Kailash Kher Live and Unplugged

Hosting a celebrated and spectacular musical soiree has been a tradition of sorts at The Westin Pune Koregaon Park since 2011 with the likes of Bryan Adams, Akon, Jay Sean, Pitbull and now its Kailash Kher. The soulful singer and musician who needs no introduction held his maiden concert in Pune at the luxury hotel's Westin Lawns in association with Radio One. The turnout was around 2500 of absolute music enthusiasts who were soaking in the melodies sung by the maestro of Indian Soul Music.

SENSORY WELCOME

PRE CONCERT HI TEA WITH TIGER LILLY CLUB 

KAILASH KHER LIVE CONCERT 

THE AFTER PARTY AT KUE BAR

Sicilian Carnival at Prego

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Knight - Puppet of Sicily

Chef Valerio is ready along with his team to showcase the culinary and entertainment culture of the triangular island - Sicily, Italy at Prego; come this weekend. So if you are excited to try out a traditional dinner or brunch from Sicily while watching the classic movie The Godfather do ensure you have a reservation and drive down to The Westin Pune Koregaon Park on March 31 or Apr 1, 2012.

For reservations at the Prego Weekend Carnival - Sicilia call Pritam Rai +91 9673991106 
Share your Sicilian experience at Prego on 
           

Arancini

Your sensory welcome would be done with Sicilia's puppetry and then comes a fun filled sagre (food fair) from the region complete with the signature dishes and beverages. Some of the dishes on the menu would be, Cannoli, Arancini, Cassata ala Siciliana. There would be dishes that would have an Arabic twist to them as Prego will be showcasing the region during the era of Arab Emirates Sicilia.

Cassata alla Siciliana

Cassata Ala Siciliana - 


Ingredients: 
For Outer Layer - 
Sponge Cake - 400 gm
Green marzipan - 300 gm
Sugar syrup - 2-3 tsp


For Filling - 
Ricotta cheese - 700 gm 
Castor sugar - 350 gm 
Chocolate chips - 150 gm 


For Glaze - 
Lemon Juice - 1 no 
Apricot jelly - 2 tbsp
Mixed candied fruits 

METHODS OF PREPARATION

For Outer Layer

·         Use a cake mold of about 26cm diameter and alternate thin layers of sponge cake and marzipan to cover only the edges (Alternate the colors) ·         Moist the sponge cake with the sugar syrup For Filling ·         Pass the ricotta cheese trough a fine sieve, then add sugar and chocolate chips ·         Pour the mixture into the cake mold and as a cover use a butter paper disk and a cardboard disk of same dimensions ·         Press with your hands and refrigerate for a couple of hours For Glaze ·         While the cake is setting in the fridge; make a glaze using icing sugar and the juice of a lemon until a thick consistency ·         Turn the cake mold upside down and cover with the glaze, then pour the apricot jelly on top and decorate with the candied fruits

EARTH HOUR 2012 - Going Beyond the HOUR

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By spending an hour in the dark tomorrow The Westin Pune Koregaon Park will join millions around the world to send a powerful message about a brighter future for the planet.

The Westin Pune Koregaon Park will turn off its lights in observance of Earth Hour, the global environmental awareness event created by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).  Last year, Earth Hour 2011 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 135 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off. People across the world from all walks of life turned off their lights and came together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet.

To underscore parent Starwood Hotels &Resorts Worldwide, Inc.’s (NYSE:  HOT) dedication to environmental sustainability,  The Westin Pune Koregaon Park will also share other energy-saving measures during Earth Hour, March 31 at 8:30p.m.local time and go beyond the hour by

•  Turning off exterior signage lighting; 
•  Dimming or turning off non-essential interior lighting; 
• Using candlelight on first level lobby, and using in-room voicemail messages and in-room television messages to inform guests about Earth Hour observances.
• Candlelight dinners at all restaurants and lounges
• Earth Hour Cake Cutting with guests and associates 
• Associates and partners to switch off desktops/ laptops or monitors when not working 

Earth Hour is drawing strong support from Starwood hotels around the globe. Last year, unlit hotels offered striking visual imagery that provided an apt symbol of Earth Hour.  

“Energy conservation while not hampering the guests experience has become a persistent drive at the hotel not just to maintain costs but to encourage the protection of our planet in peril. With the growing demands of corporate structure like that of our own hotel, it is imperative to utilize diligently our dwindling natural resources and optimize our operational productivity at the same time enhancing the business, thereby offering the brand promise to our guests of being personal, instinctive and renewal experience. Our associates and partners have been supportive to go beyond the hour and make Earth Hour a successful event ,” said Anuraag Bhatnagar, General Manager.

In the previous year for Earth Hour efforts team Westin Pune had organized with their guests a plantation drive as well as cleaning of the banks of the Mula Mutha river that runs along the hotel. 

This year will mark Starwood’s third annual participation in Earth Hour, making it one of the biggest worldwide companies to make a global statement with a voluntary hour of darkness.   

Wear the Coppola, Eat the Cannoli

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View of Corleone, Sicily

Be it the Coppola cap, Cannoli pastry, city of Corleone, The Godfather made many such lifestyle and folklore of Sicilia as famously etched in our memory as its iconic characters. This weekend team Prego gears up to bring to its venue the traditional values and culture of Sicily, the largest island of Italy from the era when it was under the rule of Arab and transformed into Arab Emirate Sicilia during 965 AD - 1072 AD. Prego will hosts many theatrical frames of Sicilia like the movie Godfather, Sicilian puppetry, Sagre or food fair on Mar 31 - Apr 1, 2012. 


For reservations at the Prego Weekend Carnival - Sicilia call Pritam Rai +91 9673991106 
Share your Sicilian experience at Prego on 
          

Palermo Cathedral - This photo of Sicily is courtesy of TripAdvisor 

Sicily - In this blog lets take the many views of this beautiful island through the kaleidoscope of time and lifestyle. Sicily has roughly triangular shape, which earned it the name Trinacria. It is separated to the east from the Italian region of Calabria through theStrait of Messina. Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean whose capital is Palermo. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, which is the tallest active volcano in Europe and one of the most active in the world. The family is at the heart of Sicilian culture as it has always been for generations.  Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine, architecture and language. 

Messina - Clock Tower -
This photo of Sicily is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Emirate of Sicily - The Arabs initiated land reforms which in turn, increased productivity. The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. A description of Palermo was given by Ibn Hawqal, an Arab merchant who visited Sicily in 950. Agricultural items such as oranges, lemons, pistachio and sugar cane were brought to Sicily under the Arab rule. The Emirate of Sicily began to fragment as intra-dynastic quarreling fractured the Muslim regime.

Culture & Folklore - Sicily has long been associated with the arts; many poets, writers, philosophers, intellectuals, architects and painters have roots on the island.

“	To have seen Italy without having seen Sicily is to not have seen Italy at all, for Sicily is the clue to everything	”
—Goethe

Sicilians also enjoy outdoor festivals, held in the local square or piazza where live music and dancing are performed on stage, and food fairs or sagre are set up in booths lining the square. These offer various local specialties, as well as typical Sicilian food. Normally these events are concluded with fireworks. A noted sagra is theSagra del Carciofo or Artichoke Festival, which is held annually in Ramacca in April. The most important laic event in Sicily is the carnival. The coppola is a traditional kind of flat cap typically worn in Sicily. The coppola has now become a worldwide fashion statement. 

Sicilian Puppet Theatre

In Sicily, the sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes from the Frankish romantic poems. These same tales are enacted in traditional puppet theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood. In Sicilian this is called "Opira dî pupi", or "Opera of the puppets". The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî, or "sing stories", are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition. 

Cannoli at Prego 

Cuisine - The island has a long history of producing a variety of noted cuisines and wines, to the extent that Sicily is sometimes nicknamed God's Kitchen. Every part of Sicily has its speciality, a true Cassata is only made in Palermo. The ingredients are typically rich in taste while remaining affordable to the general public. The savory dishes of Sicily are viewed to be healthy, using fresh vegetables and fruits, such as tomatoes, artichokes, olives (including olive oil), citrus, apricots,aubergines, onions, beans, raisins commonly coupled with sea food, freshly caught from the surrounding coastlines. 

Perhaps the most well-known part of Sicilian cuisine is the rich sweet dishes including ice creams and pastries. Cannoli, a tube-shaped shell of fried pastry dough filled with a sweet filling usually containing ricotta cheese, is in particular strongly associated with Sicily. Biancomangiare, biscotti ennesi - cookies native to Enna, braccilatte a Sicilian version of doughnuts, buccellato, ciarduna, pignoli, bruccellati, frutta martorana, cassata, pignolata, granita, cuccidati (a variety of fig cookie; also known as buccellati) andcuccìa are amongst some of the most notable sweet dishes.

Like the cuisine of the rest of southern Italy, pasta plays an important part in Sicilian cuisine, as does rice; for example with arancini. As well as using some other cheeses, Sicily has spawned some of its own, using both cow's and sheep's milk, such as pecorino and caciocavallo. Spices used include saffron, nutmeg, clove,pepper, and cinnamon, which were introduced by the Arabs. Parsley is used abundantly in many dishes. Although Sicilian cuisine is commonly associated with sea food, meat dishes, including goose, lamb, goat, rabbit, and turkey, are also found in Sicily. It was the Normans and Swabians who first introduced a fondness for meat dishes to the island. Some varieties of wine are produced from vines that are relatively unique to the island, such as the Nero d'Avola made near the baroque of town of Noto. 

Landmarks & Tourism - 

View of Mt. Colfano - This photo of Sicily is courtesy of TripAdvisor

View of Mt Etna -  This photo of Sicily is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Temple of Segesta -  This photo of Sicily is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Taormina - Isola bella -  This photo of Sicily is courtesy of TripAdvisor