Eating Out

Manish Malhotra rolls his eyes through the restaurant and muses: "A gossipjournalist could earn a living by just dining here every night." He’s right.Olive, as always, is chock full of beautiful faces that would make a local paparazzo weepwith joy. The celebs, they just keep rolling in. Situated defiantly in Bandra, well awayfrom the foodie golden triangle of Kala Ghoda, Fort and Colaba, where the allegedly trulyauthentic eateries abound, Olive’s a mirror image of new Mumbai’s glamorousethos. It’s not the substance that counts; it’s the packaging. And thisMediterranean theme restaurant is gift-wrapped to charm.

Being a ‘townie’ I’m effectively on enemy territory here. Malhotra is aregular. But of course. Olive is Bollywood action town and he’s its Designer No 1.You try hard not to gawk as Sonali Bendre strolls up to kiss Malhotra on the cheek.Malaika Arora flashes him her siren smile. Jackie Shroff winks conspiratorially from thenext table. Malhotra is unfazed at the attendant star power. It’s just another nightat Olive.

One of those menus where you don’t attempt to call out the name, you simply pointit out. Starters are Kolokytho (zucchini, cheese and herb fritters) and GambarAjo (garlic, chilli, pepper and mustard with pesto). "I love to eat. I live in atypical Punjabi house where there is always lots of halwa, parantha, lassi, ghee on thetable." Once a diet junkie, it was the familiar story of no rice, no wheat, no meat,no oil, no sugar, no aerated drinks: till 20 kilos lighter but also sadder and wiser hefigured out he had no life. It’s been back to eatsville since then, the kilos areslithering back but Malhotra is a happy man.

His power dressing list runs the breathless gamut of Sridevi, Urmila Matondkar,Karisma, Kajol, Raveena Tandon.... But right now getting his close attention is the hotoff the block Kareena Kapoor. "There are shades of Madhubala in her, that mischiefand sex-in-the-eyes promise. It’s too early to make predictions but she’s iconmaterial." Shakes his head ruefully. "And completely uninterested in clothes orappearances." Just then the lady calls, she’s out with friends and a late nightcoffee is incomplete without Manish.

It’s hard competing with Kareena for Malhotra’s attention. You scramblethrough the main course. For the record, its penne with a rich tomato sauce and freshricotta (Malhotra) and fettuccini with wild mushroom in cheese sauce (MOI). As we skipdessert, there’s time for the cliched one. "What makes you such a success withall these women you dress?" He pauses. "I make them look beautiful and Idon’t carry gossip about one to another." Don’t even try topping that.