Vie Fi

CityInfo
Mumbai
Gourmet Pick

Vie Fi
“Our chefs create unique dishes, you will not find anywhere else in Mumbai.”

If you’re looking for a good meal in an exotic ambience, Vie’s the place to be.. The food has rare constituents and alluring flavours from the Mediterranean.
As you enter the lounge, you are greeted with a sprawling wooden deck, which extends onto a glass landing. This rolls straight onto the beach, where you can dig your feet into the warm sand. On a lazy evening, chill out with a glass of Kingfisher beer as you soak yourself in the warmth of the evening.
Vie has been aesthetically divided into separate spaces, ensuring the guests their privacy and choice of ambience. Besides, they also have a private members lounge accompanied with a bar area. The restaurant has two large bars, which serve an exotic variety of cocktails. You can choose from their illustrious fresh fruit blends, Collins, Daiquiris and flavoured Martinis.
“We have a special menu every fortnight, where our chefs create unique dishes, you will not find anywhere else in Mumbai,” boasted Suneil Dudhalkar, manager.
The BBQ kitchen is a hit among the regulars at the restaurant. The menu boasts of some of best grills served with a Middle Eastern flavour. Indulge in sappetizers like Pomfret Charmulla, Chicken Juniper and Blue Cheese Chicken Tikka.
“We have recently introduced Sunset Coffee Session,” informed Suneil. The coffee session consists of a round of coffee and snacks like sandwiches between 4 and 6.30 every evening.

Vie Lounge & Deck, 102 Juhu Tara Road, Opp Little Italy, Juhu
Ph: 2660-3003
7 pm – 1.30am

A Twist In The Tale

CityInfo
Mubai
Cover Story

A Twist In The Tale
Global cuisine goes Asian. At Seijo & The Soul Dish.

How about a trip around the world even as you are seated at a restaurant?
Seijo & The Soul Dish offers the best of world cuisine. What’s unique about the myraid dishes served here is that each of them have been given a diustinctive South East Asian flavour.
Seijo and the Soul Dish is an open air Pan-Asian diner. The Singapore Laksha, which is a specialty at this restaurant is prepared using authentic ingredients. These can be eaten with Mirin, which is a type of rice dish.
The restaurant area is galactic. With a seating capacity of 100 people, this area has been designed in a courtyard style and the ceiling is 25 ft high. “This is in keeping with Japanese styles. They believe in openness,” explained Kishore D F, proprietor. There is a lot of greenery and bamboo shoots all around. The dining area has a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Besides the Japanese touch, the interiors also have a distinct Asian influence. Modern Japanese Art, popularly known as Manga Art, adorns the walls. And the sound of flowing water adds to the ambience.
The chef, Irfan Pabaney has trained in Singapore, and makes an amazing array of Sushi – Egg, Maki Roll, Prawn Sushi, Lobster Sushi and Spicy Tuna Sushi. The Indonesian Sambals, which is a popular form of curry, is another one of their specialties.
There are three variations of the Thai curry served here, each of which have distinctly different flavours – red which has a dominant chilly flavour; green which has a dominant coriander flavour; yellow which has a dominant turmeric flavour. “We use authentic ingredients, which are all imported from various South East Asian countries.
On offer on the starters menu are the likes of Chicken Otak-Otak which is minced chicken in five spices. This is wrapped in a banana leaf, steamed and then grilled, before its served. Their range of vegetarian starters includes Kakiyagi, a combination of spring onion and fresh corn. there’s plenty more to choose from.
The bar at Seijo and the Soul Dish is equally fancy. This bar area is separate from the lounge and the restaurant area. Huge Japanese manga artwork adorn the walls of the bar, where world beats accompanied by a live percussion beats set the mood for the evening. This mainly Jconsists of African and South American strains. Sprawled over a 3000 sq ft area, it is a modern ecliptic bar, which has a distinct New York style to it. It specialises in different types of Martinis. The barman will fuse various flavours in Martini like vanilla and yellow melon.
The signature drink is Batida. Seijo and the Soul Dish prides itself as being the only restaurant in Mumbai to serve this drink. It is a Brazilian carnival drink, made with fruit juices and raw sugarcane liqueur. This liqueur is specially imported from Brazil. Teetotallers can opt for the Mohito, international drink. It is a comination of ginger and lemon.
Brazilian drink, New York-styled bar. Wouldn’t that make Seijo & the Soul Dish a multi-cuisine restaurant? Kishore disagreed. “All our dishes have a South East Asian twist.” The restaurant has been rated the Best Looking Restaurant in India.
“Very urban and very different from any other place in Mumbai,” as one of their customers would have it.

Seijo & the Soul Dish, 206 Krystal, Waterfield Road, Bandra
Ph: 2640 5555

Rustic Echoes

CityInfo Mumbai
Gourmet Pick

Rustic Echoes
11 Echoes is designed to create the perfect setting; rustic in design, with strong influences of the Mediterranean.

Across the shores of the Arabian Sea, built in a gentle curve, 11 Echoes is an all-new destination for Mumbai’s happening crowd. The restaurant is an eclectic mix of modern European cuisine, great cocktails, pastas and a warm ambience. As Puneet, one of its owners, said, “Great emphasis was laid not only on the quality of the cuisine but also the music and the setting of the place. This enhances the overall experience at 11 Echoes.”
Spread across two levels and divided into four unique spaces, 11 Echoes is designed to create the perfect setting; rustic in design, with strong influences of the Mediter-ranean.
The exotically lit inner area is furnished with plush white sofas that accentuate the feel of a lounge, while the stone floor and the high wooden ceilings meet whitewashed walls in a gentle curve. A wooden deck encompasses the bar area which leads you to the fine dining section outside. The Aqua bar, inspired by the ocean, beckons you to enjoy heady cocktails even as the sea mists your senses. Sample the delicious Pomegranate Couscous or bite into a juicy Seared Fillet Mignon. Compliment your meal with a mug of Kingfisher beer. The terrace dining area, which overlooks the expanse of the ocean, is the perfect setting for a quiet candlelight dinner while you watch the rippling of the waves as you dine in candlelight and enjoy the music that runs through the entire space.
Let the 11 Echoes fill you -- mind, body and spirit.

11 Echoes, Opp Palm Grove, Juhu Beach. Ph: 2617-7524/25

Whisky For Tee

CityInfo
National Cover Story

Whisky For Tee
The McDowell's Signature Club Golf Championship is India's largest Inter-Club
golf Event.
By Our Correspondent

The New Sign of Success, McDowell’s Signature has been closely associated with the sought-after sport of golf. Once a niche sport, golf has expanded in its reach and appeal.
McDowell’s Signature has fostered its association with golf with McDowell’s Signa-ture Celebrity Golf, which is golf for a cause; McDow-ell’s Signature Club Golf Championship, a one-of-its-kind tournament in India attracting participation from India’s top golf clubs. And of course, the association is further consolidated with McDowell’s Signature World Cup of Golfing Cricketers, another pioneering event, by creating a platform for successful cricketers of yesteryears from eight test playing nations.
In its fourth leg, the McDowell’s Signature Club Golf Championship 2005 witnessed great excitement as the Noida Golf Course won the all-India finals at the lush greens of the Pine Hurst Golf & Country Club, one of the elegant courses of Bangkok.
“The McDowell’s Signa-ture Club Golf Champion-ship attracts vast participation. This year witnessed participation by more than 4000 golfers from 30 golf clubs across 20 cities around the country making it the largest of its kind in the country,” said Vijay Rekhi, president, UB Group Spirits Division.
To ensure wider participation, the tournament was played in a three-tier format: Stage one, the intra-club stage was where participating club members played among each other to select the club team. There were three handicap categories 0-8 (played on gross stable ford), 9-16 and 17-24 (played on 3/4th nett stable ford). The winners and runners-up from each handicap category formed the six-member club team.
At stage two, regional finals, club teams battled it out among the other clubs of the region to decide the regional champions.
In stage three, the finals, four regional champion clubs were pitted against each other at Bangkok to decide the McDowell’s Signature Champion Golf Club of India.
“This brand property is aimed at fostering the brand’s association with the premium and aspirational game of golf, which is very quickly gaining in popularity among the country’s successful young adults,” said Rekhi.
“On the fairway, it is not who you are, but what you can do that counts. This emotion uniquely captures the essence of our brand – for the young and successful who have created wealth by changing business paradigms, instead of just acquiring it,” said Alok Gupta, executive vice president, marketing, UB Group Spirits Division.
Apart from the premium imagery that golf helped the brand project, the Signature blend will be the cornerstone of the brand’s identity.
McDowell’s Signature won global acclaim for its blend, winning an award at the prestigious ‘Concours Mondial de Bruxelles’. It was also awarded the ‘Best in Class’ Award at the Annual International Wine & Spirits Competition held in the UK.