Tags
A D Singh, Aishwarya, Amitabh Bchchan, Deepika Padukone, fashion, HT Most Stylish Awards 2015, J W Marriott, Koh-E-Awadh, Macaron, Mumbai, Parmesan Wheel, Verrines
They say people who eat that… Will never be able to get into these… Ask me, I should know! 😉 But thanks to a whole new generation of self-aware, confident celebrities with a true sense of self-worth, and an innate comfort and pride in being any size from zero to plus, I felt more like a duck taking to water rather than like a fish out of water. And these were no ordinary waters, mind you! It was the country’s most glittering, talked-about and celebrated fashion awards, the HT Most Stylish Awards night, hosted in the grand ballroom of J W Marriott , Mumbai, in a truly grand manner! One may say it’s a no-brainer to have Bollywood stars awarded style awards, because they are all stylish… after all, they ARE in the business of looking good! But it’s not always easy to find your own individual style – something that sets you apart from everyone else, keeps you culturally rooted and makes you look trendy and with it. That’s what stars who are repeat offenders at these awards have clearly done, and fine-tuned it to an art. Sonam Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Deepika Padukone are some of the names who always set the happy sirens off with the fashion police!
But the accolades were not limited to actors and fashionistas alone. There were fashion icons in the fields of sports, music, politics, theatre, real estate, and of course, food, whose personal style statements have added an inimitable flair to their respective professions. For example, Monica Dogra in music, Zaheer Khan in sports and A D Singh in food.
Speaking of which, there was something else that was soaring high on the style quotient… the classy dishes laid out in the glittering buffet for the evening!
The usual live Pasta station was elevated to a grand affair with the presence of a giant wheel of Parmesan, from which the Chef would scoop out mouth-watering chunks to smother the pasta in. The usual handi of Biryani was replaced by an elegant, large, gleaming hand-beaten copper Deg, and the Biryani itself had a delicious, zingy mustard punch that spelled finesse.
And the legendary lamb chops dish, Koh-E-Awadh, a rich and rare dish traditionally reserved for very special occasions, was the unusual pairing with the Biryani, that made the night dazzle with its amazing flavours and melt-in-the mouth meat.
Even the desserts had attained some kind of royalty – dark Mousses with Chocolate Shards and temptingly layered Verrines stood tall and statuesque in fluted glasses, Fresh Fruit Tarts dotted snow-white trays like jewels, and perfect Macaroons filled up super-sized cookie jars like multi-coloured gemstones.
True, a lot of this was lost in the flurry of shutters, swish of chiffons, brush of Armani sleeves and purr of air-kisses – it’s quite natural that it would, given the night was about the stars that were being clicked, awarded, adored and emulated. But even though the eyes dazzled with some of the most exquisitely turned out men and women in the country, the eyes also danced to some of the most beautiful dishes around. Beauty, as they say, is in the eye of the beholder 😉