Paloma about town: A secret supper club, shopping and celebrating the Queen's birthday!

I said it was going to be a packed week but boy, was I underestimating things. Women’s Day meant the social scene went into overdrive, so let me try (wish me luck) squeezing everything into the next few paragraphs. Here’s the recap.

I started off the weekend at The Armoire pop-up’s Summer Soiree, where I was hard-pressed to find space to move, it was that bustling. And I thought I had planned it well and gotten there early. Boss babe Nandini Varshnei could just about spare five minutes for a photo before she was pulled back into the whirlwind. Next up was a rather unique one-of-a-kind, Secret Supper Club by Local XO where we were invited to a ‘Big Fat Chinese Brunch’ with the location being revealed only at the last minute. Of course, I signed right up. (Once I found out I could turn up for brunch as late as 12.30 pm). The venue turned out to be Zhouyu and we enjoyed a range of dishes from Boba French Toast, to Mung Bean Crepes stuffed with egg slathered with Chinese chilli paste, and what seemed like a never-ending supply of Dimsums. My other favourites were the 5 Spice Soy Roast Chicken and the Coconut Gelato. With full tummies, our entire group trotted off to the Elemental Stories pop-up — Beyond Sustainable and convinced ourselves that shopping was also a form of exercise. I loved all of the various stalls with accessories made out of discarded materials and finalised on a pair of acrylic earrings and a necklace made from cloth scraps.  

Meanwhile, across town it was a similar frenzy at Sutraa with the ladies loving the junk jewellery and Indo-western sets. At Novotel it was a Salon and Sushi afternoon by Audi and Page3 where the ladies were driven in style, to their pampering sessions, ending with sushi at KooX. The last event of the evening was the Queen’s Birthday celebration at Cottingley, hosted by the British Deputy High Commissioner Oliver Ballhatchet. The residence was lit up in Union Jack colours and saw the who’s who of the city having a blast.

Also taking place over the weekend was the Chennai Bachata weekender at Novotel Sipcot. It’s been ages since we’ve seen a dance festival and the dance community came out and celebrated in full swing (pun intended. wink wink). International artists, DJs, loads of workshops and lots and lots of dancing.