If you are tired of having mangoes, mangoes and more of the same old mangoes, try the fest at Palm Court, the coffee shop at Hotel Hindusthan International, for a more interesting bite ? but of the mango kind.

The taste of the fruit here is not just restricted to juices and desserts. The main course, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, has a good dose of mango as well. Cottage Cheese and Mango Lasagna, Spinach Potato and Mango Trifle are some of the vegetarian options, while Bekti Roullade with Mango Cheese Coulis, Grilled Chicken with Mango Salsa and the like feature in the non-vegetarian section.

Desserts include Mango Cheese Delight and Mango Millie and Fillie.

“Everybody relishes mangoes. Till now, people have been eating the fruit as a fruit or as juices and desserts. We are trying to give the diner a whole new experience where the main course is also mango-flavoured,” says Utpal Mondal, executive chef of HHI.

The dishes are priced between Rs 175 and Rs 295.

(From top) Actresses’ Monami Ghosh and Swastika Mukherjee help themselves to mango-flavoured food at HHI; actress Indrani Dutta digs into the summer food spread on offer at Oh! Calcutta; (below) Lou Majaw plays at a Dylan tribute concert at Someplace Else with Ace of Spades. Pictures by Rashbehari Das

Dylan den

Someplace Else paid its yearly tribute to the legendary Bob Dylan on Saturday with Lou Majaw’s band Ace of Spades strumming out Dylan classics till late in the night. Dylan fans had packed The Park pub to the brim. With Lew Hilt on bass, Nondon Bagchi on drums, Arjun Sen on guitar and, of course, Majaw’s energy and showmanship, the crowd was on its feet within minutes, dancing and clapping to the music.

Memorable classics like Blowing in the wind, Just like a woman, It’s alright, Tambourine man and Like a rolling stone left the crowd mesmerised, all over again.

“Every year on Dylan’s birthday ? or near it ? Majaw gets together his band of four to play songs in tribute to the music legend. Rock lovers from around the city gather here, sing along and basically have a great time,” said a spokesperson for The Park.

Light bite

Hot spices and rich recipes are best reserved for cooler climes. For now, beat the heat with soothing ingredients and easy-to-digest food on offer at Oh! Calcutta.

A summer special meal at the Bengali and Continental restaurant on the fourth floor of Forum starts with the traditional Aam Pora Sherbet. A slice of raw mango tucked into the rim of the glass serves as an excellent appetiser. The main course is peppered with coolants like pudina (mint) and posto (poppy) along with seasonal vegetables like lau (bottle gourd) and potol (wax gourd). The dishes on the special menu include Shukto (bitter vegetable curry), Lau Jabri (a rather bland bottle gourd preparation), Jhinge Posto (green gourd with poppy seed paste). The non-vegetarian spread has a mix of mutton, chicken and prawn.

The buffet allows choice of two starters, two vegetable curries and two non-vegetarian dishes besides rice, dal and desserts (Aamer Kheer is a must).

It’s a buffet spread on weekends priced at Rs 225 for the vegetarian fare and Rs 275 for the non-vegetarian.

Card craft

If you value that personal touch to add to special occasions, but have just managed to scrawl your signature at the end of the printed word so far, custom-made greetings by artist Avrajyoti Banerjee is probably the solution you’ve been looking for.

Using silk screen printing, free-hand painting on paper and mixed media, Banerjee focuses more on Bengali events and rituals like Poila Baisakh, Durga Puja, annaprashan and poite. “I wanted to explore the virgin market, so far untapped by the organised greeting card industry,” says the former RPG Network employee who has an advanced marketing management course from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.

A marketing background also inspired him to hawk his wares in apt venues like Rabindra Sadan, Nalban and popular cinema halls. “I firmly stick by my marketing management lesson that to market your stuff well, you first have to be a good pheriwala,” smiles Banerjee who chose his creative persona over the “professional” one.

He also claims to be a poet and offers a bonus of touching words to go along with his designs. His talent has won him a select but loyal clientele among whom he proudly rattles off names like Lopamudra Mitra and Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta.

Though Banerjee’s forte is Bengali events, he also makes cards for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and almost any other date on the calendar on demand. “Even though my cards are a little expensive at Rs 15 to 20 a piece, people who value art and craft prefer custom-made efforts to the cheaper Archies and Hallmark options,” stresses Banerjee.

Anytime blank cards with symbolic motifs crafted with paints, paper and wood cuttings by him come in handy for those in-between times, for which there are usually few options on offer by the organised greeting cards industry.

If you want to say it differently, Banerjee is on call at 2442 5131