Malavika’s Mumbaistan: Mama’s boy!
Gaggan Anand, the Calcutta boy, who left India two decades ago and is today Asia’s most celebrated chef, added yet another milestone to his already impressive trophy cabinet: on Tuesday, his eponymous restaurant in Bangkok was voted Asia’s No. 1 restaurant for a record fourth year in a row, at a glitzy awards ceremony in Macau.
Gaggan Anand, the Calcutta boy, who left India two decades ago and is today Asia’s most celebrated chef, added yet another milestone to his already impressive trophy cabinet: on Tuesday, his eponymous restaurant in Bangkok was voted Asia’s No. 1 restaurant for a record fourth year in a row, at a glitzy awards ceremony in Macau.
Gaggan, who flirted with the idea of opening an outlet in India a couple of years ago, is the only Indian chef to currently hold the honour of having two Michelin stars and being in the world’s top 10 restaurants list.
After his latest triumph, the first thing the flamboyant chef, who had dedicated his latest award to the three women in his life, his mother, his wife and his daughter, did, after getting off the stage, was to call his mother to tell her the good news.
“I wanted to take a short run, but instead hit it for a boundary for 4,” he texted us later that night about his spectacular win.
As is known, Gaggan is set to shut down his Bangkok restaurant in 2020 after a 10-year run and hand over the reins to his protégé, chef Rydo, who will reinvent the restaurant in its existing location.
His plan is to open the world’s ‘most inaccessible restaurant’ in Japan, but before that, the chef will expand the empire of restaurants he owns in Bangkok to a total of five, as he opens a tofu-based eatery
in Bangkok this month and soon after, will open a wine bar adjacent to the existing Gaggan.
And some news for those who have upcoming Bangkok trips: from 2019, Gaggan will become a ‘by invite only’ restaurant and will stop taking reservations!
TRUE LIES
Word comes in that the resident of the city’s second most high-profile single occupant tower in south Mumbai is planning a big bash early next month to felicitate a cricketing stalwart on his latest assignment.
What is interesting are the other ‘celebrities’ roped in for the occasion: from a Delhi Opposition politico with interests in cricket, to a fading actress, herself in need of some exposure, the invitation features them all.
“This way, he can have film stars and cricketers, the ultimate glam mix, at his home and thus attract maximum coverage in the media — that’s what he told me,” informed a lady on the guest list.
“As we all know, nothing else counts these days!” she meowed. And to think there was a time when hosting, artists, intellectuals, jurists, architects, designers or just old friends counted for something!
A TIME FOR ALL THINGS
“We are time’s subjects, and time bids be gone” — one of the things that epitomises the Bard’s rumination on the slings and arrows of fate, are the past few weeks in the life of banker Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank.
Only a week ago, the entire Kapoor clan was seen celebrating the first birthday of Ariaan Tandon, son of Raakhe (Kapoor) and Delhi-based Alkesh Tandon, and first grandchild of Rana and Bindu.
The party held in the sea-facing garden of the building the Kapoors occupy at Worli, was witness to three generations of friends, from those of the birthday boy’s grandparents and parents,
to toddlers, gather for birthday cake, candles, chaat, magic tricks and games. “My new role of Nana is my favorite of all,” the doting grandfather had said on the occasion. So it was with sadness that friends heard that
a few days later, Rana lost his beloved mother, Sheela Kapoor, who had been ailing. As expected, the memorial service held at the Nehru auditorium on Tuesday evening saw a packed hall, filled with the banker’s friends
and associates, drawn from all walks of society. And as expected, the entire Kapoor clan was present, this time clad in white, their heads bowed in sorrow — because as Shakespeare also said, “There’s a time for all things.”