Villa Maya: A new fusion restaurant in Trivandrum

 Fifteen years ago, I had seen this building as a Maruti workshop. Not the swanky posh ones of today, but the dirty grimy dingy ones of yester years. It made me so sad to see a beautiful old building with blackened walls and its heart loaded with crude heavy machinery to lift the cars for servicing etc.  It had drums of oils and grease scattered all over the place as the mechanics used the premises at will.
A few months ago, traveling across Kerala for my forthcoming book, I was delighted beyond words and explanation to see that the same building, an Ammaveedu on the then outskirts of the city, resurrected to be easily one of the most charming restaurants of the country. It is as if the building has finally got what it deserved, having completed the karmic cycle! The three leveled, more than a 100 year old structure, has alfresco as well as multiple indoor dining options. Food served is fusion and the service is in perfect harmony with the elegance of the historical structure. It helps that Preeti Muthoot runs her SKYCHEF Kitchen from the adjacent building and was totally involved in the restoration design work done with the help of a local designer Vinod Thatchen.

An artist's rendition of  these two trees at the entrance is repeated on the front wall inside.

Patios surrounded by water bodies have been added to the structure.

Good enough to take you into another world

The double layered tables have one section that can be pulled up at the time of meals and
otherwise be used as a coffee table

Drool worthy 

Seating is relaxed and pretty much follows the way it was meant to be used as in a dwelling.

The outhouse became the Reception block, simple on the entrance and vibrant on the restaurant side

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All pictures are by Bharath Ramamrutham courtesy Villa Maya

Cool Ideas

As I sit in front of my machine, trying to sort out 1TB data (yes! its been telling me to make room!) I am stumbling upon fun design ideas hoarded behind antiquated dates. Last night I sorted a folder of pictures taken at a Show visited some years ago, before the smartphones came in. Some of the ideas are easily doable and still hold good; I am sharing those today.
Warning: these pictures were taken by a non-fancy phone camera. The quality is not good but the ideas are interesting.  Enjoy!

Its been a long long time...

Yeah, its been a long long time.....

Ever since my last post I have been traveling, traveling and still traveling...no complaints but I was kept away from my dear machine, my storehouse, my alter ego!

There is so much to share from my travels....

... and while I sort it all out into relevant sections, here are some beautiful earthy ceramic pieces done by a very fine lady by the name of Lekha Bhagat. For all those who have oooh-ed and aaah-ed over the ceramics that FabIndia had initially introduced, especially the green bamboo pattern.....yes, she is the same lady! Roughly two years ago, Lekha decided to say goodbye to FabIndia and has since been doing Studio Pottery at Ayanagar. Her exhibition with two other ceramicists at IHC last year was a huge success and she continues to bake away at her kiln ..... ever so happily!

These pieces are designed to be hung in combinations across a wall and are roughly between 14" to 16" squares, except the blue rectangular ones.

Wrapping Comes Before Gifting

Of course we all know that a beautifully wrapped gift makes a world of difference and adds that special elevating dimension to the entire activity of sharing.

This post stems from a personal experience of last minute gift wrapping and how self-defeated one feels walking in to a friend's home with a gift that could've had  happier packaging. Last year at this time we had devoted double digit number of pages to a feature on Ideas for Gift Wrapping. This year again, perhaps because this is the time when gifting hits its crescendo, that wrapping ideas take center stage.

A few trawled out ideas that could be an inspiration: 

Button down a pin wheel on small individual ones

The Bold monochromatic

Collect interesting ribbons wherever you might find them

For Oversized Drama

Beautifully simple

Papers with pom poms can make it easier

Touch of elegance

From school books to gifts, just the labels  are different

French Knots that work as knobs for drawer boxes

Sing along

For home made cookies

A Neat pile

Potpourri

Lil Goodie Sacks

Options within a Dimension

Chocolate Editions

Organic all the Way

Many ways of Combining with Brown

Lite n Lemoni

Many ways with wool and chord

The catch I figured is to be on the look out for interesting pieces that would work as embellishments on a gift and then execute it neatly.....there is still time before the bells begin to jingle...so happy wrapping!
 http://pinterest.com/missmridula//missmridula/