If she had her way, Deepa Awchat would write on all her experiences of savouring different regions of India — "Not just food, but culture and heritage too," she smiles. For the slim-figured restaurateur has "loads of documentation" collected over her 20-year-old tryst with different cuisines, that goes much beyond her first book that she's just written. A gazetted post with the Customs department, which she gave up along the way for her first love, cooking, holding no regrets for her.

"The pleasure," she smiles, seated at the terrace of her home at Matunga, "Is to present food the way I see it; each dish must have definite ingredients."

's addiction with his BlackBerry made him battle Whitehouse bureaucracy. He could thus hang on to his favourite gizmo. And the best part is that he won and so still remains a proud owner of the gadget that's indispensable to many of our own Indian politicians and celebrities.

With stress levels on an all time-high,  vacationing styles of the glitterati are slowly changing; short holidays seem to be getting more popular

Kamal Sidhu, Model/Actor

I  like taking short drives to places like Alibaug without having to get on a plane and checking in and out twice over. Recently, I travelled to Mahabaleshwar.  It was wonderful going into the absolute wild, and on hills, where there wasn't a soul around. Such a change!

Azeem Khan, fashion designer

Sameena (his wife) and I make sure that we recharge our batteries by taking weekend vacations regularly. We take off for Lonavala, Mahabaleshwar and Alibaug regularly. We also have a house in Pune which we holiday in from time to time.  

Kebab and Biryani Festival is on at Central Kitchen

Satellite city has myriad dining options with many eateries excelling in Moghlai, Marwari, Gujarati, Punjabi and other cuisines. Making way now is a Peshwari joint at sector 14, Vashi. Central Kitchen commenced with its kebab and biryani festival on Friday which will go on till March 2.

At Central Kitchen, they are offering unlimited kebabs and biryani at a reasonable rate which is Rs 225 per person. In times when a plate of kebab costs Rs 100, unlimited biryani and kebab for just Rs 225 is worth the money. One can gorge on veg and non-veg kebab and biryani in the mentioned amount.

Impact of global economic slowdown is being witnessed in the changing lifestyle among top executives based in the satellite city since the residents of the high-end apartments preferring to shift to economic class localities. They are looking for smaller flats either in the same locality or in the same area so as to continue enjoying the benefits of the vicinity and remain in the same social strata.

"Many companies are cutting costs besides implying pay cuts, therefore even employees are looking for economical flats as the major savings or cost cutting they can do is only in house rental," stated Mohanlal Maurya from Millennium Estate Consultant, Sanpada.

Coffee is known to inspire various senses within us. After Hrs takes you on a path of discovery

Very few things inspire devotion and passion, like coffee. We savour the sensations like the aroma, flavour and taste. But some of us miss out on the intense experience that coffee offers.

Cupping is a method coffee tasters use to evaluate a coffee’s characteristics. If you really want to learn more about the traits of different coffees, this is a great way to do it.