People in the West assume that Valentine’s Day is a Western tradition. But we at Dishoom know better. Last year we learnt the true origins of the festival, explaining how Valentine’s Day (or more accurately, Velan-times Day) started. It was all down to the rolling pin of freedom – the humble velan. This year, the [...]
2011 wasn’t an easy sort of year was it? Everything seems just a bit different over the last twelve months. There’s a chill in the air somehow. An ever so slightly ominous edge to the daily headlines. But it’s the relationships we build, the stuff that we do together, the support that we give each other that makes it all worthwhile….
Christmas Turkey. Now be honest. Does the thought of it fill you with excitement? Does it make your taste buds stand to attention? Probably not. So we felt the responsibility to turn this uninspiring meat into something amazing. Something that friends would squabble over the scraps of. A Bombay Party in your mouth, so to speak.
A conversation revisited…Cold, rainy morning, not very long ago in a comfortable booth at Dishoom on St Martin’s Lane. A motley crew of Dishoom-wallahs, mulling over ideas for Christmas.
Diwali draws near, and with it fireworks and celebrations. But it’s also worth remembering the story of Diwali, passed lovingly on through generations. A tale of daring, of wonder. Of chariots flying across the sky, of the wise monkey god leaping the ocean. On Sunday 23rd October, we have a fantastic day of events for adults and children alike to celebrate Diwali – face-painting, chalk Rangoli, story-telling and a film viewing!
It was a loopy premise, even for a pop-up. ‘What if an old Bombay Cafe were to take a gentle stroll down to Chowpatty Beach in about 1965 and drop a mild acid tab?’ But now, the crazy colourful summer is fading into grey-brown autumn. Say goodbye to Dishoom Chowpatty Beach one last time.
The last few weeks have seen millions of Muslims across India and around the world, from Bombay to London, take the time to reflect, pray and taste the essence of a simpler life.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of India’s independence. 64 years have passed since the earnest Mr. Attlee and the elegant Lord Mountbatten finished the British Raj. Late on 14th August 1947, the about-to-be Prime Minister, Pandit Nehru proclaimed to the Indian Constituent Assembly that at the stroke of the midnight hour, as the world slept, India would awake to life and freedom.
