What’s happening in Mumbai’s hotels? A peek into the party circuit and events in the city… By Marcellus Baptista
Trendy tale
It was a trendy tale of fabulous fashion, wonderful wine and fantastic food at The Westin Mumbai Garden City as Ashish Kumar Rai, the hotel’s GM, hosted an enchanting evening curated byJyotiee Balani, in association with BMW, Charosa Vineyards and Tresmode. Guests admired the ‘Byzindiantine’ collection by famed fashion designer James Ferreira, inspired by paintings of Paul Bhonsle. The treat was on with fashion-inspired cuisine crafted by Executive Chef Rahul Dhavale and fine wines from Charosa Vineyards. The amalgamation of angels, candles, lilies, twinkling lights, baby pineapples and shoes was highly appreciated. A swanky BMW car added to the chic ambience. Guests included Cory Walia, Lubna Adam, Svetlana Casper, Anu Agarwal, Pooja Vaidya and Elena Fernandes.
Fashion feast
The second edition of Gionee India Beach Fashion Week shifted to The Lalit Golf & Spa Resort Goa. This gave the hotel an opportunity to showcase its sprawling golf course, spa specials, F&B offerings and more. It was a three-day fashion feast with showstoppers galore including Sushmita Sen, Evelyn Sharma, Pooja Gupta, Richa Chadda and Neha Dhupia. In between shows guests lived it up at the lounges and enjoyed the entertaiment at the after-parties. While all the shows were held indoors, shows by Manoviraj Khosla and Rina Dhaka were staged at the poolside. And the grand finale was on the beach with Wendell Rodricks, also known as the Master of Minimalism, showcasing his ‘Ahead of the Curve’ collection, an experiment in cutting, based on Indian geometry.
High five
The cheer was on as The Beer Café launched its fifth outlet in Mumbai, this one at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport T2. Known for serving the best of beers, The Beer Café added a twist by introducing its first all-day diner. This 24-hour outlet offers an eclectic collection of coffees, teas, smoothies, scrumptious breakfast and freshly baked products. The cafe serves more than 10 varieties of tap beer among 50 international beer brands. Travellers can also indulge i an all-day breakfast while sipping on their choice of hot or cold beverages. Looking happy indeed on launch day was Rahul Singh, founder and CEO, The Beer Café. The outlet at the airport is the 28th one in the country, with 15 outlets in Delhi NCR, four in Mumbai, three in Pune, and one each in Bengaluru, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Mohali.
Sparkling 15!
Cheerful was what it was as Sula Vineyards celebrated 15 years in the industry by hosting a sundowner at Asilo at St Regis. On offer was a range of wines, Monkey Shoulder whisky and Asahi beer. Unveiled was the limited-edition Sula Brut Tropicale, a Blanc de Noirs, white méthodec champenoise sparkler made from premium black grapes including Pinot Noir, with the bottle sporting vibrant colours and paisley motifs. Joining Rajeev Samant, founder and CEO of Sula Vineyards, in this celebration were Shriya Saran, Sabina and A D Singh, Kabir Bedi, Parveen Dusanj, Nikhil Agarwal, Rahul Akerkar, Farokh Khambatta, Narendra Kumar, Sabina and Anil Chopra, Riyaaz Amlani, Seema and Jaideep Mehrotra, Kim Sharma, Sameer Malhotra, Vicky Ratnani, Kamal Sidhu, Nico Ghogavala, Avanti and Yash Birla, Ruksana and Mustafa Eisa among many others. Live music added to the flavour as guests sipped wines and had a bite of gourmet appetisers.