Farm life, metro meals

Once off the Mandwa Jetty the main road into the beach town of Alibaug is lined with trees on either side It is an instant change of scene from Mumbairsquos urban jungle separated by a sliver of the Arabian Sea The coastal town and Mumbai share residents too with several of the cityrsquos families owning a weekend home hereMumbaikar Ajay Bhatnagar 36 has been visiting his family home in Alibaug since 1982 The designerrsquos father an architect and hotelier was behind one of Alibaugrsquos first resorts Kashid Beach Resort built in 1988The only ferry that plied to and fro was from Rewas to Bhau Cha Dhakka ldquoIn the rsquo90s with the launch of the first ferry to Mandwa from Colaba jetty a reverse influx of youth coming from Alibaug to work in Mumbai occurred They would take up jobs in Fort and Nariman Point and return home in time via the small ferries that took an hour to plyrdquo Bhatnagar explains adding that during the same time Mumbaikars who owned plots across the bay had started building holiday homesWhile the last 15 years have seen several Mumbaikars create a permanent base in Alibaug the lockdown gave the trend more power with professionals able to work from home Bhatnagar himself spends most days at his beachfacing home and returns to the city when he has important meetings lined up ldquoWorking remotely and the introduction of the RoRo has made things easierrdquo he says of the ferry that can carry 500 passengers and 150 vehicles offering a premium service at decent rates Seven years ago restaurateur Gauri Devidayal began to nurture a farm with the idea of using the produce grown there at her establishments The Table Magazine Street Kitchen Miss T and lately Iktara She also began to curate farmtotable events at the green plot which was an extension of her home ldquoDuring the lockdown I stayed there for twoandahalfmonths at a stretch I realised I could very easily turn this into my permanent base and visit my home and officemdashboth close to the Colaba jettymdashthree times a weekrdquo she saysCurrently she is refurbishing the home to make it more suitable for a primary base And with the RoRo Alibaug feels like a suburb of Mumbai ldquoNot in terms of look and feel but access There is a growing community of Mumbaikars who have set up base here and thus the food scene has improved exponentially too Real estate rates have doubledrdquo says Devidayal pointing out that the only thing missing is a good school and hospitalThe Mumbai community here is an enterprising one and the Whatsapp group sets them up for everything ldquoSomeone needs a plumber another needs a lawn manicuredmdashit is all sorted on the group People help each other and there is a growing social life too We even went for a trek to Kankeshwar recently My daughter has regular play dates Call this the Hamptons of New Yorkrdquo she smiles adding ldquoIt is a no brainer for people who have homes here I donrsquot miss Mumbai at all and I see myself being here long termrdquo says DevidayalTo cater to this growing discerning crowd close to 10 restaurants and cloud kitchens have sprung up over the last year The food and drink market may not be as big as Mumbai but it justifies having a delivery staff and payment gateway infrastructure Devidayalrsquos establishments have been delivering items from their menu to Alibaug and while earlier orders were taken on WhatsApp over time she says it made sense to start a delivery platform on Thrive for Alibaug orders What started as a onceaweek delivery schedule is now twice dailyMumbai resident Kim Verma says her family spends six weeks in the city and the next six at their Alibaug home ldquoThe Internet is better than Mumbairdquo she laughs listing the top reason for their decision to move apart from school classes having moved online and the ease that the WFH environment offers ldquoUsually we are happy eating the local food here but since our stays have been longer recently we crave restaurant food We order breads and quiches from Mag St Bread Co especially the chocolate croissants that my son lovesrdquo says Verma who also finds ease in ordering rolls from Devidayalrsquos Indian cloud kitchen Iktara when they have guests over and everyone wants to eat at different timesAjay BhatnagarKaryna Bajaj who started delivery of food from all her restaurants including CinCin Nara Thai Yauatcha and Hakkasan in September 2020 hosted her first Thai popup at a private dining and home concept storeTen94 located in Zirad Alibaug ldquoWhile our deliveries happen every week we even started offering catering services and athome experiences for those hosting their friends and family The logistics have changed and it is all about reinventing the product CinCinrsquos frozen pizzas are very convenient and go with reheating instructions so are our sauces and chilli oils that can be refrigeratedrdquo says Bajaj Even those who spend the weekend checking into a homestay are enjoying the ease of orderingThe lockdown has encouraged communitybuilding activities Members of the Mumbai community WhatsApp group during a trek to AnkleshwarSince December Juhubased Neha Mehra has been packing off to a homestay in Alibaug with her family every weekend ldquoWe are not comfortable taking a flight so we prefer going off for the weekend to a place where the kids can run around Most of the time we order from Americano The pizzas come half cooked with simple instructions the rolls are lovely and we love the quality of the packagingrdquoThe table is set for a farmtofork meal organised by The Table staff before the lockdownAmericanorsquos chef and coowner Alex Sanchez says the pandemic revealed to him the true potential of delivery He initially started sending food for his partner Mallyeka Watsarsquos father after he shifted permanently to their weekend home ldquoMany of our friends and family had gone to Alibaug to ride out the stormrdquo remembers Sanchez who sends orders in a refrigerated commercial vehicle by roadAlex Sanchez of Americano stands beside a refrigerated truck that takes meals to Alibaug as part of his resto barrsquos delivery service At Home AmericanoldquoThe most important thing to consider when sending food over a long distance is food safety The food must be prepared and cooled to a foodsafe temperature then transported in a temperaturecontrolled vehicle In order to ensure that the taste and quality of the final dish is up to standard we tweaked our recipes and created simple easytofollow assemblyreheating instructionsrdquo says SanchezMumbai resident Kim Vermarsquos family often orders breads and quiches from Mag St Bread CoEvery Friday Americano delivers to 2025 households Due to the way the food is packaged and prepared it is wellsuited to be eaten over the entire weekend ldquoOften times people will order enough for multiple meals Our pizzas salads and fresh pasta kits do very wellrdquoDoing a delivery to Alibaug is as easy as delivering an order from Lower Parel to Versova Keenan Tham owner of Koko explains Their weekly delivery day is usually Friday ldquoWe do up to 40 deliveries via speed boats as well as trucks Our orders are picked up from a house in Awas at 5 pmrdquo says Tham who spent the first four months of the lockdown in his holiday home across the waters A selfconfessed city boy he says staying away fromMumbai has offered him perspective ldquoWe are close to the beach and it is a pristine surrounding We go for long walks treks Itrsquos a beautiful setting for our 19monthold child to run around inrdquo says ThamThis week they tried the pizzas from Mag St Toppings while hosting a few friendsThe customers Shaan Mehta explains are not price focused but those who want a flavourful and safe meal experience His cloud kitchen The Mexican Box which he launched with his wife Meghna in October and by November they had extended their deliveries to Alibaug ldquoThe rising Mumbai community there made it a market large enough for us to explorerdquo says Mehta ldquoUsually the first couple of days people are happy to eat the local Maharashtrian fare Then they crave restaurantstyle food Mexican food does well with assembling A taco for example will go in three different elementsmdashtortillas the hot filling and cold condimentsrdquoCinCinrsquos fresh pasta kits and frozen pizzas come with reheating instructionsThe pandemic he adds has forced restaurateurs to reexamine the way they do business ldquoThe silver lining in this whole mess is that many of us have found new ways to make money that we previously didnrsquot know existed That said restaurants need to be full They arenrsquot built to be profitable any other waymdashdelivery includedrdquoSo is Alibag lucrative No but it is certainly becoming the source of an important revenue stream for Mumbai hospitality businesses entrepreneurs agreeShaan MehtaAs far as the residents are concerned itrsquos the life theyrsquove always dreamt of with Mumbai salaries and smalltown lifestyleldquoWe are leading healthier lives The kids take a swim or go to the beach after school classes we go for walks By 9 pm we are in bed Wersquore living it up until school reopensrdquo Verma signs off