Pune Sibling Revelry

Mumbai may be the cooler cousin, but Pune is fast catching up on the ‘cool’ factor in its culinary offerings.

- Siddharth Dasgupta

Mumbai’s the cooler cousin, always ready to blaze through the night in a furious collage of sexy bars, foreign liaisons, and Bollywood-laced revelry. Pune’s the studious one, head buried in a book, curious about the world but shy to peek its head out. Save for the narcotic-kissed mysticism of the Osho Ashram, that’s been the script all along.

Then, about a decade or so ago, something changed. Pune began to acquire some style. It acquired a couple of the country’s best alternative music venues; it began cultivating the sort of ethic that compels expats to stay and seduces exiles into returning home. Cut to now, and the cousins seem more at par than they’ve ever been. As Mumbai’s residents and restaurants keep flocking this way, now seems a good time to profile two hot new Mumbai-connected citizens of the city’s culinary bouquet.

Sassy Diner

As I step into The Sassy Spoon with my dining companion, what strikes me is the sense of space and light at play. Even for the focal Koregaon Park neighbourhood, blessed with abundant greenery and the gift of largesse as it is, Sassy has much to preen about. Its main villa is flanked by floor-to-ceiling twin-windows that help accentuate the resto-bar’s taller-than usual double-storeyed span. Peering out at an al fresco space with Romeo & Juliet-style balconies and a front porch that houses The Sassy Teaspoon—a dedicated artisanal patisserie space—I’m fairly convinced that the address is entitled to its name.