Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Fruits of the ocean

“The restaurant is all about respecting the ingredient. We have spent over a year researching and developing the menu, and have travelled to multiple countries and cities and met dozens of purveyors in our pursuit of finding the freshest ingredients,” says serial restaurateur, the Delhi-based Zorawar Kalra, whose latest offering — perhaps his most ambitious yet — called R2O (Rivers to Oceans) is a paean to seafood and will open its doors next week at an upmarket mall in Lower Parel. “The journey to make this menu has been deeply fulfilling,” says the son of one-time journalist and fulltime epicure, Jigs Kalra. “The produce is flown in from across the globe weekly and stored in special conditions,” he says, “to ensure its freshness remains intact, creating a feeling it just got off the fisherman’s boat.” Kalra attracted notice in Mumbai with his Masala Library, and soon expanded his portfolio with a slew of other offerings like Pa Pa Ya, Farzi Café and Kode; besides flying in seafood from across the world, he says an equal focus has been placed on harnessing produce from local fisheries, and vegetarians will not go hungry either at R2O as their needs will be provided for too. But the piece de resistance of the new restaurant looks like it’s going to be its champagne and caviar bar, the country’s first-of-its-kind, featuring the widest selection of champagne by the bottle and by the glass, paired with a selection of the world’s finest caviar. “It’s sure to entice the luxury-seeker in all of us,” he says.

TRUE LIES

Following reports of his alleged announcement that he will be tying the knot with his long-time non-filmy GF before the end of this year, this good-looking Bollywood hunk, one of the few bachelors left in the industry, has been going out of his way to woo his lady love. This weekend, the couple took off to a resort outside Mumbai for a quiet weekend away from the madding crowd, to chill, swim, and bask in each other’s company. And, from what sources say, they appeared to be exactly the way a couple on the verge of marriage ought to be: madly in love and with eyes only for each other. Which will not only break many hearts amongst his legion of female fans, but also the hopes of one particular co-star of his, who we hear, has had more than a passing interest in the good-looking actor who has had back-to-back recent box office hits.

Oh dear.

THREE WISE MEN?

Lord Meghnad Desai, Suhel Seth and Javed Akhtar.

Amongst the many gems offered at the fifth London edition of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival, held this weekend at the British Library, was this portrait of this century’s version of three wise men, namely Lord Meghnad Desai, Suhel Seth (who had together participated in the session ‘The View from Raisina Hill’) and Javed Akhtar (who, along with wife Shabana Azmi, had featured in a session on their respective poet dads Jan Nisar and Kaifi Azmi.) “Our slogan is we shall never dye,” Seth had tweeted, along with the picture. “We discussed our no-dye policy,” he said later. As to the question whether he thought possessing a luxuriant mop of cotton candy snow-white locks went together with the gift of the gab, (after all, all three individuals are legendary for their garrulousness and are celebrated prime-time sound-byters , Seth was in agreement but uncharacteristically taciturn.) “Yup,” is all he said. Perhaps, the fact that he was distracted by the company of a svelte model had something to do with his uncharacteristic restraint: he had posted a picture of himself walking arm in arm with her in Hyde Park a bit later.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The picture of leading designers taken almost a decade ago.

A picture is worth a thousand words, but this one, presenting six rather awkward-looking individuals with decidedly retro hairstyles and outfits, and much thinner than they are now, is worth a whole book — one that tells the story of the very foundation of the Indian fashion industry. Featuring designers Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, Ana Singh, Tarun Tahiliani, Suneet Verma and Ravi Bajaj, leading designers of the country, it had been taken in Delhi for the cover of a glossy around 2008/9. “It was titled, The Pioneers, and featured all the fashion guys who started it all and changed the face of fashion and set working trends to follow,” said Singh about the memorable shoot. What was it like shooting with all her peers? “It was warm and wonderful for me,” she said. “I guess true talent has its own sense of security.” Incidentally, Rohit Bal, the other leading fashion designer, had also been included on the cover. “He had gone to get bubbly for all of us,” recalled Singh. “And was late, so had not made it on time for these working stills.” Ahso.