02 January,2016 09:22 AM IST | | Hemal Ashar, Krutika Behrawala, Dipanjan Sinha and Suprita Mitter
The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Great news for Mumbai's readers
Mumbai's popular bookstore Kitab Khana is now on an expansion mode. T Jagath, its CEO, confirmed that the second store would open its doors by the middle of next year.
We hope that the second outlet of Kitab Khana is as spacious as its Fort address. File pic
"As of now, all I can say is that it will be at Phoenix Mills, Lower Parel. The plan is to expand to other cities as well. Bangalore will be the first city we are looking at," he shared.
Jagat also informed us that like the Kabir Festival, they are planning to start a festival at Kitab Khana, too, which will be called the Kitab Festival. Readers, rejoice!
Coffee, cowboy style
During a recent camping getaway in Vasind, we came across a cowboy coffee kettle! Our host, Wayne Brown, a professional camper, set it up on a little bonfire beside a picturesque river.
"It's easy to use," he assured this diarist. "Fill your kettle or brew it in the pot with water to match. Pour about one tablespoon of coarse ground coffee (our brew came straight from Kerala!) directly into the water.
Bring that water up to a rolling boil. Remove from heat," he instructed. Once we sipped this divine concoction in the crisp outdoors as we watched the sun rise and the birds chirp, it was bliss in a coffee mug. Try it.
Look who didn't show up at work!
Amidst a melee of New Year photographs crowding our Instagram timeline, the one that stood out was this.
It seems as if one of the staffers at Lower Parel's buzzing hotspot, The Bombay Canteen decided to have some fun with his bosses on the first day of 2016.
A list of no-shows on the first day included the CEO and the popular chef, Thomas Zacharias. Well, considering they might have been catering to late-night revellers, they could be forgiven for their absence.
However, when we last checked, chef Zachariah had flown out to Kerala for a short break. We wonder what the rest were up to.
When the top cop turned photographer
In between a busy New Year's Eve to ensure that Mumbai stayed safe, Mumbai Commissioner of Police Ahmad Javed tried to snatch a few moments to capture a frame of revellers at Marine Drive.
Not in the shadows
Gay pride month is here, and the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community has a packed calendar from Gay games to debates and discussions, all culminating in the Gay Pride march in early February.
Adrianna Vorderbruggen
With that in mind, it may be time for a note of sobriety and sadness, but of some interest to the LGBT community here. A week ago, a suicide bomber killed six American soldiers in Afghanistan. The dead included lesbian US Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen.
Adrianna was one of the first openly gay service members to be married following the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell in 2012, and the first openly lesbian service members to be killed in action.
She leaves behind wife, Heather Lamb and their son, Jacob, as we read from a website. Her wife is quoted to have said, "She has always been my hero, never more so by now."
At a condolence tribute it was said that if there is some solace in this, it is only the fact that after Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed in the US, soldiers like Vorderbruggen do not serve in the shadows any longer.
Monsters for kids
Delhi based publishers, Duckbill are known for their engaging, interactive reads. Their first book of 2016 will be Unique Monster Garden. Now, we've seen all kinds of creative ideas in the children's book space but this innovation, we feel, will be lapped up by the kids.
Book jacket; Jerry Pinto; Priya Kuriyan
This will be a draw-it-yourself picture book written by Mumbai author Jerry Pinto along with illustrations by Priya Kuriyan. Here's Pinto's take on how the book took shape: "It will be published by Duckbill Books and is expected this month.
When my glorious-glutinous-great-grandmother passed on, she gave strict instructions that her bed should be donated to the Museum of Particularities but when they turned it down, we turned down the bedcovers and discovered The Monstrous Encyclopsicle.
This was in the form of an ice lolly which was engraved with the names of every monster known to children - the monsters known to man have their own names - and I chose some and put them all together in a garden.
But by the time I had done this, the lolly was melting and I licked it and smeared all the illustrations away so now anyone who buys the book can fill in the drawings. Which I hope many children will do."
