"Olive's opening in Bandra fired up the imagination of us snobbish SoBoites and suddenly turned the map of Bombay inside out," said AD Singh the pioneering restaurateur, whose popular suburban restobar, which brings the soul of Mykonos to Mumbai, is celebrating its 15th anniversary with the mother of all parties over the weekend
"Olive's opening in Bandra fired up the imagination of us snobbish SoBoites and suddenly turned the map of Bombay inside out," said AD Singh the pioneering restaurateur, whose popular suburban restobar, which brings the soul of Mykonos to Mumbai, is celebrating its 15th anniversary with the mother of all parties over the weekend.
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To be honest, before Olive opened its doors in Bandra and set the party ball rolling in Mumbai's sleepy suburb, there wasn't much to recommend it for in F&B terms, except if you count Aunty Esmerelada's annual selling of her batches of guava cheese.
AD Singh
"The opening of Olive inspired a trickle that led to a flood to the extent that Bandra today is the hottest F & B destination and the coolest urban place to live in India," said Singh. "Now Olive turns 15 and we are celebrating with a big slap up brunch on Sunday full of old friends and happy memories. Heather Andrews quartet performs, Ash Chandler hosts, friends sing, AD Singh speaks, known faces air kiss and everybody chows down on the Oyster bar, the Moroccan tagines and the desert lab," he said, adding with a charming wink, "Expect a cross section of the beautiful people, old friends and of course - your favorite restaurateur".
Racing's big tent
Vivek Jain, the indefatigable chairman of the Marketing Group and Member ARC Organising Committee, certainly has his hands full as the RWITC gears up to stage its grandest event, perhaps in its history, with the 36th Asian Racing Conference, being held on its home turf in Mumbai, starting this Sunday.
Vivek Jain
"The conference, rated as one of the best in the world for this industry, returns to India after about 20 years, and we have been given the honour to host it, on behalf of The Turf Authorities of India," said Jain.
Along with the Governor of Maharashtra, other dignitaries will witness a song and dance introduction to India, and a stunning show by a Bollywood superstar at the NSCI's Dome, followed by three days of non stop business with sessions at The Trident featuring an array of renowned speakers covering every facet of the racing world.
"Music on the lawns by the much loved retro band, The Other People, food and drink, and of course the very best of thoroughbred racing in the lovely weather the city is experiencing, what more can one ask for?" said Jain. Hooves to the ready.
Your place or mine?
Word come in about this much in the news, off and on Bolly star couple. Apparently while moving out of their newly acquired and lovingly decorated love pad into his parent's home, the handsome actor had graciously allowed his ex to continue living at the apartment for the next year until she made further plans.
However, given that the two have an upcoming long foreign shoot together soon, all those close to them are keeping their fingers crossed that they will patch up soon. And for their sakes and ours, we too hope that kissing and making up is on the cards.
Baba Ramdev for tea
He evokes extreme responses from people, and so no surprises that that the BJP's ever charming leader Shaina NC and husband Munesh Munot, had invited a truly eclectic bunch of people to meet his Orange Holiness Baba Ramdev at their home over high tea this Monday.
Mickey Mehta, Baba Ramdev, Shaina NC
For starters there was Nana Chudasama, father of Shaina, and Mumbai's eternal Sheriff, TCS' legendary S Ramadorai, Salman Khan's sister Alvira Khan Agnihotri, holistic and wellness guru Mickey Mehta, industrialist Yash Birla with wife Avantika, TV stars Sameer Soni and Neelam, Procam's Vivek Singh and theatre veteran Raell Padamsee amongst others.
"He kept pulling me, hugging me, patting my back," said Mehta about his encounter with Ramdev. "He asked me which products of his I used, He was very funny and humorous, advising us all to have four litres of as hot water as possible everyday to combat obesity. He also once again said he could cure any terminal disease too and invited us all to Haridwar to his health farm," said the wellness guru.
So which products of his did you tell him you use, we asked Mehta. "I said I used his ghee toothpaste, his shampoo and his vitality herbal tablets," said Mehta. Now we know.
Projecting a new image
Next month will see the launch of Mumbai's first projection photography exhibition 'Hanami', which will be held at a clothing store in Juhu.
A projection shot and Rohan Shrestha
The exhibit will also be young and celebrated photographer Rohan Shrestha's first solo show in the city, where he is said to experiment with multiple types of projection techniques like 'video imagery' and 'infrared images', with the theme inspired by 'Sakura,' the cherry blossom of Japan.
Ambika Hinduja Makker and Shraddha Kapoor
We hear entrepreneur Ambika Hinduja Makker has been roped in to curate the exhibition. Ambika, the daughter of industrialist Ashok Hinduja, has been passionate about film and design from an early age.
She graduated from The London International Film School and The New School Parsons before trying her hand in Bollywood, by producing films like Being Cyrus and Teen Patti (during which she discovered and launched actress Shraddha Kapoor).
Ambika then founded design company, Impeccable Imagination, and has previously worked on projects for Preity Zinta and Surily Goel. The exhibition will be on display from the February 7 to 21 and 10% of proceeds will go to Ummeed, a charitable organisation working with disabled children.
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