Mumbai Food: Fort's new eatery serves pizza, nachos and risotto in a thali

The global thali which includes continental dishes like pizza, pasta and risotto. Pics/Bipin Kokate

Till about a couple of years ago, the spot next to Plenty restaurant outside Bombay Stock Exchange housed The Lazy Dog, a watering hole that offered annual membership cards for discounts on its premium liquor. Many would head to the bar to wash away the day's fatigue. It's ironical then that The Fork Tale, restaurateur trio Marzy Parakh, Parth Dalal and Sarthak Oza's latest venture, which now stands in its place, has no alcohol on the menu. "We might be one of those rare species who managed to get a liquor license but might just return it," laughs Parakh. But the 33-year-old and his cronies, who also run the Bombay Haveli at Charni Road, have good reason to not focus on the tipple.

An art hub
Housed in Raja Bahadur Mansion, The Fork Tale is an upcoming 90-seater all vegetarian and vegan fine-dining restaurant that has introduced the concept of a table buffet. Conventionally, guests are expected to serve themselves from a variety of dishes set out on a table or a sideboard, but in this case, everything comes to your table.

On a rain-soaked weekday afternoon, we take our seat on the mezzanine floor which is done up in dual tones of maroon and mustard. The design elements remind us of the art deco style lettering, a combination of lines, triangles, rectangles and squares. Interestingly, the owners have collaborated with an art collector to give the decor a vintage touch. We spot a handcrafted Grandfather clock, which Parakh reveals is about 200 years old and sourced from Calcutta. There's also a rare print of Raja Ravi Verma's Tilotama featuring a celestial nymph from Hindu mythology. "The press was burnt when he painted this subject," he says.

Bring on the buffet
While the decor is in tune with the area's ethos, the culinary concept is novel. "Several vegetarians are apprehensive about eating out of restaurants where non-vegetarian food is also cooked. The only available option for vegetarian buffets was the conventional Gujarati thalis which have existed since many decades," says Parakh. His research revealed that there has been little innovation in the thali space. "It's almost the same as it was 20 years ago," he adds. In order to break the mould, the restaurant has introduced the two types of unlimited thalis, the North Indian thali and a global thali where you can have a range of continental dishes like pizza, pasta, nachos and risotto in the form of a thali.

For those not interested in a thali, there's also a special a la carte menu

The menu has been curated by chef Diana Kavarana, whose previous stints include working with the Taj Mahal Hotel, Colaba, as a sous chef and later at Zodiac Grill and Chambers. Given her experience in global cuisine, the dishes too have been picked from all over the world. So, you'll find a camembert brulee, homemade pesto bread, tomato jam, candied walnuts and cranberries sharing space with the chef's special miso aubergine, burnt garlic vegetable rice with chilli oil on the menu.

"Of course, the plating for the global thali will be different but the concept is that it's one large meal. It's also intended to appeal to three generations of audiences," says Kavarana. The North Indian thali is priced R499 for lunch and R545 for dinner. The global thali, on the other hand, will cost you R649 for lunch and R699 for dinner. Interestingly, they also have special buffets between 3 pm and 7 pm. As we tuck into paneer tikkas, Parakh gets the news about four restaurants in the area shutting shop. But that doesn't deter him. "I think as long as the food is good, people are even ready to travel for it."

(From left) Owners Sarthak Ozha, Marzy Parakh and Nikhil Mody

Where: The Fork Tale restaurant, Raja Bahadur Mansion, opposite Allahbad Bank, next to Plenty restaurant, Fort. Opens to public on July 22

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