Nisha's Mumbai: From Foodie Meets At Kizbara To Creating Memories With Friends, Nisha JamVwal Writes About Her Eventful Week

Foodie delights

What makes a foodie a foodie? Is it about being a connoisseur of food? Or then a lover of food? Or both,  as well as one imbued with an in-depth knowledge and vocal about one’s critique? I’m not sure if I’m a foodie or not, but I do know I immensely enjoy a great ambiance at a restaurant and delectable cuisine, in that order. A great cuisine in a shoddy setting is definitely not for me. Coming back to the bay from great Lebanese restaurants in palace settings with vaulted ceilings and exotic embellishments in Dubai, I had been keen to see what Kizbara was all about. A quaint colourful restaurant tucked away in a narrow Kala Ghoda gali - Kizbara was a winner from the word go. A magical experience, an Arabian nights kind of ambiance, delectable food in different colours that could give a run to any restaurant in Dubai or anywhere else. It is an atmospheric heritage space of characteristic high ceilings and a half mezzanine balustraded verandah overlooking an ornately railinged wooden stairwell leading up to the additional seating and the walls are all painted with exotic murals.

After a phase of some jaded ennui, perhaps a covid thing, Mumbai has risen up to an enlivening surge of youthful spaces in Kala-Ghoda lanes already a hub of cheek-by jowl small cafés, restaurants, fashion boutiques also personable restaurants - the new ,and must-say worth visiting Kizbara with a Lebanese and mid-Asian theme stands out as a winner . The table was redolent with brass platters of kebabs and cheeses, and mezzo bowls on designer brass platters laced with parsley and lettuce and vegetable sticks with dips of Hummus and Baba Ganoush. The back-drop of Ariabian night scenic murals and ornate oriental designed niches with ceramic/pottery and arabesque wall panels in colours of blues and greens and yellows heightened the mid -east charm if perhaps missing a Scherezade strumming on a stringed instrument!

Celebrating friendship

For me, more than being about me, i treat my birthday as a great opportunity to celebrate friendships love and camaraderie and that’s what I do in May. I try to include all those who’ve touched my life in a wonderful warm way in different magical settings. My next celebration was at a fav destination. While Kizbara is new Bayroute is an established brand which has reinvented itself and the Juhu Bayroute is a haunt for one of my girl gangs. I invited some favourite friends and was keen to enjoy the new feel to the food. We enjoyed the newly renewed cuisine in magnificent oversized platters and theatrical presentation.

Unforgettable night

As an Interiors Architect my fascination for colour, home style, embellishment, decor, views and art is transportive. I feel an other worldly joy and magic when I see great creativity in design and that’s what I felt at gynaecologist and woman achiever Dr Monika Doshi and Paras Doshi’s dinner for me at her kaleidoscopic quirky skyscraper home that overlooks the newly inaugurated Atal Setu on one side and the multi layered, curvy and boast worthy coastal road flanking the sea. It’s a night I won’t forget in a hurry. It’s been a heady week of joie de vivre that’s ending in the great joy of watching the Met Gala red carpet - analysing and dissecting what worked and what didn’t - while I share my slice of life with you.