BPBWeekend - Brown Paper Bag - Pune Weekend Guide, Food & Drink, Shop, Events, Services, Feel Good, Travel, Freebies

Here's one good reason for you to make the four-hour haul to Mumbai (yes, despite the incessant rain): Starting September 19 (until 25), Restaurant Week India begins in Bombay, bringing with it three-course prix fixe meals from high-end restaurants at discounted rates. Participating restaurants this year include Hakkasan, Ziya (The Oberoi), Neel, Olive Bar & Kitchen, Indigo, Saffron (JW Marriott), The Table and others.  

Reservations starting September 10, can be made on the official website, Rs 1,000 per person and Rs 2,000 with wine pairing.

The fun thing about Restaurant Week this year though, is that it comes bearing additional gifts - a prequel Chef's Table Week, where from 12 - 18 September, chefs at swanky restaurants will cook up an exclusive seven course meal just for you and your crew - they'll even customise based on your dietary preferences, allergies, etc. Asking price? Rs 3,000 plus taxes for vegetarians, and Rs 3,500 for non-vegetarians. These include only a glass of Prosecco, but alcohol inclusive menus are offered as well. We like!

Bookings for Chef's Table Week open on http://www.restaurantweekindia.com/.

If you want to get more intimate with the chef, sign up for Kitchen Party. To be held at Olive Bar & Kitchen (Mahalaxmi) on September 21, this event allows gourmands to hang out with Olive's head chef as well as two other guest chefs in the restaurant kitchen. You can annoy them with your questions about the right consistency for pizza sauce, swap recipes or even grab the ladle and have a go.

Tickets for Kitchen Party are available at Olive outlets starting September 10 for Rs 1,500 (includes entry and food).

Getting there: Visit http://www.restaurantweekindia.com to make a reservation (starting September 3) or visit the Facebook group here.

Jayesh Sachdev is a Pune-based artist and designer who has shown in New York and Singapore, sold art to the Bollywood brigade (Priyanka Chopra, Naseeruddin Shah, to name a few) and made it to the Top 5 Young Arts Entrepreneurs in India list by the British Council. More recently, he co-founded a lifestyle brand called Quirk Box that does clothes and bric-a-brac with fun graphic prints.  

We get him to go shopping with you.

Jayesh’s Six And The City

Pune’s Best Tailors: Jai Hind at Laxmi Road and Aundh does mean suits for men, and Fig Leaf at East Street is a women’s tailor, recommended for Indian wear.

Best Street Shops: Get everything from baubles to evening wear and of course, Osho chappals at the street stores that line North Main Road, Koregaon Park. Pune also has its own Fashion Street, sandwiched between MG Road and East Street.

September 2: Mumbai lifestyle store Bliss (finally!) opens its Pune branch today at Phoenix Market City Mall. Read more information here

September 2: Movie picks from bpb – Pakistani film Bol, Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots in Pune cinemas

September 2 – 11: Solo art exhibition, Moods of Nature by artist Deepali Sagde at Bliss Art Gallery, Koregaon Park, 09890657757, 9.30 am to 6.30 pm.

September 2 – 30: Vegetarian tikka festival at Bala’s, Aundh, 9765942368, 12.30 pm onwards.

September 3 – 4: Music workshop organised by 7 Degree events at Empress Botanical Gardens, Prince of Wales Road, Kondhwa, 7875049164, 11 am to 1 pm.

September 4: The O Hotel Sunday Pool Party costs Rs 899 for buffet and iced tea; Rs 1,099 for buffet, unlimited beer and iced tea; and Rs 1,499 for buffet, unlimited Indian spirits, wine and beer. At The O Hotel, North Main Road, Koregaon Park, call 020 40011000, 11 am to 4.30 pm.

September 4: Karaoke Nights on Sunday at Not Just Jazz By The Bay, at The Gordon House Hotel, University Hotel, 9370808800, 8 pm.

September 6: Full day happy hours at Tulli Tuesdays, Hidden Place, near German Bakery, Koregaon Park, 66215922.

September 7: International stand up comedians from The Comedy Store, Mumbai perform live at Hyatt Regency, Pune, 66451234.

If there’s no supply for your demand at XOXO, a home-run patisserie in Pune, baker Rakshinda Ansari will create it. Take for instance the raisin scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream that didn’t feature on the regular menu until Cecilia Morelli - owner of Mumbai’s uber-chic Le Mill store – ordered them for a high tea party she was throwing. These scones now sit alongside the choux pastry and apple pie on XOXO’s treat list that come baked with similar stores.

Goods For You

It’s like browsing through Neruda’s elemental odes – wine, tomatoes, salt, lemon, a large tuna in the market. On GourmetCo.in, an upscale online grocery store you’ll find jam spiked with merlot, tea infused with raspberries, black forest cheese and Arrabiata sauce made with fat tomatoes and hot red peppers. Eat-commerce platform, indeed!

August 26-28: Buy-one-get-one-free happy hours at The Fish Bowl, The Istaa Hotel, Yerawada, 41418816, 6 to 8 pm. 

August 26: New seafood delivery from Pesca Fresh, call 020 26136666 or visit www.pescafresh.com, free home delivery.

August 26– 31: River rafting around Pune with SamTrek, for more information visit http://samtrek.com/, 9011241766 , Rs 1,250 per head on weekends.

August 27 –September 2: Domain of Art group art exhibition by Mayura Khot, Nikhil Inamdar, Ulhas Kagde and Smita Rajmane at Art Corner, Ishanya Mall, 11 am onwards.

August 27: Learn to make chocolate fudge and fruit tarts at this dessert workshop by Rajul Sanghvi. At bungalow no 1343, opposite Jain Temple, Shivaji Nagar, 9766622662, at 1 pm.

August 28: Oedipus Rex playing at Akshar Nandan School, Senapati Bapat Road, 7 pm.

Body Amour

Rimmed in serrated stars and perforated by perfectly shaped holes, shackles have never been sexier. Neither has the ball and chain, in this case re-imagined as a two-part earring, or wide, brutally beautiful rings that bind fingers together. All of these come from Peace Treaty, a socially-conscious accessory design studio that originated in Rome and which takes symbols of incarceration - handcuffs and spikes, blades and fences, locks and keys - and turns them into fiercely gorgeous jewellery pieces.

The Gold Standard

A collaboration between product designer Farah Malik and marketer Dana Arbib (the former is a Pakistani Muslim, the latter a Libyan Jew), A Peace Treaty promotes the craft of artisans in geopolitically unstable regions such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. The website currently showcases two collections - Thar, created by craftspeople living in Rajasthan and the Kurdish-made Sunari line. Both are similar and aesthetic, and made us feel like we've suddenly stumbled upon a treasure trove of jewellery owned by our still-stylish great grandmother. Vintage point, anyone?