Scene & Heard

Marcellus Baptista

All Fired Up
It was a night of fire - and ice. Yes, Fire & Ice relaunched with a big bash that also marked its third anniversary. With so many people in the party zone you could not quite make out the changes. But here they are: a new dance floor, three new bars, four vinyl panels with collages of international DJs that have played at the club, a mirrored lobby area with a network of crisscrossed green lasers, an in-house TV, two panels on the lower level with three LCD screens each, a better and more solid sound system.

And the colours are noticeable, blue in the lower level depicting Ice and orange in the mezzanine level spelling out Fire. Needless to say, all guests on reopening night were all fired up with ice splashing in their drinks. Whether they had a hangover the morning after was a different story. The fact is Fire & Ice is now bigger, better, buzzier.

Truffle Treat
It was a truffle treat as the diamond of mushrooms shone brightly at Mezzo Mezzo at J W Marriott Hotel. Chef Paolo Pancotti from Tuscany brought alive the richness and rareness of these marvellous mushrooms at a talk and demonstration of quickly stirring up some truffle recipes.

Chef Danio Galli, chef de cuisine at Mezzo Mezzo, got into the act and became very emotional talking about truffles. Guests just couldn’t wait to savour the delights in store for them.

The Tuscany in Mumbai promotion was a big draw for one more reason: one lucky winner during the course of the promotion was slated to win a limited edition Fiat Palio S10 signed by everyone’s favourite cricketer Sachin Tendulkar.

Time Out
One more international watch brand has come to India. This time it was the Swiss brand Tag Heuer that made its presence felt at the Regal Room of Oberoi Towers.

After a fashion splash, where you saw the clothes and the models and not so much the watches, you encountered Jean-Christophe Babin, president and CEO, Tag Heuer, getting very passionate about his watches.

Showcased was the launch of Kirium Formula One and the Mircrograph watches. Being very closely associated with world sports, naturally, there was a Lifetime Achievement Award for Sports Excellence and it was given to cricket legend Kapil Dev who said he would wear the watch while playing golf, his latest passion. And receiving the Young Achievers Award for Sports Excellence was racing star Narain Karthikeyan.

To further promote the brand an exhibition, Driven by Passion was organised at Crossroads atrium till November 25. It featured prototypes of Formula One cars and the Kirium Formula One wrist watch.

White Magic
Now, Smirnoff has finally got competition. Vladivar vodka has been launched from the house of Shaw Wallace. It comes in a one-litre bottle and at a very competitive price.

To mark its launch an ice station was created at the splendid lawns of the Taj Lands End. You could have chilled vodka shots, vodka-puri or vodka-golas and, of course, vodka as you like it, there was even chilli vodka.

A superb fashion show, choreographed by Anu Ahuja and featuring the creations of Gavin Miguel, showed you that white can also be real hot.