Mumbai Diary: Monday Dossier

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Stray thoughts

A dog seems to wonder what all the fuss is about as Abhishek Bachchan is chaperoned at Goregaon's Film City. Pic /Satej Shinde

Colombo calling for Kampani

City-based photographer Jatin Kampani is no stranger to Colombo. He's been there quite a few times to shoot the Colombo Fashion Week, striking up a rapport with Ajaivir Singh, who spearheads the event. That's how he's now been given the opportunity to be part of the festival Celebrate Colombo, for which he'll create a photo essay on the Sri Lankan capital. It's called The Dandelions of Colombo, and Kampani told this diarist, "It's my perspective of how I've seen the city through the years. It was an interesting journey to rediscover the place. I have never seen it through the perspective that I had for this easy. There are lots of beautiful moments that came up. I also wanted to break the conventional norm of using big lenses, and shot the photos through a phone camera since that was less intimidating as well."

Here's a literary trinity

After the Shakti Bhatt Foundation — instituted in memory of the late writer-editor and poet Jeet Thayil's wife — invited entries for its first book prize in June, we now know who is going to judge the magnum opus of up-and-coming authors. Thayil announced over the weekend that the jury includes the much-loved writer Ruskin Bond, and journalist-authors Sonia Faleiro and Prayaag Akbar. The winner will be announced in November.

A chef's plea

This story keeps getting more tortuous. After George Calombaris was accused of wage theft since several of the employees at his multiple restaurant weren't paid the legal minimum wage, he left MasterChef Australia as a judge after holding that position for 11 years. Now, in an emotional interview to an international publication, he has appealed to customers not to boycott his restaurants. This backfired with Tweeple goose-egging the judge, and while we still wrap our head around that, there are rumours afloat that Sarah Todd could be one of the contenders to replace him on the show.

Sachin has a Mr India moment

Sachin Tendulkar's love for cars is legendary. The former cricketer has an enviable collection that stems from a genuine passion for vehicles. Earlier this year, he had fulfilled a life-long dream of driving a Formula One car. Speaking of Formula One, one of the cars that Tendulkar owns — a Ferrari — was gifted to him by F1 legend Michael Schumacher. Now, he's taken his passion to the next level, recently sharing a video of himself sitting in the passenger seat of a driver-less car that was being parked. The batsman expressed his excitement on social media, posting, "Thrilling experience to witness my car park itself in my garage. It felt like Mr India had taken control!"

This Juhu eatery is Goa, Goa, gone

Last year, many were disheartened by the sudden demise of Porto & Poie, a Goan restaurant in Juhu that survived a couple of months. By June, though, House of Lloyd (a popular Goan import) had settled into its spot. It charmed foodies with its susegad vibe and delicious fish ambotik, sorpotel and pork vindaloo prepared by chef Lloyd Braganza and his wife Nerissa. The restaurant won the Best New Regional Restaurant (Goan) at The Guide Restaurant Awards hosted by this paper earlier in April. In a sudden move, however, it shut on August 1, after a year-long run. "The closure of Juhu Tara Road bridge was the last straw," says restaurant partner Abhayraj Kohli. "Most of our clientele is from Bandra, so the sales plummeted by 40 per cent. We have no clue when the road will reopen. We had to take this decision."

Another reason, he adds, was the withdrawal of input credit under GST for restaurants. "That has shrunk restaurant bottom lines drastically. In hindsight, we were also too authentic. Our masalas were homemade and the poee was sourced from Goa." Plans to launch another restaurant in its place are underway. "We will be back with a new concept but only when the road reopens," he said.

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