As revealed by BigHospitality way back in January, the restaurant is opening on Maddox Street, on the site of Claude Bosi’s former restaurant Hibiscus, after Indian hotel group Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts acquired the premises.
Following on from Jamavar’s success, co founder Samyukta Nair and executive chef Rohit Ghai will theme the new restaurant around Mumbai street food - the name ‘Dabbawala’ is inspired by the term given to the city’s lunchbox delivery men.
The menu will be a combination of both the city’s signature dishes and Rohit’s family recipes. Diners will have options such as kolhapuri spiced spit roasted chicken; seabass and scallop Tawa Pulao (a vegetable rice dish); Kerala style ishtew (Indian chicken stew) with idiyappam (a rice noodle nest;) and a sweet double ka meetha (fried bread pudding) with tutti fruity masala milk and almonds.
There will also be the option to order a tiered tiffin dabba, which will comprise a box presented to the table and unpacked to reveal; curries, breads and rice for a quick lunch.
The restaurant will be designed by Fabled Studios – the design company behind Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Noble Rot, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Jamavar.
The 300sq ft space will be split over two levels, and is designed to reflect the Bombay train system. The dining room on the ground floor is split into two rooms - the first inspired by an old first class railway coach with pale green leathers and a Marmoleum floor, and the second inspired by the city’s art deco influences with candy pink leather upholstery and alpha-numeric markings on the tables.
The lower ground floor will have a timber panelled ceiling and brilliant-cut glass screens, with a seated dessert bar and deep booths for large groups.
"The restaurant will be a place just as well suited to a leisurely dinner with friends as a quick lunch for one, always inspired by Mumbai's diverse flavours, and home style cooking," says Ghai.
International leisure and restaurant experts Restaurant Property acted on the sale of the site.