Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI) Award Ceremony 2013

Sometimes something estimable incident happens to one’s life unexpectedly and that leaves an everlasting glimpse of contentment in his/her life. I treasured one such exquisite experience recently that left recherché retention to my life. I was spending a blissful vacation in Pune at my Sister's place and supposed to return on 14th October'13 to Mumbai at my Parents' nest. The day before 14th Oct'13 I received a message from Sameer Malkani, the Co-Founder of Food Bloggers Association ofIndia (FBAI), if any member of Kolkata Food Bloggers could attend the Award Ceremony in Mumbai taking place on 14th Oct'13 at JW Marriott. Happy and excited I was, my mind didn't allow me to let the opportunity to go away as I would be in Mumbai on that very day. And yes heartiest thanks to my husband; only for his effort I was able to witness this unforgettable Indian FoodBloggers Award Ceremony (IFBA).

"The Food Bloggers Association of India (FBAI) has been created as a central point of contact, resource and 'goings on' in India through the blogging community.” It is a great endeavour to promote the world of food blogging in a different podium where the main goal is to reach out and show honour to the food bloggers by spreading their creative passion and hard works with the world. The Award ceremony held at JW Marriott which is situated just at the sea shore end of Juhu Beach. Elegant and grand with a posh exterior and interior, we (me and my husband) directed straight to the Grand Sangam Ball Room. We settled ourselves in the room and my eyes started to hunt for some known faces. Immediately we were welcomed with refreshing juices followed by hard drinks and mouthwatering starters. After a while we were warmly greeted by Sameer Malkani who led us and introduced with some Mumbai and Pune based Food Bloggers. I am happy to say I know most of them. In a while we all became busy in chitchatting and kept our mouth busy with the mouth watering starters. The starter list:

Potato Bravas

Chicken and Leek Yakitori

Murgh Nawabi Tikka

South Indian Batter Fried Prawn

Smoked Salmon Bruschetta

Arbi Ki Chapli

Drunken Goat Cheese with Olive Baguette

Tomato Aranchini

Alaskan Salmon and cucumber maki roll

Peruvian Asparagus and takuan maki roll

Lobster Chaat Tacos with refried beans

Paneer Pin wheel

Mini Caponata of vegetable tartlet with pine-nuts and basil foam.

No need to say, each dish was well presented and tasted sumptuous. I was literally satisfied with the catering service of the Marriott Team. They never let anyone stand for a while without having anything. Their sweet and gentle gesture proved the high end account of professionalism.  

The Award Ceremony started after an hour. The remarkably experienced jury consists of the best names from the gastronomic world. The panel includes Sanjeev Kapoor, Kunal Vijayakar, Zoravar Kalra, Kajal Tejsinghani, Rushina MunshawGhildiyal, Ritu Dalmia, Rashmi Uday Singh, Sona Bahadur (BBC Good Food Editor), HariNayak, Aneesha Baig, Vikram Doctor and Chef Aditya Bal. Among all the 11 jury members 5 were present at the ceremony. There were all most 700 Food bloggers shared their links and the panel of judges did get a hard time to chose the winners of this year.

Some new faces were introduced and got awarded. But the happiest moment I enjoyed when heard the names of my known and favourite Food bloggers got nominated and awarded.  Here the list of the winners:

Best Food/Culinary and travel Blog:

KalayanKarmakar

Best Recipe Blog :

FarukShadab Ansari

Best Writing and Story telling Blog :

CharisBhagianathan

Best Single Food Shot:

Sonal Solanki

Best Facebook Food Blog:

SandeepSreedharan

Best Regional Cuisine Blog:

AlkaKeswani

Best Photo Blog:

Yeshi

Best Baking Blog:

SaminaPatel 

Best Group Blog:

Kumar Jhuremalani

Best Restaurant Review Blog:

Adarsh Munjal

Best New Blogger:

KajalBhatia

My heartiest Congratulations to all the winners and also to those whose blogs got nominated.

After the inspiring speeches by the honourable guests and the award ceremony we were welcomed by the dinner buffet spread. A lavishly organized delectable spread made all of us drooling. The main course comprises from the cuisines of North India, Italy and Asia. We thoroughly enjoyed the sumptuous dishes but I got awestruck when I saw the dessert section. I think almost 20 to 25 desserts were served. The beauties were worth seeing. I wanted to taste each one of those but was only able to taste 5-6 items as I got full by then. No need to say that the desserts were tasted too good to describe in words. The evening was one of my cherished memories of my life. The event itself was very well organised and very motivating for the Food Bloggers like us who blog out of passion without having any monetary benefit in mind. A big applause to the FBAI team for their awesome effort to  bring all the Food Bloggers under one roof. I would like to specially thank Sameer Malkani from the bottom of my heart for the invitation to the Kolkata Food Bloggers group. I was literally overwhelmed by his sweet and humbled gesture. My husband and I enjoyed the event whole heartedly but at the same time I missed my KolkataFood Blogger friends too much. But yes it is a promise we will have such ceremonies in our own city Kolkata sooner or later. 

.For more Photos check our HERE.