Zen Cafe and more

Zen cafe is a good place to visit when it is pouring in Mumbai. When they said casual seating, they meant it. One did get the feel of being in someone's drawing room. Not a battery of liveried waiters laying the food, but just one well mannered young boy in a light pink shirt and very pleasant personality serving food.He was not the Five star waiter who looks down upon you and children.Neither was he like those hip cool places kind of a waiter, who treat you as if they know you from your college days. The man had just the right kind of mix to be respectful , polite yet warm. The people who were there in the heavy rains were all enjoying the relaxed ambiance. No loud music cutting into your conversation. The restaurant flows into an art gallery. Paintings by Sangeeta Malkani were intriguing. The way she captures the woman's form was so subtly sexy and divine. The palette of colours were warm and welcoming. The magazines lying around were easy to glance through. Not the heavy coffee table books on Rajasthan or Wild life, just stuff which is easy on the eye and one may want to read it if one has time. The place was so thought out. The foreign returned Indian couple I think were the owners. No running around helter skelter to please the guests or take orders. They knew all was going fine and they continued with their own part of the work.The restaurant was not closed in by four walls. The Italian sofa show room had a higher floor,like an atrium down and a corridor up. That's where Zen Cafe n art gallery merged into each other. No Buddhas, no water falls, no small artificial pond in the centre, dying to look real. The food was fresh and menu was less but wholesome. The cutlery crockery were basic and solid. The whole place had a dependable feel to it.

The crowd was a mix but the food was not fusion. I am scared how they combine to make Indo Western food. My Granny would shudder at the combo meals these fusion places serve. Granny knew Ayurveda as a way of life. She knew which meals were not to be mixed and can harm the body. Not like the new fad diets, each pretty dietician in Mumbai is dishing out. She firmly believed that Indian meal of a Thali was the most balanced meal on this planet. She had never traveled abroad and was a pure vegetarian. In her concept of healthy eating, one should have early meals and a variety of vegetables in all meals. Fruits were the in between fillers for our hunger pangs and so were nuts. Food to be eaten while fasting the Indian way was nutritious food eg Buck wheat, Kand,peanuts, sabudaana etc. She said that starving was not a part of our religion.According to her, Lord Swaminarayan said that a man on an empty stomach will never do a thing for others.Meals were to be eaten with family and without chatting. 'Meal' time was not 'catching up' time.

Saw a large family sitting with a Grandmom. The lady had covered herself with a shawl but was totally at ease in the restaurant with her family. She sat at the head of the table but was not being fussed over by the family. Appreciated the spirit of the combo family...combination of young and old, so comfortable with each other. Genuine hushed laughter and love could be seen. My Grandmom did not eat onions and garlic. Most Indian foods or rather the so called Punjabi food served in restaurants had these two. She would not eat outside meals as she did not believe in the hygiene levels of a restaurants. When she was traveling for her teerth yatras, she would try to eat in an ashram vis a vis a Dhaba. But on travels, she was completely adjusting to all vegetarian meals available. My Granny was the best in fusion... a fusion of the best of the old and the new.