Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

Janvi Kapoor/Pic: Atul Kamble

Selfie maine leli aaj

Janhvi Kapoor happily obliges a fan with a selfie at a Lower Parel mall on Friday. Pic/Atul Kamble

Bohri food for your soul

There-s a Bohri food pop-up taking place at Lower Parel till March 13, which promises authentic preparations that celebrate traditional Bohri cuisine inspired by influences from Gujarati, Middle-Eastern and Yemeni food. A popular Bohri food joint and a five-star are joining hands for it.

"We wanted to offer a taste of hyper-local and regional cuisine," Paul Kinny, culinary director at Seven Kitchens, St. Regis, told this diarist.

"We want to take Bohri food to the masses and this collaboration gives us that platform," added Munaf Kapadia, owner, The Bohri Kitchen.

Cardoz-s culinary trail

Chef Floyd Cardoz, is making the most of his Mumbai visit, stopping by his favourite haunts, and posting pictures of the scrumptious food. One of his first stops was Bandra East-s Highway Gomantak, where he dug into the clams in coconut and cilantro, chili stuffed mackerel coated in rice semolina and fried, mandeli fry, coconut fish curry with rawas, kolambi sukhe and bombil fry.

"This place never disappoints. The beauty of the place is that they work with all variants of fresh catch, and when they don-t have it, they don-t make it for the sake of serving it. This is the sign of a good restaurant. This is also the only place which serves the Bombay duck with the bone. It-s not a fancy eatery, but so consistent. The only thing I want is for them to serve coastal red rice," Cardoz told this diarist.

"The waiter always tells us we have ordered too much, which shows that they care about their customers and don-t just want to make money," he added. Another place he visited was Swati Snacks, where he had undhiyu, his favourite Gujarati dish, which is rare to find. "I am impressed with the simplicity of their preparations," he added.

Milind to get roasted

The launch of Milind Soman-s memoir, Made in India, at the Royal Opera House will not just take a nostalgic turn as this year marks the 25th anniversary of Alisha Chinai-s song of the same name - which made Soman a household name - but there-s also going to be jokes cracked at his expense.

Cyrus Broacha and Milind Soman

Cyrus Broacha has been roped in for a roasting session at the launch, and he has no plans to spare the man of the moment. "It-s fun to roast friends because you know all their secrets. I-m looking forward to this," Broacha said.

Of books and birthdays

When Nischay Parekh of music duo Parekh and Singh recently celebrated his birthday with his bandmate Jivraj Singh in Dubai, the birthday boy got an apt gift. The two went to a bookstore there, spent some time going through the collection, and Singh picked up David Chang and Peter Meehans- Momofuku for Parekh, and a selection of Susan Sontag-s works, besides Curve by Simon Unwin and The Death And Life Of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs for himself.

"I wouldn-t say it-s a birthday thing specifically but I personally like giving books as gifts. Nischay and I like spending time in good bookstores because they-re generally quiet, well-organised and filled with books. There aren-t any good bookstores in Kolkata and since I was here in Dubai on Nischay-s birthday, it seemed perfect. Nischay is minimalist while I-m indulgent when it comes to books," Singh told this diarist.

The right training

The Bombay YMCA inaugurated its first vocational training centre in rural Maharashtra at Kanhe in Vadgaon district near Lonavala today, which aims to help youngsters in 25 villages.

The vocational training centre in Kanhe, Vadgaon

"We are introducing courses like bedside nursing and paramedical courses, beauty therapy, sewing and tailoring, seed co-operatives, and natural farming methods, besides conventional courses. Experienced trainers will conduct workshops and regular classes for 1,440 youngsters every year," Paul George, general secretary and CEO, Bombay YMCA, said.

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