For me, Jhaal Farezi has been somewhat of an exploration, giving me the opportunity to interpret eclectic impressions and sensibilities that have dented and stayed on my mind over time.

At one level, Jhaal Farezi is an endeavour towards urban renewal, towards doing something for our wonderful characteristic cityscape by retaining and reviving the colonial premise at which it is housed. For perhaps it is only when such buildings can stay relevant in the march of time can they be sustainable and can then continue to infuse their inimitable old world charm into today's skyline.

On the spatial front, we teamed up with some very talented and off beat graphic artists to produce a visual tapestry that is not only artful and appealing, but also light hearted, reminding us not to take ourselves too seriously! The juxtaposition of the old with the new creates quite a unique feel. Some of the ideas for Jhaal Farezi were inspired by my conversations with my twin children who are now 17 and my somewhat hapless though enjoyable moments of understanding the world through their eyes. Over many such sessions, I consciously tried to juxtapose the Calcutta of my teenage years with the Kolkata of today's teenagers.

Kolkata has been a melting pot of various cultures and therefore the food too has been a cauldron of various curries. One of them being Anglo Indian food. It has been a must have in most of the celebrated restaurants of yore. The Anglo Indian fare therefore will anchor much of the food offerings at the restaurant and hence the name Jhaal Farezi, a typical Anglo Indian dish from yesteryears. For the café we have cherry-picked items from the vast offerings of the street food of India and served it with a twist, so that our simple street food strikes a chord with today's Gen X!

Despite Jhaal Farezi being a fairly small project, the discovery and journey for all of us has been rather exciting. I can only humbly hope that the philosophy and creative energy that has gone into the making of Jhaal Farezi finds resonance in the City of Joy and beyond.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Bon Appetite!"