust Show. The four chefs in the running were Chef Hemant Mehta, Hyatt Regency Pune, Chef Shailendra Kekade, Stone Water Grill, Chef Rajesh Arora, Polka Dots and Chef Anthony En Yuan Huang, Ista Pune. On Saturday, November 26, 2011 our very own Executive Chef Santosh Jori and his league of heavy weight chefs were being judged by none other than household name and celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Ms. Kimmy Sheorey, former Bollywood actress, Mr. Dilip Puri, M.D India & Regional V. P South Asia Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Ms. Farzana Contractor. The idea was to get the ingredients from the mystery basket and conjure culinary magic.

The competition among equals is quite a display of a balance between calm and go getter attitude and so it was at the Westin Lawns. To show support were the associates of The Westin Pune Koregaon Park rooting for their beloved Chef, who cheered tirelessly as the competition moved forward. The general manager of the hotel Anuraag Bhatnagar also gave his two words of wisdom and support to his Executive Chef. 

The winners were declared after much anticipation and judgement by all four judges, Chef Shailendra from Stone Water Grill took away the first prize for his Pepper Smoked Chicken Breast with Pineapple Salsa, Potato Foam and an Aperitif  of Lemongrass and Tomato Champagne and Chef Santosh Jori the runner's up prize for Pruneand Chili Stuffed Chicken with Chicken Oyster Rillette. 

Celebrity Chefs Pune- L-R: Chef Shailendra, Stone Water Grill, Chef Hemant, Hyatt Regency Pune, Chef Anthony En Yuan, Ista Pune, Chef Santosh, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park

a hand of encouragement by the general manager

L-R: Alyona Kapoor and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor with Anuraag Bhatnagar

the contest begins....

Judgement Day - L-R: Ms. Farzana Contractor, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, Ms. Kimmy Sheorey, Mr. Dilip Puri 

Ms. Kimmy Sheorey watches upon the culinary art of Chef Jori

Chef Sanjeev Kapoor encourages the chefs as they get busy into the contest

 Chef Jori in action

final touch

the cutting edge chef

caught in the act

Jori Magic

L-R: Ms. Kimmy Sheorey, Ms. Farzana Contractor, Mr. Dilip Puri, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor listen to Chef Shailendra

The Jury on Jori

The jury has decided

Chef Jori won the runner's up prize, speaking on his experience at The Upper Crust Show 

and the winner is ....Chef Shailendra

Contest Concludes - L-R:  Chef Anthony En Yuan, Ista Pune, Chef Hemant, Hyatt Regency Pune, Ms. Farzana Contractor, Chef Shailendra, Stone Water Grill,  Chef Rajesh Arora, Polka Dots, Chef Santosh, The Westin Pune Koregaon Park

Chef Pradeep Persoya at The Upper Crust Show in Pune

On the opening day of The Upper Crust Show that marked its debut in the city of Pune at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park, the free cookery demonstrations that gives the show its popularity began at noon. The first one being our very own pastry chef Pradeep Persoya who demonstrated delicious champagne caramel chocolates and coffee chocolates to an enthused audience. The demonstration truly showcased a chocoholic immersion day.

Chef Pradeep Persoya takes on the stage

Eager audience for a chocolate affair

Live demonstration by Chef Pradeep Persoya at The Westin Lawns

sharing the recipe 

Sweet tooth par excellence

A slice from the The Upper Crust at Westin Pune

The Upper Crust Show has been over the decade been known for its culinary and beverage exhibit every year in Mumbai. There isn't a soul in the hospitality world in India who doesn't await this annual show and hopes to learn something new and have an refreshing experience while at it. This year the founder and famous publisher of The Upper crust Magazine Farzana Contractor decided to give Pune city a chance to gather around and have fun just as Mumbai does. The show marked its debut yesterday at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park with an inaugural ceremony by business tycoon and member of parliament Mr. Rahul Bajaj, general manager of the hotel Anuraag Bhatnagar and Farzana Contractor. The exihibition had many counters from the hospitality industry and the FMCG as well as industry vendors. There were free cookery demostrations by post noon one of which was by our very own pastry chef Pradeep Persoya.

Anuraag Bhatnagar welcomes Rahul Bajaj with Farzana Contractor to The Upper Crust Show held at The Westin Lawns

Walking down the red carpet with Rahul Bajaj

Business leaders in conversation

Farzana Contractor speaks on the opening day of the show

Anuraag Bhatnagar speaks about being host to the show's debut in Pune

Lighting of the lamp 

Rahul Bajaj inaugurates The Upper Crust Show with the latest issue of the magazine 

Rahul Bajaj  and Farzana Contractor in conversation with general managers of Hyatt Regency Pune and Vivanta by Taj Blue Diamond 

Gadi Hassin, General Manager Hyatt Regency Pune with Anuraag Bhatnagar

Monika Trivedi with friend

Suriender Singh, General Manager Vivanta by Taj Blue Diamond with Anuraag Bhatnagar

To a grand debut in Pune

We will be bringing you a daily update on the happenings at the show on the blog. Today our Executive Chef joins a league of celebrity chefs for the Mystery Basket Contest at 3.30pm. 

Facebook Fan Wins Invite to Meet Rob Schneider

What have you done today to make your customer's day magical? - Steve Jobs quoted and he believed nothing is more satisfying to any brand than giving a time of a lifetime to its customer and this moment goes to tell a tale of exactly what he was referring to in his quote.

As everyone in the city and country was crawling over the other and teasing a few gray cells to come up with an idea to win an invite to see Rob Schneider Live there was one who turned out to be lucky out of sheer loyalty to The Westin Hotels & Resorts brand. As a partner hotel on our facebook page we have an association with The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi and The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa as a part of a co branded initiative to offer our respective fans an opportunity to win an experience at our partner hotel's event or promotions.

During the promotion for the Black Dog Comedy Evenings with Rob Schneider our sister hotel in Gurgaon, New Delhi shared our update to allow a lucky fan to win an invite to see Rob Schneider's show and meet him with a one to one interaction. The lucky fan was Ms. Prineet Grewal, Talent Acquisition, John Deere and has been a guest of The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi and their fan on facebook. She and her mother won an exclusive invite to the show at the Westin Lawns in Pune and a meet and greet with Rob.

This is what she had to express after the show via text message and email:

"Hi...Got the pic :-) thank you so much.... Really appreciate it.. Had a lot of fun." " Both my mom and I had a wonderful time"

Prineet Grewal and her mother with Rob Schneider

Ms. Grewal has been engaged online with The Westin Pune Koregaon Park since the event promotion.
Join us in conversation on our facebook and twitter to stay connected about our latest event updates and share your experience with us.

A Day with Rob Schneider at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park

After brimming curiosity and anticipation about the favorite Hollywood comedian of every generation that remembers him as the bellhop from Home Alone: Lost in New York to Deuce Bigalow to Grown Ups finally the day arrived as early as 3 am on a Wednesday, November 23, 2011 when Rob Schneider checked in to The Westin Pune Koregaon Park and was up and excited to be welcomed by Anuraag Bhatnagar, the general manager of the hotel with his senior leadership team for an early lunch at Seasonal Tastes. Unlike many celebrities Rob was very accommodating, friendly and really hilarious true to his talent and had no qualms about being photographed at the guests or the hotel's requests, now that is a true star. He addressed the press in the afternoon and spoke about his trip to India and insights of the TV shows back in the U.S.

Later that evening his show was stormed with the who's who of Pune society and Mumbai head honchos apart from eager fans who had gone all lengths on facebook to win invites to see him live in action. After an hour or two of enthralling the audience and leaving them in abdominal cramps out of sheer effects of a hard laugh, he opened Kue Bar on Wednesdays for the Hip Hop nights and partied to late hours.  Here is a compilation of the entire day in a video presentation.

Subscribe to The Westin Pune Video Channel to get the latest editions of videos and join us in conversation to share your experience on facebook or twitter

Venga Weekend with DJ Ivan & DJ Akhtar at Kue Bar

It doesn't get any more exhilarating than this with two of India's big names in Sound and Nightclubs come together for a weekend at the ultimate night destination the country has seen. Call for more info at the below mentioned contact details. Join us on Facebook and twitter to share your experience about weekend at Kue Bar. 

Christmas Carnival Brunch

As the holiday season begins halfway across the globe we gather upon our guests and partners away from their families and friends and create an opportunity for them to celebrate the festivities with the same warmth and comfort at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park. During the holidays we call customary patterns of behavior "tradition", but the best kinds of traditions are the ones that bring people together. 


Our Christmas Carnival will bring about the home away from home feel to those on business travel and enough reason to cheer and spread joy for those who reside in Pune. On Sunday December 11, 2011 at the second floor lobby all the restaurants would offer a festive Brunch with much pompous treats of activities like DJ music, pool side games, tattoo artiste, Santa Claus showering goodies on kids, live food stations to stir up a fun Sunday afternoon. A sumptuous spread of traditional Christmas buffet and international cuisine with an array of desserts and premium liquor brands. 

Join us in conversation on Facebook and Twitter to share your experiences at the Christmas Carnival. 

Thanksgiving Brunch at Seasonal Tastes

Traditions and festivities walk hand in glove and what better day to celebrate these traditions on a day dedicated to a prayer just to say "Thank You". Prepare your appetite as much as your fair share of gratitude dues for The Westin Pune Koregaon Park brings forth a special Thanksgiving Brunch at its all day dining restaurant Seasonal Tastes.

On offer is, Thanksgiving Buffet (food only) INR 900 + taxes. Add on an alcoholic or soft beverage package and you have a splendid family time with, wine and beer unlimited INR 900 + taxes, beer and mojito unlimited INR 775 + taxes, soft beverages INR 225 + taxes. 


For reservations call: 020.6721.0063 


Join us in conversation on Facebook or Twitter to share your experiences at the Thanksgiving Brunch. 

Pitbull coming to The Westin Pune Koregaon Park

Pitbull 

Born Armando Christian Perez better known for his rapper and song writing skills as Pitbull amongst the youth across the globe will begin his Planet Pit India Tour in December 2011.  According to Hollywood Reporter that announced about his statements about the tour, Pitbull said “Are my fans in India ready to be a part of the Planet Pit? The wait is finally over and now for the first time ever, I’m excited to bring my live show to India. I can’t wait for my fans to join me where I’ll be performing all of your favorites. In fact, I’ve been travelling a lot around the world and have heard fascinating stories about India and its people and simply can’t wait. Ever since I broke the news about my India tour on my website, it was heartwarming to read all the fan e-mails. I’m happy to know fans back in India love my latest album and hopefully my next album will have inspiration from India too.” 
He hails from Florida, USA and is better known for the best collaborations the music scene of this decade has witnessed. His first recorded performance was from the Lil Jon album Kings of Crunk in 2002, since then, he has released two other albums under the label, El Mariel in 2006 and The Boatlift in 2007. He then released Rebelution in 2009, which included singles "I Know You Want Me" and "Krazy". "I Know You Want Me" peaked at No.2 on the Hot 100 and peaked within the top ten spots of charts in the UK, Canada, Italy, and the Netherlands. 

Euphoria Tour 

In 2010 his collaboration with Enrique Iglesias featuring the Jersey Shore cast members in "I Like it" and this year with J Lo "On The Floor" were one of the top spinners on the dance floors across the globe. Pitbull released his highly anticipated follow-up English album, Planet Pit, on June 21, 2011. Pitbull's latest album, his sixth studio outing, Planet Pit features collaborations with T-Pain, Chris Brown, Kelly Rowland, Sean Paul, David Guetta, Afrojack and Lil Jon amongst others. His current collaboration with Marc Anthony with "Rain Over Me" is seeing a lot of fan following for both artists. 

A lot of buzz surrounding the maiden India tour of Pitbull is doing the rounds since weeks and there seems to be a word out about his Pune concert being held at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park lawns on December 4, 2011. This brings us to clarify that the venue for Pitbull's concert would not be at the hotel. However, the hotel looks forward to welcome the entire team of Pitbull's concert as the official hospitality partner and wishes Pitbull the best tour here in Pune and nationwide. For information on the tour please click here.