12 February,2017 10:11 AM IST | | SMD Team
The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
What's cooking, bro?
If whispers are to be believed, Ryan and Keenan Tham (of Koko and The Good Wife) are planning the launch of yet another venture in the second half of the year.
Ryan and Keenan Tham
As the plan is still on the drawing board, the duo are yet to choose between a gastro pub and a lounge bar. The brothers, however, want the theme to be something no Indian restaurateur has attempted before. Good luck, guys.
Anchored at the museum
We are eagerly awaiting for mid-March, when a notable figure on India's contemporary art scene, Vivan Sundaram, will dock a boat at Coomaraswamy Hall in CSMVS. What's that, you ask? As it turns out, the Delhi-based artist has been busy with a 40-minute sound-work on the Royal Indian Navy Mutiny of 1946.
Vivan Sundaram
The screening of the work is going to be a whole setup - a 40-foot-long boat made of aluminium and steel in which 40 people can be seated. Sundaram, who is known for his edgy works, says, "Those six days of the mutiny were important days that people seem to have forgotten." This is one revival we just cannot wait to experience.
A bagtastic Valentine
Talk about a great Valentine's Day gift. Television actress Anita Hassanandani's husband, Rohit Reddy, has gifted her an e-retail website called Thebagtalk.com. "My partner Tushar Jain is a bag manufacturer, and I have a background of digital banking, so we combined the know-how and came up with this. I also knew that Anita became an actress by chance, and had always wanted a career in fashion. So now, she is curating a line of bags for the site as well," Reddy told this diarist.
Anita Hassanandani and Rohit Reddy
The site, that will be live post February 20, will eventually also house signature collections by Ekta Kapoor, Rannvijay Singha and cricketer Jonty Rhodes. "India doesn't really have a website dedicated to the sale of bags, so this will be awesome." Let's see.
Goa's hot messes
Goa's hotspots Thalassa and Antares seem to be losing their edge. We visited the two last week and were shocked at the decline. Greek restaurant Thalassa, which was once the only place to be seen at in Goa, is now the place to take an Instagram picture. That is if you can fight all the newly-weds for space. It's too cramped, with too few waiting staff, and the quality's standard has just slipped - we ate an authentic Greek salad with a feta that wouldn't crumble even if we dipped it into wine!
Sarah Todd of Antares and Thalassa owner Mariketty Grana
At Antares, the ambience might be better with more room to move and pretty lights all around, but the food left a lot to be desired. Despite masterchef Sarah Todd standing near the kitchen watching the food go out, we were served dry garlic bread and smelly mutton croquettes. We didn't dare try more. We think it's time a new fine dining place popped up to show these two how it's done. Any takers?
Doing his bit for city's slums
In his downtime, Yves Perrin, the Consul General of France in Mumbai, loves exploring the streets on his bike, with wife Caroline. While he has a special fondness for the winding lanes of South Mumbai, from Crawford Market right up to Chor Bazaar, Perrin was recently spotted in the slums of Borivli, where he spent a day interacting with the residents. This time it was more than a casual visit. He was there to observe the work that French NGO Attia, has been carrying out. In the coming weeks, he and his team plan to cover the slums of Kalyan, Kandivli, Mankhurd and Navi Mumbai.
Yves Perrin, Consul General of France, with social
"My objective is to try and connect those who can help those who need it. The social workers of Attia, under the leadership of Eglantine Germain, have been doing great work in the slums across Maharashtra, and most of it is centred around women and child development. It was an eye-opener to see how they do it," Perrin said.
