The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce.
Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Rock-a-bye baby
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A hanging cloth makes for an innovative bed for a homeless child, on a skywalk in Andheri West on Wednesday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
Covid hit yo Indian Accent London
Manish Mehrotra, whose Blue cheese naan and Daulat ki chaat have made customers fly down for a meal at his New Delhi, New York and London outposts, has some sad news. IRL, the company which licensed brand Indian Accent in London, has announced the award-winning restaurant's permanent closure: Social distancing would reduce its capacity to just 30 covers. This, combined with the significant fixed costs means that the business is unviable at its current upmarket address.
Author-columnist Anoothi Vishal hosted a Kayasth Khatirdari, a pop-up of Kayasth cuisine at the restaurant — which has regularly featured in lists of top global eateries — last June. "It was scheduled just a day after Taste of London finished. The kitchen staff was fully occupied with prep, and then we had to roll out this completely unfamiliar fare for lunch the next day. Manish couldn't make it at the last minute but briefed the team. They had not tasted that kind of food before to have any benchmark. I was stressed about being in an alien kitchen, in a country where curry is more familiar than home-style food. The staff told me to not worry, and stayed up all night to prep for the pop-up. I will always have very warm memories of not just eating at the restaurant, but of being an insider to its kitchen as well!" she told this diarist. Meanwhile, F&B entrepreneur Mangal Dalal, who moved to London a few years ago, said, "Quite the loss for the robust Indian dining scene in London, especially on the back of news of closures of other leading fine-dining restaurants like The Ledbury and Le Caprice. Undoubtedly, this is the year of consolidation in the industry but I will look forward to Chef Manish making a comeback, perhaps in a more casual or delivery-friendly format."
A big draw
World-renowned architect and planner, Charles Correa's fifth death anniversary was marked earlier this week, and cultural theorist and poet Ranjit Hoskote told this diarist about a trait the man had that exemplified the natural-born genius that he was.
"I always remember the way he would reach out for a piece of paper and pen to draw instinctively. Even if he was talking to you, he would show you what he meant with a drawing," Hoskote said, adding, "That's a gesture I'll always recall, and it showed that apart from being a great architect, he was also a brilliant communicator."
Save the date, reveals survey
The lockdown is changing the way men and women approach romantic relationships, going by a recent survey that an Indian dating app has conducted. Two thousand of its new users — spread across major metros including Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — answered the questions, and a date over coffee emerged as the most popular way for a couple to meet, with 76 per cent of the respondents choosing that option.
Women are more inclined towards long-term commitments since they are more willing to give their partner multiple chances. About 71 per cent of women also said that they will stop using dating apps if they get into a serious relationship, with 53 per cent being the corresponding figure for men. "The pandemic has brought about a pleasant change in the way people are seeking their dating partner. The biggest change is that people are now looking for long-term and compatible relationships than short-term flashes. It seems that we are returning to the 'love' era of the 1990s," Ravi Mittal, founder of Quackquack, the app, told this diarist.
Mid-day helps ride out the storm
The Mangaon Education Society brochure that highlights the mid-day report
If the pandemic and the lockdown weren't enough, thousands along Maharashtra's coastline are now picking up the pieces after the destruction caused by cyclone Nisarga earlier this month. Thanks to mid-day's consistent coverage of the large-scale damage of life and property, Project Rise, the philanthropic arm of the global Dawoodi Bohra community, has come forward to adopt 400 houses in Raigad district. "After looking at the devastating situation and coming across a series of mid-day stories covering this issue, we wanted to help the locals. We contacted the collector, who told us we could adopt some families and gave us their immediate requirements, which included dry rations, tarpaulin sheets for roofs, torches and candles. We got our local community members in Panvel mobilised to arrange for these items. We will visit the village in Raigad in a couple of days to distribute these items," said Yusuf Hakimuddin, spokesperson for Project Rise.
Moreover, this paper's report on how the local administration in Raigad is rebuilding roofs with limited financial aid was also highlighted in a brochure by Mangaon Taluka Education Society. The society runs the Doshi Vakil Kala Mahavidyalaya and Doshi Vakil Science and Commerce College. This paper had reported how the cyclone ravaged the building's roof, labs, solar panels and auditorium that were all revamped last year, affecting the future of 5,000 students. In their brochure to seek aid for reconstruction from the government and the alumni, the society has featured the mid-day report, which sought the opinion of experts on how buildings in such areas should be designed.
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