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Food Talk, Nov 97 |
| A Flavoursome Personality |
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Rashmi Uday Singh is a journalist, foodie,
author and television producer - all rolled into one.
A cheerful, full-of-life person, she chats with Seema
J. Khot
she started with a food-line for Bombay Times, then
she cre-ated a health programme for Television. Now she
has authored a food directory. Rashmi Uday Singh has pursued
all her secret ambitions and emerged a winner! A few years
ago, people had a very casual approach towards eating
out. There were the regular restaurants to be visited
occasionally, to eat one's favourite dishes. Trying out
new cuisines and experimenting with the palate was not
generally known. Things have changed over the years, and
many regular eaters have turned into foodies who like
variety in their meals. Rashmi Uday Singh is a name synonymous
with all these foodies as it was she who initiated the
sudden popularity of restaurant hopping and food experimenting
in Mumbai. With her weekly food column in one of the leading
newspapers, she reached out to thousands of food lovers
all over Mumbai. 'Foodline' - a telephone call-in service
for readers, received tremendous response and she was
flooded with calls from people who loved to eat as well
as people who prepared delicious food. Rashmi took over
the responsibility of responding to all genuine callers
and launched a platform for foodies with common interests
to come together and join her on the food wagon.
Now, after years of research and reviews, Rashmi has another
number one in her list of achievements. She has recently
launched a food directory "The Mid-day Good Food
Guide to Mumbai' giving information on everything related
to food in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. She describes it as
Mumbai's largest menu card with listings of restaurants,
speciality food caterers, plus a guide to secret ingredients.
Not many people know that Rashmi Uday Singh, now a well
known food columnist once held a responsible position
with the Indian Revenue Service. After almost 14 years
of service, when she was at the peak of her career, she
took the bold decision to resign from the position of
Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax. Today, thinking back
on those days Rashmi says, "Six years ago when I
quit my job, I had no plans for the future. I had achieved
my professional goals, and reached a commendable position
in my career. At the same time, I had a feeling that time
was running out for me to pursue my creative ambitions.
Immediately after I resigned, the initial days were difficult
to adjust since I was used to my busy office schedule.
Along with law and business administration, I have studied
literature and journalism and for the past 17 years I
have been writing on various topics but mainly about restaurants
and food. For almost a year while I was planning on my
future ventures, I continued to write different articles
on food for various publications. I was determined to
do something different and was waiting for the right opportunity.
When one fine day I got a call from 'The Independent'
to start a food column. And there has been no looking
back ever since. A weekly food column got me on my toes
and turned me into a disciplinarian again. The column
was later shifted to 'Bombay Times', and now it is with
The Afternoon Despatch and Courier'. My column was all
about different restaurant review, and the reason it was
so successful was the 'Foodline'. I shared with my readers
all the information generated from the calls, after of
course checking out its authenticity. Many readers kept
calling me to say that it gave them an opportunity to
try quality food by small time caterers who worked form
homes."
The genuineness of the information shared by Rashmi is
vouched by her readers, some of them from outside Mumbai.
Rashmi believes in proper research for all her projects
and more so for her food and restaurant reviews. Her book
'The Mid-day Good Food Guide to Mumbai' which was researched
by Rashmi and her team took her almost two years to compile.
The result is a food directory loaded with information
which can be referred to by foodies.
Mumbai is a home for people coming from different states,
and there is a demand for food specialities from one's
own region. A variety of cuisines is available in Mumbai
but not many people know about it's location. Bengali,
Coastal, Chinese, Continental, Japanese, Thai, Gujarati,
Parsi, Moghlai, Sizzler, you name it and it can be found
in the Food guide. The contents have lists of restaurants,
home caterers, speciality cuisine experts, dessertmakers,
right places to go for ice creams and much more. The secret
storehouse has information on where to get good quality
bread. Cheese, coffee, spices, pickles, waffles, sauces,
fresh vegetables, raw fish and meat. etc. Food related
information on kitchen art. plates and napkins, party
makers, food consultants, etc. is also mentioned. The
book lists places where pure vegetarian meals, late lunch,
late dinners, tea time snacks, buffet meals, candle light
dinners and many other goodies can be enjoyed.
The book is absolutely user-friendly with an index for
ready reference in all the categories with the Mumbai
eat-out map divided into three zones. Various facilities
offered by the restaurants like credit card acceptance,
valet parking services, home delivery areas, bar facility,
children-friendly restaurants as well as the working hours
arc given. Restaurants are also classified into value
friendly restaurants, coastal cuisine restaurants or places
to entertain foreigners. The book gives restaurant ratings
with cute symbols of a fork (for food), a spoon (for service)
and a knife (for ambience). The reader also gets to know
how the food at the restaurant is priced with the cost-wise
rating given as inexpensive, moderate or expensive. The
book also has 'My Best Bets', Rashmi's listings and reasons
of her favourite best from the rest. As usual, the book
is interactive and Rashmi has invited suggestions from
readers and there have been bouquets and brickbats. Some
have suggested a category for street food, fasting foods,
and eateries nominally priced in the office area. Rashmi
plans to incorporate these changes in the next edition.
Rashmi is also a health freak and keeps herself lit by
exercising. Her television software production company,
which specialises in food and health programs had a programme
called 'Health Today' which has completed 52 episodes.
In the future, she plans to come out with food shows with
a difference. Rashmi believes in healthy eating and as
much as she enjoy's eating a variety of cuisines, she
also loves eating at home. It is not surprising to know
that Rashmi's love for good food comes from her mother
who has taught her the basics of good cooking. Says Rashmi.
"My mother has authored two recipe books and I used
to help her with the cooking classes she used to run from
home.
When, which, why and how ingredients are to be added while
creating a meal is very important. For this reason, I
have plans for making TV programs on the right ways of
cooking and eating. Like all my earlier ventures, these
too will be well researched and interactive. I believe
this interaction with my audience and readers makes me
give them more information. These suggestions build up
my confidence and are major contributors to the success
of the good food guide." ® |
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