Mumbai, 19 October 2012: It was Northern Italy recreated as Serafina, NYC’s iconic Northern Italian Cuisine Restaurant opened its doors to the gourmands of Mumbai! Serafina Mumbai has been brought to the country by Mr. Vittorio Assaf, Mr. Fabio Granato, Mr. Sant Singh Chatwal & Mr. Vikram Chatwal in association with Mr. Sunil Kapur, the Indian partner. A glittering night, the launch saw the aforementioned names hobnob with some of the most prominent faces in the Mumbai social circles & tuck into some delectable Northern Italian fare over glasses of the choicest wines & pulsating music!
Karan Johar was one of the first faces to arrive & joined in the famous “Pasta Ribbon Cutting Ceremony” traditional to all openings of Serafina, whichever part of the world it might be in. The Italian Consul General Giampaolo Cutillo (who came with his beautiful wife Elisabetta) cut the enormous ribbon made out of authentic Northern Italian pasta as owners Vittorio Assaf, Fabio Granato & Sunil Kapoor cheered on. Karan enthused how him & his girl gang are a regular at Serafina whenever they are in NYC. He spoke about the several lunches at Serafina that have transcended onto dinner solely due to the great food & ambience of this famous restaurant which has become a NYC landmark over the years. Suniel Shetty was the other big Bollywood name in the list of attendees. However the surprise of the night was without doubt the presence of cricket stars Yuvraj Singh & Zaheer Khan who were seen mingling seamlessly with the other guests.
The food was definitely the focus of all discussions of this dazzling do. The dishes served in the night included Ravioli Alla Salvia, Risotto Ai Porcini, Gnocchi Di Mamma, Foccacia Leggera, Farfalle Al Limoncello, Penne Alla Stoaichnaya, La Focaccia Di Sofia, Pizza Tartufo Nero, Pizza Margharita V.I.P., Torte De Ricotta & Tiramisu. The usual diet-conscious celebrities were seen enjoying the tiramisu & cheesecake with immense relish! As the night rolled on, owners Vittorio Assaf & Fabio Granato were seen shaking some suave Italian leg on the dance floor with the beautiful models Nethra Raghuraman, Fleur Xavier, Deepti Gujral & Ramona Arena.
Pria Kataria Puri looked pretty as a picture as she bonded with Kaykasshan Patel & Suchitra Krishnamoorthy. Sheetal Mafatlal looked edgy & uber chic in her all black attire. Sisters Deveika Bhojwani & Malavika Sangghvi were seen engaging in an animated discussion about the highlights of Northern Italian cuisine with Nayntara Thaker & Sheena Sippy. Host Sharmilla Khanna was overheard discussing her passion for baubles with Laila Lamba. Vikram Chatwal, even at a party, was heard talking about his upcoming business ventures!
Other guests of the night included Gayatri & Atul Ruia, Queenie Dhody, Rhea Pillai, Prerna Goel, Raja Dhody, Madhoo Shah, Bhavna Pandey, Seema Khan, Neelam Kothari, Maheep Kapoor, Malaika Arora Khan, Ramona Narang, Laila & Farhan Furniturewala, Samantha Nayar, Tanaz Dodhi, Anita Dongre, Jaydeep Mehrotra, Lata Patel, Bikram Saluja & Schauna Chauhan, Kailash Surendranath, Akanksha Agarwal, Poorna Patel, Rashmi & Sudhir Behl, Penny Patel, Aditi Govitrikar, Vikram Phadnis, Suhel Seth & Rashmi Uday Singh among several more.
It’s time Mumbai, rather India exclaimed “Ciao Serefina”!
 with Malavika Sangghvi at Serafina launch in Palladium, Mumbai on 19th Oct 2012.jpg)
