[روووح مادهوري]

Tis the Oscars of Food Awards

Food and wine, celebs and chefs, it’s all happening at the Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2010 tonight





Everybody has their moment in the sun. Tonight at the Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2010 being held at Taj Land’s End, Bandra, it is the turn of Mumbai’s leading chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers, caterers and dabbawallahs, wine experts, bartenders and night club owners, chocolatiers and confectioners — all stars of the foodie world, to come under the spotlight. And presenting them these awards of excellence will be the leading lights of Bollywood, captains of industry, society’s rich and famous, television’s bold and beautiful, doctors and sportsmen, painters, fashion designers and models... all of them proud to also be counted amongst Mumbai’s gourmands and gourmets... for in the nature of things, this is the Oscars of Food Awards, an event of prestige, a ceremony with glitz and glam that honours the city’s very best in the F&B business.
Opening the Times Food and Nightlife Awards 2010 will be Bollywood’s beautiful couple Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan, both die-hard foodies themselves, who give into crazy urges of French fries and pasta when abroad on vacation and then return home to killer workouts and yoga before going on screen. And the delightful Arshad Warsi, the beautiful Dia Mirza and the outrageous Boman Irani, who make up the cast of
Hum, Tum aur Ghost
which releases later this month. There’s Subhash Ghaiji also coming with his cast of Right Yaaa Wrong, and former Miss World Celina Jaitly and Miss Sri Lanka Jacqueline Fernandes, Riteish Deshmukh (stars of
Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai), Arjun Rampal, Bollywood’s baddie Gulshan Grover bringing Hollywood funny man Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter Carmen Chaplin — who is here to make a film called Bombay Nights, and many, many others...
The glittering awards ceremony apart (there are 51 awards in 28 categories), which will be compered by the witty and irascible Vir Das, the evening
will also see the launch of the Times Food Guide 2010 (authored by Rashmi Uday Singh), which has
already won the Gourmand World ****book Award. It’s those familiar red and black guides devoted to eating out and partying at night, plus there’s a bonus with this edition, a slim white volume exclusively for those who like staying at home and eating — each guide cracking new and bursting at the seams with useful and usable foodie information. And then you will be invited to step outside the Ballroom and onto Seaside Lawns of the Lands End for the grand finale — a celebration of the tastebuds at the mother-of-all dinners presented proudly by over 30 of Mumbai’s best restaurants. The tables will be groaning under the weight of these cuisines of the world. There will be music and dancing. That is if you can dance on a heavy stomach!