Ah Tajness...

An invitation to an event next month had us intrigued. Sent out by the Taj Hotel Resorts and Palaces, it invites guests to experience and be touched by 'Tajness' in the presence of no less than Rakesh Sarna, MD and CEO of the leading hospitality chain.

Rakesh Sarna

"Tajness is what will define us and traces back to its roots and our heritage. It is a sum of experiences that is inspired by the nobility of Indian heritage and traditions. It is what sets us apart from the others and will be our key differentiator," says a spokesperson in response to our enquiry. "Tajness is what will bind all our hotels together. Early next month you will get a glimpse of how this will manifest in our hotels," says the source. Nice!

Of royal closets
He's the first prince in the world to come out of the royal closet, the only Indian to have been on the Oprah Winfrey Show three times, and known for the work he's doing to raise awareness on HIV Aids through the Lakshya Foundation.

Prince Manvendra and Tara Sharma

This weekend, Prince Manvendra, the erstwhile prince of Rajpipla in Gujarat, will be on the Tara Sharma Show, talking about his struggles of coming out in a conservative royal family and how with time there has been acceptance, and even admiration from most. "The purpose of doing this show is not just to share stories but also hopefully to perhaps help anyone in our audience, who may be going through or know people who maybe going though similar times, and may help them by showing them they are not alone and how others dealt with things," says Tara about her royal guest.

"Everyone is special and unique and instead of judging people we should celebrate and applaud people and their choices," says the daughter of Pratap and Sue Sharma, both celebrated for their progressive and liberal outlook. But of course it's different strokes for different folks: for every forward thinking household there's always its opposite. Manvendra's mother, the Queen Mother we are informed - hasn't spoken to him for 11 years. That's the true meaning of a royal sulk!

It's all Greek for Mumbai now
As reported first in the Daily Dossier, Goa's popular Greek tavern and bar, Thalassa, will soon open its doors in Mumbai. Thalassa was envisioned by Mariketty Grana many moons ago and started its journey at a relatively quiet beach facing property in the lesser-known Vagator area.

Thalassa will open at Bandra. Pic/www.thalassagoa.com

Today Vagator is one of Goa's foremost areas for restaurants, bars and clubs with property rates shooting high and Thalassa usually features on every Goan tourist's bucket list. "Yes, the Thalassa deal is done and in a couple of months the restaurant will open in Bandra, close to Carter Road," informs our foodie source.

Mariketty Grana and AD Singh

This will be Thalassa's second tryst with Mumbai; in 2013 the restaurant tied up with AD Singh's Olive group and hosted a popular pop up for many months at the erstwhile Olive Race Course branch in Mahalaxmi. This time around they are here to stay at Bandra. Bring on the plate-breaking we say.

Soon on a box in front of you
We don't know how he does it but serial restaurateur Zorawar Kalra, son of legendary foodie Jiggs Kalra, has in the past three months opened Masala Bar and Farzi in Mumbai, Bangalore, Dubai, a second branch in Delhi and next week will see Masala Library his group's flagship offering officially open in Delhi's Janpath area.

Zorawar Kalra

And there are plans for a Farzi in Pune and another few restaurants in Mumbai we hear. And that's not all, a source calls in to inform us that Zorawar will soon be on our TV screens and could be on his way to becoming a household name. "Zorawar has been roped in as a judge on Masterchef India for the upcoming fifth season," says the source.

We tried getting in touch with Zorawar but understandably, he and his team are tight lipped on the subject at this stage. With this news, Zorawar joins the eminent list of other food industry stalwarts who have judged the Indian franchise of the popular British reality show including chefs Sanjeev Kapoor, Vikas Khanna and Kunal Kapoor.

Clubbing it in
As anyone who lives in Mumbai will tell you, one of the Holy Grails of the good life in the city is membership to its handful of much-loved cubs. Nothing exemplifies the life of entitlement and positioning as a Mumbaikar's association with their club. And not any club, mind you, it is a handful of clubs, primarily in South Mumbai that rule the roost.

Top of the list amongst these is the grand old colonial legacy to which the city's establishment belongs. With its sweeping verandahs and golf greens and blue rinsed grande dames it is the equivalent of a country club on the West coast. Second after this is the one bustling with professional and sports energy, another SoBo institution that embodies a younger vibe, and so on and so forth.

No surprises then that three of the city's most powerful bodies are currently locked in a turf battle that is attracting much notice. Of course given the circumstances, nobody will tell you this on record, but trustee members of two of the city's most coveted clubs allude to a do or die wrangle with one of the city's most powerful bodies.

The bone of contention is apparently that this body, which has a considerable leverage on both clubs, is now pushing to upgrade its temporary membership to the more permanent one of life status. "One club which locked horns with the body and voted against this quite emphatically now finds itself in a more or less Brexit situation," laughs a grande dame who expectedly is a founding member of three of the city's top establishments.

"The other is in a quandary. Say yes against their principles and suffer the wrath of members or say no and suffer the ire of the very powerful state body. There's a lot of back room soul searching angry words and hand wringing," she says. And to think these clubs were formed for rest and relaxation!