In
place
of
Suniel
Shetty's
Mischief
Dining
Bar,
there
is
now
a
new
restaurant
--
Little
Italy.
The
previous
one
had
an
Indian
and
Chinese
menu,
unlike
the
new
speciality
eatery.
Also,
this
one
is
strictly
veg,
to
cater
to
the
Gujarati
community,
as
the
eatery
is
near
the
diamond
market.
Suniel
admits,
"My
father
has
given
it
to
the
Little
Italy
group
to
manage."
Suniel
explains
his
emotional
attachment
to
the
place,
"We'd
closed
down
Mischief
Dining
Bar
and
would've
gotten
a
hefty
rent
if
we'd
leased
the
place
out
to
a
company,
but
we
decided
to
go
ahead
with
a
restaurant.
It
is
dad's
dream
to
have
a
restaurant
there.
If
I'd
rented
out
the
place,
I
couldn't
have
rented
out
his
dream."
An
emotional
Suniel
continues,
"When
he
came
to
Mumbai
in
1947,
dad
used
to
work
there
as
a
cleaner-waiter.
It
was
an
Udipi
restaurant
at
the
time.
He
later
went
on
to
be
become
the
manager.
Nearly
fifty
years
ago,
he
bought
the
place
over.
It's
his
entire
journey
from
the
age
of
9
to
the
time
he
became
the
owner."
Later,
Suniel
converted
the
Udipi
restaurant
into
an
Indian
one.
"Now
we've
given
the
Little
Italy
people
the
run
of
the
place.
It's
in
an
essentially
vegetarian
area
comprising
predominantly
of
Maharashtrians,
Marwaris
and
Gujaratis
so
it
makes
sense
to
have
a
vegetarian
family
restaurant
there." The
actor
adds
that
his
father
likes
to
go
there
once
in
a
while
and
dine,
"In
fact,
when
it
opened,
dad
had
the
first
meal
there."
Although
they
have
renovated
and
re-designed
the
restaurant
in
an
Italian
way
they
have
done
it
keeping
in
mind
that
it's
a
heritage
structure.
"The
outside
decor
is
stone
balconies
with
red
flowers
--
just
like
we
find
in
Italy.
It's
a
fine
dining
family
restaurant
along
with
a
lounge
and
bar.
The
inside
is
very
Italian
with
clean,
simple,
elegant
lines.
Though
the
food
in
the
main
restaurant
will
remain
strictly
Italian,
the
lounge
will
have
mixed
starters
and
different
cuisines
for
birthday
parties,
anniversaries
and
regular
parties."
Story first published: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 10:50 [IST]