A visit to just see the home of our host-couple, Farhad Samar and Simone Singh, is treat enough. They reside on the third floor of a heritage building in Colaba. Tall paintings on even taller walls. Arched doors, huge windows and a high ceiling… Who wouldn’t be tempted to squeeze in a wooden staircase that leads to the cozy mezzanine den with low seating?
“That is my space,” says Farhad. 

The wrought iron dinner-table is set for four. Black crockery, red napkins, silver cutlery, crystal glasses and fresh orchids. The bar shows off a bottle of white wine, chilled and ready to pop open. Simone, we are told, is in
the kitchen  

Through the half-open kitchen door, we sneak a peak at the gorgeous actress in her kitchen and we were pleasantly surprised to see a homemaker instead. Simone, in black track pants and a grey oversized shirt, sleeves rolled up to mean serious kitchen-business, hair tightly pulled back and no makeup, was making her last minute preparations for the lunch. The happy mess on the kitchen counter catches our attention. “Don’t take pictures yet,” Simone begs, “I don’t like my kitchen like this.” But we loved the look of the hostess and her kitchen. While Simone looked like a pretty homemaker that her man would love to show off, the large kitchen looked like the mid-summer meal was well-worth the three-storey climb to their home. Ample natural light coming through the tall windows, the window sill had jars of flavoured oils, red and white vinegars, and a big English vase with fresh flowers. All the appliances —the fridge, toaster, microwave, juicer, food-processor plugged in their respective corners. A lot of cooking books lined up behind the four-burner stove. Over a dozen of vegetarian cook books. “I turned vegetarian two years back, now I am a pescetarian,” she explains as she moves around the kitchen like a pro.
  There was a sinful aroma from the cheesy roesti slowly roasting on one of the four-burners, mushrooms were marinating on one side, a serving plate had four large red and yellow bell peppers generously stuffed with corn, pine nuts and herbs, and Simone, making a Greek salad, was looking for black olives in her well-stocked fridge, “We just got back from Goa yesterday so I didn’t have much time to prepare,” Simone says, as she continues to talk about their stay at Wendell Rodricks’s home there. Still rummaging through her well-stocked fridge, Simone points out, “We got Poi from Goa. Come, I’ll make us a tuna sandwich.”  Promptly she whips up a tuna and salad mixture to be filled in the Poi. “I hate mayo,” she explains, “My sandwiches never have mayo. Try this,” she proudly offers a bite of the juicy sandwich. Satisfied with our ‘yummy’ sounds, she goes to get dressed. 

Meanwhile we chat with Farhad. We find he is a coffee aficionado, �I like to pick my own coffee beans. I do that when we travel. You�ll be surprised that in India, too, we have some excellent coffee produce. I roast and grind my coffees. It�s a passion.�

The couple entertains often. Simone decides whether she is cooking or they are having it catered. “For a small set of friends, she cooks. She is manning the kitchen so I’m usually at the bar. Today, I set the table. And it looks great!”

Simone appears, all dressed up, looking like a dish. She gets back into the kitchen to toss a fresh Greek salad. We realize it is difficult to keep her out of the kitchen so we get in with her again. While peppering up the salad she says, “I love pepper.”

Simone talks very passionately about food. Like a typical Indian homemaker, she is very confident of her cooking and sure that her well-sourced recipes are the best. She adds a ‘Simone touch’ to every recipe. She tells us how her famous marinated mushrooms are made in balsamic and slightly sweetened with brown sugar, how most of her food has pine nuts, “Do you know there is a worldwide shortage of pine nuts and the prices have gone up to almost ten times?”

She brings out the food on the table. Farhad helps her with the glasses and pours wine as Simone starts serving. At lunch we chat about food. What else?

“I have a general interest in food,” Simone starts, “Cooking is just one of the things. I like to read about food, keep up with food trends, sample local foods of the places we visit… We eat out a lot. I love where we live because there are so many restaurants here. But Olive is my all time favourite. It’s worth the long drive to Bandra.”

Simone started cooking only a little after her marriage. “Not that I needed to. I cook simply because I enjoy it. It is a treat for myself. Even if it’s just Farhad and me eating at home, I go all the way to prepare a nice meal. But I think lunches should be easy and fun to prepare. Dinners can be fancier meals. But I don’t fuss over hosting the perfect dinner party with the décor and all. You get that at any restaurant. Our friends come over for a casual, fun evening. I like to enjoy the party as much as my guests.”

Our scrumptious ‘mid-summer lunch’ was whipped up in an hour and a half. “I decided to prepare this meal which has great flavours and colours. I love rich foods. The oils and cheeses also add flavour. We never eat anything ‘low fat’. I made a lunch that didn’t need too much of a performance. Lunch should be simple, especially if you like sleeping till late in the mornings,” she laughs.

As we eat we wonder if Simone, the model/ actress, is careful about what she eats, “I never diet, I never exercise. In fact later in the afternoon you’ll see me eating two samosas with tea! The secret of my great shape and glowing skin? “I guess it is genetic.”

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