Every year a small but significant firecracker of excitement, warmth and bonhomie explodes at the Sanjay House in Juhu on the occasion of erstwhile model, star-wife, cook-book author, interior decorator, alpha woman, mother and grandmother Zarine Khan’s birthday. This year, because of her travel plans, the birthday which falls later in July, had been brought forward to Saturday afternoon. But such is the regard Khan is held in that even the heavy downpour of what looked like the city’s first real monsoon shower, did not prevent a huge swathe of her family and friends to show up. To begin with, of course there were the birthday girl’s three daughters, jewellery designer Farah Khan Ali, lifestyle maven Simon Arora and interior decorator Sussanne Khan, along with doting daughter-in-law Malaika Khan (son Zayed dropped in briefly to say hello before the cake-cutting). Then there was a phalanx of women from across the city: fiery lawyer Abha Singh, animal rights activist and producer Aarti Surendranath, TV producer Anu Ranjan, actress Anju Mahendru, star wife Sundari Khan and her daughter, artist Laila Furniturewala, chocolatier Zeba Kohli, fashionista Ramona Narang amongst many others. But of course, like all occasions held at the Khan house, the dining table and what was on it was the centre of attraction. Zarine is a celebrated hostess and her rendering of Mughlai dishes culled from her mother-in-law are legendary. “While growing up, I recall celebrating festivals more through food than anything,” shared Farah Khan Ali over some memorable biryani, prawn curry, kebabs, chops and jalebis amongst other things. “Whether it was Eid, Diwali or Christmas, the food was always centrestage.”
“Mum has trained her cooks and they have been with her for decades,” said the youngest daughter Sussanne. “This one’s young, but then he understudied with her older cook.”
And once Zarine trains them, aren’t they liable to be poached, we asked her youngest daughter.
“You know Mum,” she smiled sweetly, adding, “No one ever wants to leave her.”

F&B’s Unicorn

Ritu Dalmia and Viviana Varese at the Pride march. ( HT Photo )

In the world of celebrity chefs, Ritu Dalmia is certainly a Unicorn. A self-taught chef, her current position as owner of a string of successful multi-cuisine eateries across India and now Europe is almost incredible, given that she was born into a vegetarian business family, which had no previous history of F&B. But unlike the other successful restaurateurs and chefs of her ilk, Dalmia is perhaps the only one who wears her success lightly. Her effervescent, larger-than-life personality permeates all her enterprises and her oeuvre spreads over writing cook-books, helming food and travel shows and catering for some of the biggest, fattest destination weddings of recent times. In addition to this, Dalmia is a leading and outspoken champion of the LGBTQ cause and was one of the six brave hearts of the LGBTQ community who had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging Section 377, which resulted in the 2018 landmark judgment of decriminalising homosexuality. This weekend saw the charismatic Dalmia open her newest restaurant SPICA in Milan, a follow up to her earlier Indian-themed Cittamani in the same city. Said to be paean to her cultural journey from India to Italy, and in partnership with Italian chef Viviana Varese, the eatery reflects their friendship, common passion for travel, and years of work together, all over the world. But it was not all work and no play for the two, even as they kicked off the new restaurant; the duo also found time to celebrate Milan’s Pride March, which also occurred over the weekend. “Respect, freedom, love, choice identity- everything we stand for,” Dalmia posted later, along with some pictures of the march.

Tweet Talk
This Cricket World Cup taught me:
Bangladesh hates India
India hates Pakistan
Pakistan hates Afghanistan
Afghanistan hates Pakistan
Pakistan hates India
India hates Bangladesh
*Laughs in white coloniser accent*
-Tweet by @omaiirr yesterday

One Giant Leap

In May, Edgard Kagan undertook a journey from Mumbai to Pune on the Udyan Express.

It was billed as ‘One Giant Leap’, and you could say that on Friday evening, all roads led to the Crystal Room Taj at the Apollo Bunder for US Consul General Edgard D Kagan’s jamboree of a party to celebrate the 243rd anniversary of the Independence of the USA and the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing. And with giant cut-outs to simulate the historic space exploration, which guests could have their pictures taken with and David Bowie’s haunting ballad ‘Space Oddity’ playing in the background (‘Ground Control to Major Tom, take your protein pills and put your helmet on…’) the mood was ebullient and chatty, as some of the city’s leading industrialists, professionals, socialites and diplomats made merry. We spotted Mahendra Sanghi, Poonam Dhillon, Suketu Shah, Sangita Jindal, Indu Shahani, Sidharth and Almona Bhatia and Vinod Advani in the milling crowds. But amidst the usual banter and PC, the topic on everyone’s lips was the news that had just been received. It would be the CG’s last official banquet: in an unprecedented move, Kagan, an alumni of Yale with stints in Beijing; Tel Aviv; Budapest; and Abidjan, was going to be relocated as US Deputy Ambassador in Delhi. As a guest remarked: “Now, if that isn’t ‘One Giant Leap’, we don’t know what it is!’.

First Published: Jul 01, 2019 00:05 IST