| FOOD & DRINK
L-R: Carly, Jason, Estelle and Terry
New additions to the China Rose menu were showcased at a special VIP food and wine tasting evening.
W
hen you are looking at ways to improve your business, sometimes the best people to ask are the ones that keep it ticking – the customers. So when long established Cantonese restaurant China Rose Bawtry wanted to add some exciting new dishes to their menu, they invited 30 friends, customers and representatives from local businesses, including members of the Bawtry Retail Association, to a VIP Food & Wine Tasting Evening to ask what they thought. Head chef, Jason Kwan had developed six new dishes, whilst Terry Rockley of Vintage Wines of Nottingham Ltd had selected six wines to complement them.
12 | www.visitbawtry.com
General manager, Estelle Johnston, welcomed guests and introduced Jason and Terry before leaving guests to judge each course and leave comments. The first course was two mini curried rolls served with sweet and sour sauce and sweet chilli sauce. The delicate fruit flavours and saccharine sweetness of the Moscato d’Asti white wine meant it was the perfect match with the sweet and sour flavours of the dish. Even those that don’t usually like aubergine were won over by the tempura aubergine with pork stuffing, while opinion was divided over the accompanying beef, mushroom and prawn soup. “Few red wines work with Chinese food
than Italian reds,” declared Terry as he poured guests the second wine of the evening. And the light cherry flavour of the Chianti Reserva proved him right. The battered chicken in lime sauce served with thin slices of spicy potatoes were a resounding success and many guests went back for seconds and thirds. This was served with a dry and full flavoured New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and like all good white wines, it went well with the chicken. The fourth dish was shredded pork in a rich house special sauce served with rice and an intensely floral Gewurztraminer white wine which took the bitter edge off of the sauce. The next dish of stuffed green chillies with