Farm life, metro meals

Magazine Street Kitchen staff handle the packing of pizza in insulated backpacks that are carried by delivery personnel on the ferry from Gateway of India to customers in Alibaug. Pics/Shadab Khan

Once off the Mandwa Jetty, the main road into the beach town of Alibaug is lined with trees on either side. It is an instant change of scene from Mumbai's urban jungle, separated by a sliver of the Arabian Sea. The coastal town and Mumbai share residents too, with several of the city's families owning a weekend home here.

Mumbaikar Ajay Bhatnagar, 36, has been visiting his family home in Alibaug since 1982. The designer's father, an architect and hotelier, was behind one of Alibaug's first resorts, Kashid Beach Resort, built in 1988.

The only ferry that plied to and fro was from Rewas to Bhau Cha Dhakka. "In the '90s, with the launch of the first ferry to Mandwa from Colaba jetty, a reverse influx of youth coming from Alibaug to work in Mumbai occurred. They would take up jobs in Fort and Nariman Point and return home in time via the small ferries that took an hour to ply," Bhatnagar explains, adding that during the same time, Mumbaikars who owned plots across the bay had started building holiday homes.

While the last 15 years have seen several Mumbaikars create a permanent base in Alibaug, the lockdown gave the trend more power with professionals able to work from home. Bhatnagar himself spends most days at his beach-facing home and returns to the city when he has important meetings lined up. "Working remotely, and the introduction of the RoRo has made things easier," he says of the ferry that can carry 500 passengers and 150 vehicles, offering a premium service at decent rates.

Seven years ago, restaurateur Gauri Devidayal began to nurture a farm, with the idea of using the produce grown there at her establishments The Table, Magazine Street Kitchen, Miss T and lately, Iktara. She also began to curate farm-to-table events at the green plot, which was an extension of her home. "During the lockdown, I stayed there for two-and-a-half-months at a stretch. I realised I could very easily turn this into my permanent base, and visit my home and office - both close to the Colaba jetty - three times a week," she says.

Currently, she is refurbishing the home to make it more suitable for a primary base. And with the RoRo, Alibaug feels like a suburb of Mumbai. "Not in terms of look and feel but access. There is a growing community of Mumbaikars who have set up base here, and thus, the food scene has improved exponentially too. Real estate rates have doubled," says Devidayal, pointing out that the only thing missing is a good school and hospital.

The Mumbai community here is an enterprising one, and the Whatsapp group sets them up for everything. "Someone needs a plumber, another needs a lawn manicured - it is all sorted [on the group]. People help each other and there is a growing social life too. We even went for a trek to Kankeshwar recently. My daughter has regular play dates. Call this the Hamptons of New York," she smiles, adding, "It is a no brainer for people who have homes here. I don't miss Mumbai at all, and I see myself being here long term," says Devidayal.

To cater to this growing, discerning crowd, close to 10 restaurants and cloud kitchens have sprung up over the last year. The food and drink market may not be as big as Mumbai, but it justifies having a delivery staff and payment gateway infrastructure. Devidayal's establishments have been delivering items from their menu to Alibaug, and while earlier, orders were taken on WhatsApp, over time, she says, it made sense to start a delivery platform on Thrive for Alibaug orders. What started as a once-a-week delivery schedule is now twice daily.

Mumbai resident Kim Verma says her family spends six weeks in the city and the next six at their Alibaug home. "The Internet is better than Mumbai," she laughs, listing the top reason for their decision to move, apart from school classes having moved online and the ease that the WFH environment offers. "Usually, we are happy eating the local food here, but since our stays have been longer recently, we crave restaurant food. We order breads and quiches from Mag St Bread Co., especially the chocolate croissants that my son loves," says Verma, who also finds ease in ordering rolls from Devidayal's Indian cloud kitchen Iktara, when they have guests over and everyone wants to eat at different times.

Ajay Bhatnagar

Karyna Bajaj, who started delivery of food from all her restaurants including CinCin, Nara Thai, Yauatcha and Hakkasan in September 2020, hosted her first Thai pop-up at a private dining and home concept storeTen94, located in Zirad, Alibaug. "While our deliveries happen every week, we even started offering catering services, and at-home experiences for those hosting their friends and family. The logistics have changed and it is all about reinventing the product. CinCin's frozen pizzas are very convenient and go with reheating instructions, so are our sauces and chilli oils that can be refrigerated," says Bajaj. Even those who spend the weekend checking into a homestay are enjoying the ease of ordering.

The lockdown has encouraged community-building activities. Members of the Mumbai community WhatsApp group during a trek to Ankleshwar

Since December, Juhu-based Neha Mehra has been packing off to a homestay in Alibaug with her family every weekend. "We are not comfortable taking a flight so we prefer going off for the weekend to a place where the kids can run around. Most of the time, we order from Americano. The pizzas come half cooked with simple instructions, the rolls are lovely and we love the quality of the packaging."

The table is set for a farm-to-fork meal organised by The Table staff before the lockdown

Americano's chef and co-owner Alex Sanchez says the pandemic revealed to him the true potential of delivery. He initially started sending food for his partner Mallyeka Watsa's father, after he shifted permanently to their weekend home. "Many of our friends and family had gone to Alibaug to ride out the storm," remembers Sanchez, who sends orders in a refrigerated commercial vehicle by road.

Alex Sanchez of Americano stands beside a refrigerated truck that takes meals to Alibaug as part of his resto bar's delivery service At Home Americano

"The most important thing to consider when sending food over a long distance is food safety. The food must be prepared and cooled to a food-safe temperature, then transported in a temperature-controlled vehicle. In order to ensure that the taste and quality of the final dish is up to standard, we tweaked our recipes and created simple, easy-to-follow assembly/reheating instructions," says Sanchez.

Mumbai resident Kim Verma's family often orders breads and quiches from Mag St Bread Co

Every Friday, Americano delivers to 20-25 households. Due to the way the food is packaged and prepared, it is well-suited to be eaten over the entire weekend. "Often times, people will order enough for multiple meals. Our pizzas, salads, and fresh pasta kits do very well."

Doing a delivery to Alibaug is as easy as delivering an order from Lower Parel to Versova, Keenan Tham, owner of Koko, explains. Their weekly delivery day is usually Friday. "We do up to 40 deliveries via speed boats as well as trucks. Our orders are picked up from a house in Awas at 5 pm," says Tham, who spent the first four months of the lockdown in his holiday home across the waters. A self-confessed city boy, he says staying away from Mumbai has offered him perspective. "We are close to the beach and it is a pristine surrounding. We go for long walks, treks. It's a beautiful setting for our 19-month-old child to run around in," says Tham.

This week they tried the pizzas from Mag St Toppings while hosting a few friends

The customers, Shaan Mehta explains, are not price focused, but those who want a flavourful and safe meal experience. His cloud kitchen, The Mexican Box, which he launched with his wife Meghna in October and by November, they had extended their deliveries to Alibaug. "The rising Mumbai community there made it a market large enough for us to explore," says Mehta. "Usually, the first couple of days, people are happy to eat the local Maharashtrian fare. Then they crave restaurant-style food. Mexican food does well with assembling. A taco, for example, will go in three different elements - tortillas, the hot filling and cold condiments."

CinCin's fresh pasta kits and frozen pizzas come with reheating instructions

The pandemic, he adds, has forced restaurateurs to re-examine the way they do business. "The silver lining in this whole mess is that many of us have found new ways to make money that we previously didn't know existed. That said, restaurants need to be full. They aren't built to be profitable any other way - delivery included."

So, is Alibag lucrative? No, but it is certainly becoming the source of an important revenue stream for Mumbai hospitality businesses, entrepreneurs agree.

Shaan Mehta

As far as the residents are concerned, it's the life they've always dreamt of, with Mumbai salaries and small-town lifestyle.

"We are leading healthier lives. The kids take a swim or go to the beach after school classes, we go for walks. By 9 pm, we are in bed. We're living it up until school reopens," Verma signs off.