Dil diya tujhe heera samajh ke, kaat diya tune kheera samajh ke

Paranthe Wali Galli has Rahul Arora’s humour etched on the walls. The 34-year-old Punjabi, powered by his first two serves — Bon Appetit (2008) and Cafe Pranah (2014) — has opened his “dream restaurant” at 104 Lake Terrace (behind CCD Lake Road). 

“I always wanted to open a Delhi-style paranthe wali galli, in memory of the off-days spent meandering through the lanes of Chandni Chowk, counting the towers of Motichoor Laddoo, sniffing the fragrance of melting butter on tawa-hot parathas, and beyond the galli, being dazzled by the colours of Kinari Bazar with its zari sari borders and bright bangles,” says Rahul, who spent four years working with ITC Hotels in Delhi, 
before returning home in 2008. 

Back then, he asked his mother for the garage in his Hazra residence and was handed a dump yard, which he converted to Bon Appetit, a pocket-friendly cafe for college-goers. Then in 2014, a determined Rahul on a weight-loss programme, realised there were no places to eat healthy. So he opened Cafe Pranah in Ballygunge Phari. 

But it is Paranthe Wali Galli that the foodie is most excited about. It opens on December 1, 9am-9pm, with a 104-item menu including 40 types of parathas (35 savoury and five sweet) and 15 types of lassi. t2 gets a first taste. 

Pictures: Rashbehari Das

 

GEAR UP FOR A MAD HATTER WINTER

Yes, the temperature is just right to slip on the shrug and the blazer and settle down to some hot soup with meat. Mad Hatter’s has come up with a menu to set the tone for your adda. Here’s what t2 tried...

What: Winter menu at Mad Hatter’s
Where: 40A Ballygunge Place
When: Noon to 9pm (Monday closed)
Meal for two: Rs 1,000-plus 

 

Pictures: Pabitra Das

 

Cake with Columbus: Team Colkatay Columbus —  (l-r) Gaurav Chakrabarty, Suchandra Vaaniya, Mir and Ritabhari Chakraborty — got together for a cake-mixing session at Mad Hatter’s. In the Saurav Palodhi-directed film, which is in its second week, Gaurav plays a perpetually confused guy stuck in a corporate job, while Mir is Christopher Columbus who helps him turn things around. In real life though, the men in black grew up on the same campus. “Mir kaku and I are from the same school — The Assembly of God Church School, Park Street!” said Gaurav. Picture: Arnab Mondal