The city — sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Rahul Khanna
Play it again, Chef Kinny
On Thursday, the mood at the launch of the city's first wholesale bar in Kurla, was melodious, as singer and guitarist Praveer Barot accompanied by Sidhesh on percussion entertained the crowd with old Bollywood and English retro numbers. No prizes for guessing the opening track — Mohammed Rafi's Bar Bar Dekho to go with its name."
Paul Kinny
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But what surprised us was Chef Paul Kinny tapping the table and doling out rhythmic beats in sync with the songs when not sending out batches of vada pao popcorn, mac and cheese toast and a crunchy pasta bhel.
"I sing like a buffalo, but I always had an inclination towards music. I have no former training. When I had the time, I didn't have the money to take classes, and when I do, I don't have the time," he laughed. To fuel his passion, he even gifted himself a djembe from Furtados five years ago. Clearly, a chef who wears many hats.
He's a sport!
This diarist got a lesson in why one shouldn't talk s*** on Twitter, yesterday. After reading a tweet about someone gushing over actor Rahul Khanna, we tweeted that we thought he was one of the most overrated people in India, wondering what exactly he had done.
Rahul Khanna
Well, THE Rahul Khanna took note and direct messaged us about how he would "strive and do more noteworthy things going forward." All with a smiley face emoji. Along with feeling important that he noticed our tweet, we do think he's quite the sport.
Khar turns into Hogsmeade
Pottermania seems to have gripped the city ahead of the launch of the new Harry Potter book (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) tomorrow, with everyone from nightclubs and restaurants signing their own ways of celebrating Harry's new tryst.
(Extreme right, top) Potterheads at a blast at the event. Pics/Shadab Khan
Folks at The Hive in Khar threw an innovative Harry Potter-themed nite recently, which encompassed one hell of a Harry Potter quiz, hourly horcrux hunts, and a game of Quidditch Pong (a variant of beer pong).
The venue was packed to the brim, with Potterheads showing up from all across the city to lend their support to their favourite boy wizard. Although the butter beer served didn't have any alcohol in it, it was quite the magical experience to sip on a drink from The Three Broomsticks.
Double roti invites
While hospitality mavericks make it their business to outdo each other with eccentric invitation ideas, Bandra-raised, New York-based Floyd Cardoz charms us with a laadi of four paos, wrapped in newspaper like the neighbourhood bakery will, stringed and delivered to the office. Except, the newspaper is The International New York Times.
A postcard sends us the chef's warm regards from Spring Street, NY, where he is serving patrons Indian food — especially Goan, rich in Portuguese influence — but with local ingredients. Here, the ribs get a rub of vindaloo masala, and the pao comes with sundry fillings, inspired by the vada pao. Pao, not the sophisticated slice but the streetside maida pillow you can pull apart and stuff with what you wish, is the establishment's centerpiece, hence its plebian but endearing name, Paowalla.
It's what the Portuguese gave the Goans, Bombay, and eventually India, a country of rice eaters alien to maida. The laadi makes its journey back to the West, sitting plump at what we hear is a 'bread bar' at the Soho address.
Let's back the Spothole app
Friday marked the first death anniversary of Dadadro Bilhore's 16-year-old son, who died in a road accident caused by a pothole. Since the teen's death, his father has been filling up potholes across the city as a tribute to his son. Yesterday (Friday), an online petition was filed on change.org, appealing to the BMC to accept the Spothole app as a means to tackle the growing menace.
The app enables citizens to report potholes in various parts of the city in three simple steps: Spot, click and report, thus enabling respective authorities to take action, making the roads safe for commuters.
The pilot community driven app — which went live on IOS last month and on Android last year — was created after crowd funding R1, 22,100 from 22 funders across the city. Currently, it has nearly 196 potholes reported on it. The petition on change.org has been addressed to Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and the High Court, and currently has 97 supporters on the petition page.
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