Date with a dish!

By: Shweta Vepa, IndiaFM

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"
It's time to alter this adage a wee bit. Today, it holds true for women as well. More so, for our current crop of Bollywood beauties! Many of them have found love in one prominent restaurateur, or the other. And if that's not the case, then they're taking to the restaurant business themselves!

Flavor of this season, Ayesha Takia, is currently seeing Farhan Azmi of Koyla and Basillico fame. He also happens to be the son of MP Abu Asim Azmi. The young actress certainly seems to be smitten by Farhan and has been declaring her love for him left, right and center.

Another one to have been charmed is the lady who is talked about more for her relationships, than her work - Manisha Koirala. If the buzz is to be believed, her latest catch is Prashant Chaudhary, one of the partners of Mangi Ferra. Though, Manisha insists that the relationship they share is purely platonic, eye witnesses claim otherwise! The two have been seen holding hands and enjoying each others company, thoroughly. Manisha often carries a dabba which the couple shares in a quiet corner. So, there has to be more to their relationship, than 'just friends', right?

And of course we cannot forget Sushmita Sen. Though she is no more seeing, Sanjay Narang of the Mars chain of restaurants, their relationship was known far and wide, a couple of years ago. In fact, it was rumored that the rock that Sush was sporting on her finger, was a token of love, from Narang.

The fixation of Bollywood with food does not end here. Our actors have found a sure shot recipe for success by opening restaurants. Suneil Shetty was one of the first few to do this. Perhaps it was his business acumen that led him to dabble in other fields apart from acting. In fact, his father had a restaurant and Suneil has kept the family business alive, by having his own restaurants. Dino Morea too, has his own eatery, the quaint Crepe Station in Mumbai's Bandra area. Known for its kebabs, Amisha Patel's Fireplace was in the vicinity of Dino's Crepe Station. Bobby Deol, too opened his restaurant Someplace Else, in Mumbai, with a huge bash.

Soon, Arbaaz and Malaika Arora Khan plan to open a lounge restaurant in Bandra, itself. Bombshell Bipasha Basu is also open to the idea, sometime in the future. Ram Gopal Varma's latest blue eyed boy Mohit Ahlawat is also planning to open an eatery called B2D, an abbreviation for Breakfast to Dinner. He has some elaborate plans as he plans to get chefs from Italy. The restaurant, in Bandra will start in the morning at 6:30 am and will stay open till late at night.

So our Bollywood brigade sure has some interesting food fads! If not getting hitched with restaurateurs, they are joining the bandwagon themselves. And in the bargain, have fans eating out of their hands!