Food from the Valley...rajeev

Food from the Valley

Television's tinsel townies made it an evening to remember at the only Kashmiri restaurant in the city as the celebrated the third anniversary of this one-of-a-kind eatery and also the birthday of actor, Sunil Mattoo, on Friday night. You could be forgiven for thinking you were on a Balaji set or even the post-party of a television awards ceremony, for everywhere you looked, there was a TV star shining in their colourful best.

Narayani Shastri, Rajeev Khandelwal, Siraj Mustafa were seen enjoying the hukka in one corner while foodies like Rajiv and Delnaaz Paul and Rakesh and Sunaina Paul enjoyed the mutton roganjosh, goshtaba, chammani qaliya and dum aloo - all of which were part of the buffet spread.

Sunil Mattoo and Rajeev Khandelwal

It was also heartening to see love-birds Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan eating from the same plate, as did the much in love couple Iqbal Khan and his girlfriend Sneha.

Making a quick entry and exit with just enough time to wish the birthday boy were Anu and Shashi Ranjan while director Vinta Nanda and designer Manjeet Singh also left for another party just as the festivities really took off.

We also spotted actors Yash Tonk (with wife Gauri) and Gaurav Chopra (in a transparent black kurta), who was away from Mumbai for four months, and made his first public appearance with Narayani Shastri.

But what was it that made this evening special?

The fact that no alcohol was served! In stead, owner Om Takoo had his guests sipping on endless cups of chilled Qava - the traditional Kashmiri tea cooked with almonds, saffron and pista and other spices - a perfect drink for a warm summer evening!