The BB Sanctuary

Hop on to the Bombay Brasserie express in Mumbai as it takes you on a culinary route across India. Experience old world charm, contemporary pizzazz and mouthfuls of absolute bliss in this latest creation by interior designer Payal Khanna.

- Deepa Nair

Everyone loves a comeback story… it's filled with furore and many twists and turns. The excitement is manifold when you know it’s a space you have loved visiting some years ago, and when you attach the golden word “food” with it, the story is a bumper hit. This is exactly how most patrons who loved haunting the famous Bombay Brasserie restaurant reacted when the brand announced its second innings after 15 years. Having closed operations in Mumbai in 2002 after almost two decades of operation, the brand over the years launched multiple outlets in Bangalore, Chennai, and Kolkata, and returned to upscale Worli, Mumbai, just a month ago.

For the homecoming, the promoters of the brand K Hospitality Corp — the people behind Copper Chimney, Irish House and Serafina — walked straight into the Mumbai office of interior designer Payal Khanna, the principal at Aura Dezyne, who was instrumental in the design of the five Bombay Brasserie outlets pan-India. “Bombay Brasserie had its own nostalgia — back in the day, it was this lovely fine dining restaurant in Worli, and a childhood favourite,” says Payal. “The design brief was concise: to create a modern Indian experimental restaurant that takes the traveller (customer) on a culinary journey through the different flavours of Indian cuisine. It needed to be fresh, young and refreshing to every age group. That’s when we did a round of sessions with the BB brand team and curated the complete concept for them. We were involved in detailing each element — to the extent that we were a part of all the food trials, photo shoots and cocktail sessions — the smallest details finally created the big one,” she adds.