Le15 Cafe is doing away with paper menus, and as co-owners Pooja Dhingra and Pablo Agular say, it's because they want their "customers to know exactly what they are getting"
Paper is passe
Le15 Café is doing away with paper menus, and as co-owners Pooja Dhingra and Pablo Agular say, it's because they want their "customers to know exactly what they are getting". Instead, they will have an Instagram menu page, which goes live today, with a new menu being launched tomorrow.
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"Food is so visual, we eat with our eyes first. The biggest USP is that it lets you decide what you want to eat using a format that you are already comfortable using. We all drool over Instagram pictures, bookmarking to try it later," Dhingra tells this diarist. The page will also enable the customer to leave comments good or bad. "You can read our notes and also see comments from people who have tried it before." She says it will help with their own process as they will now know what's working and what's not. "The main aim is to get the customer involved and have a more interactive experience. And no paper wastage!"
A Chandamama online library
For those who lapped up Indian comic books as kids, the Chandamama series would be no stranger. The children's monthly magazine that was first launched in 1947, and is most known for its brilliant rendition of mythological stories, and illustrations, of course, has influenced and inspired over three generations. And, while the final issue came out four years ago, in some good news for fans of the magazine, e-issues of the entire series, beginning from the July 1947 edition (yes, we aren't kidding), is now available for reading on the website (chandamama.in). Though the earliest editions were in Telugu -- the language it was originally started in, we managed to browse through the first English issue of 1955, which had Lord Ganesha on the cover. Needless to say, it felt like we had gone back in time.
Wear your favourite candy crush icon
If you, like most people, are addicted to CandyCrush, then this jewellery line is the one for you. The game, in collaboration with jewellery designer Mrinalini Chandra, released a line last week. Chandra's signature style of combining traditional Indian crafts with modern aesthetics shines through in the collection, which consists of a mass and couture line.
Each motive (candy) has used a variety of Meenakari techniques resulting in earrings, two-finger rings and broaches. "I was featured in the top 10 jewellery designers to watch out for from Asia in 2017 by the world's biggest trends forecasting body WGSN, and that's where they spotted me!" Chandra tells this designer. She adds that the aim of the two-year collaboration is to take an iconic brand and transition it into high fashion. "We are planning much more, for example, next may be a fashion show."
Fiery Charlie becomes Sir Griffith
Guess who got knighted primarily for his services to cricket last week? West Indian pace terror Charlie Griffith (in pic), the man who struck India's Nari Contractor on the skull and put the genial, Mumbai-based Parsi out of Test cricket.
Griffith's fans in the Caribbean are delighted about his knighthood courtesy the Barbados government, but this diarist has reason to be cynical. Contractor has never blamed Griffith for that lethal ball bowled on India's 1962 tour of the West Indies, but many Indians feel Griffith was a chucker. Ditto the Englishmen, who encountered him in their summer of 1963.
During the Lord's Test of that series, Fred Trueman, the great English fast bowler, was having a shower in one of lesser-used bathrooms during an innings break. While freshening up, he overheard a conversation between England's chief selector, RVW Robins and the umpires over Griffith's dodgy action. Fearing a riot in London, Robins was heard instructing the umpires not to call Griffith. When Trueman came out of the bathroom, a stunned Robins requested him to keep the conversation to himself. Trueman promised to do so, but insisted that he would relate the incident later just to prove how unfair it was to his team. He could have written about it in his Sunday People column, but he obeyed his favourite administrator. He revealed it for the first time in his autobiography Ball of Fire 13 years later. Wonder whether Sir Charles has read pages 117 and 118.
Let's shake it up
Pankaj Kamble and Sachin Gowde are certified party rockers. The duo hold the Guinness World Record for most number of cocktail flairs above the shoulder in a minute. And, on December 8, they will launch their recent collaboration with Lower Parel's rooftop restobar 1Above, accompanied by some eye-popping mixing skills. "It takes some savvy and charisma, along with a knowledge of drinks, to be a successful bartender. This is one of those jobs where your success depends on your personality more than anything else," says Kamble. The menu has something for everybody, right from smooth concoctions for nervous first timers to explosive shots for the seasoned drinkers. "We don't have a major educational degree but we really have no regrets either," says Gowde.
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