Why are you a restaurants man?
Restaurants excite me. I go to them with great expectation. I�ll try any new place. I have a great passion to see what people at the other tables are eating! I get to know their character that way. At the office, I�m always peeping into the staff�s tiffin boxes. It�s like being at an airport and trying to see what some passenger�s reading when his fingers are hiding the title of the book!

Do you dine out often?
Twice a week at least. And I splurge! It�s usually some diplomatic party where the menu is from one extreme to the other, foie gras to Kerala oysters. I enjoy splurging because rest of the week my dinner is dal-roti and God�s great creation, the light phulka. Two of those and I�m damn full till next morning.

Do you entertain at home?
Yes, and I serve authentic Parsi food. Patra Ni Machi, Mutton Dhansak and Lagan Nu Custard. My guest list would include some of Delhi�s foreign journalists, Saeed Naqvi and his wife, Mark Tully and Gillian Wright, Ranjit and Vrinda Chib, Phillip McDongh, the Irish ambassador, and other diplomat types.

Can you cook?
In England, I used to. Chicken Curry and Rice. It�s easy to make. The chicken was from Sainsbury�s, it came with masala, tomato puree. But I didn�t want to spend time eating Indian food there with all the other cuisines around. The last time I cooked was in 1970. It was in Lucknow and I had to convince my parents that I knew how to cook. I made Mutton Curry with my family gathered around in disbelief!

Can you identify spices?
Oh yes, I�ve got sensitive tastebuds. I have the conceit to say I would be able identify the excess use of any spice in a recipe. Even five per cent more or less of anything, and I would spot it.

Most journalists are heavy drinkers...
I�m a whisky-soda man over the weekend. Scotch, Black Label. But I grew up on Hercules XXX Rum. Old Monk was very upmarket. If somebody else was paying, then I would drink Old Monk! I now like red wine with my food. I can�t tell one from the other, though! I like beer, too, but it makes me fat! I dislike cocktails. With whisky you know where you are with each drink. Cocktails are sweet, you don�t know the alcohol content until an hour later when it hits you!

Which are your favourite restaurants?
In Bombay, Olympia on Colaba Causeway for the Mutton Fry. Then Kailash Parbat, Paradise, Sacru Menezes�s City Kitchen. And is the old Piccolo near Strand still there? I used to catch all my married friends there with their girlfriends. It was most embarrassing! Ten people and the restaurant was housefull! The menu was like a racebook. In Delhi, I like Taipan at The Oberoi. Also the India International Centre�s dining room, Dum Pukth at the Maurya, Orient Express at the Taj Palace, the new Lodhi Restaurant in the garden which looks like a conservatory.

How do you relax after putting Outlook to bed?
With a Cuban cigar, a Cohiba, over a drink at home. The magazine goes to press on Friday, so my woes are over for that week. I put my feet up and enjoy the Cohiba. I chew and make the cigar obscenely dirty. It goes out and I light it again and again. This gives me great pleasure. People don�t like sitting next to me when I�m smoking a cigar!