Irani Cafe – Heritage Walks – Jimmy Boy – Feb 2012

Posted on February 11, 2012 by mumbaikaar

Decided to go on the heritage walk by the kalghoda festival . But sadly they did not have much information on the irani restaurants and also did not visit the cafes to enjoy the food.

So after the walk we went to Jimmy Boy to check out the food and the heritage structure. This place is very different from other places (it is classy and well maintained compared to the other run down irani cafes) .

We wanted to try their “Brun Maska” and chai but at 6 pm they did not have Brun(the hard bread). They had soft fruit bread and milky chai . At 6.30 event that soft bun was over!

They have this lovely antique clock. Old chairs and tables and railings.

Bentwood Chairs & Glass-Topped Tables

Vienna bentwood chairs (Wood was steamed and bent without cracking the wood)

Designed by Michael Thonet in the 1859, the Model 14 bentwood chair, still manufactured today by the Gebrüder Thonet company as Model 214

http://www.kettererkunst.com/bio/michael-thonet-1796.shtml

http://www.patricktaylor.com/thonet-bentwood-chair

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Thonet

In 1800 there were 1400 Cafes (fact not verified)

In 1940 there were 350-500 cafes

In 2005 the numbers were down to 25 cafes

I cant find out when jimmy boy was stared and who were the owners. If anyone has this information please share it in the comments . Thank you!

: Brent wood chairs

Jimmy Boy, Fort, Mumbai
11, Vikas Building,

Off Horniman Circle,

Fort,

Mumbai

heritage walk,jimmy boy,irani cafe history,irani cafe bombay,irani cafe mumbai

olympia coffee house colaba causeway

Most Iranian restaurants started out as tea joints. “When Iranians came to India in the 19th century, they were in search of a better livelihood,” says Aflatoon Shokri, second-generation owner of the 104.-year-old Kyani Café

some Irani cafés encouraged families to patronize them by providing special family cabins that meant that the women felt less exposed.

One of the first Irani Pioneers was Bombay A-1 Restaurant at Grant Road station in 1905

Ideal Restaurant was a strictly tea and bread budding place – Beharam Contractor

Irani Cafe architecure was known for their
Heigh Ceilings
Mirrors
Marble top tables
and
Brent wood chair

Please Do not spit
Do not sit more
Pay promptly, time is invaluable
Do not write letter Without order refreshment
Do not comb Hair is spoiling floor
Do not make mischiefs in cabin Our waiter is reporting
Come again
All are welcome whatever cast
If not satisfied tell us
Otherwise tell others GOD IS GREAT!
poet Nissim Ezekiel tribute to the Irani cafés

No talking to cashier
No smoking
No fighting
No credit
No outside food
No sitting long
No talking loud
No spitting
No bargaining
No water to outsiders
No change
No telephone
No match sticks
No discussing gambling
No newspaper
No combing
No beef
No leg on chair
No hard liquor allowed
No address enquiry
— By order.
instructions on a notice board at Bastani & Co (now closed)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jimmy-Boy-Family-Restaurant/252074514806471

http://parsikhabar.net/food/jimmy-boy-a-restaurant-review/341/

http://www.iranichaimumbai.com/search/label/Jimmy%20Boy.

http://zoroastrianheritage.blogspot.in/2011/07/irani-cafes-disappearing-heritage.html

http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/irani/cafe.htm

http://kokken69.blogspot.in/2010/01/tea-at-kyani-mumbai-of-bun-maska-mawa.html

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Looking+back/1/32235.html

http://books.google.co.in/books?id=LN4MN35b-r4C&pg=PA99&dq=irani+cafe+history&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wO81T8XEB6mZiAelxPSiAQ&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=irani%20cafe%20history&f=false

http://mumbaiboss.com/2010/07/14/taste-test-parsi-cafes/

http://www.citehr.com/345237-heritage-irani-cafes.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28902033@N06/

http://mumbai.burrp.com/pack/list/bambaiya-combo-brun-maska-chai

http://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/2011/oct/301011-Meat-and-be-Merry.htm

http://www.mumbaimania.in/2008/09/bun-maska-and-chai-at-irani-cafes-of.html

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040815/asp/look/story_3611577.asp

The Inheritage Project – Personalised and engaging heritage walks, tours and workshops in Mumbai

Posted on February 10, 2012 by mumbaikaar

The Inheritage Project aims to promote active, hands-on and minds-on engagement with heritage. This mission is grounded in the belief that heritage – tangible and intangible, cultural and physical, yours, mine and ours – matters. It matters as a vital source of pride and identity, of learning and understanding, and of fun, pleasure and inspiration. By building understanding and appreciation for heritage amongst those to whom it belongs, one step and individual at a time, the Inheritage Project aspires to stimulate its preservation in the long run.

‘Inheritage’, a play on the word ‘inheritance’, reflects our fundamental aim of putting the individual at the centre of our activities. We believe that heritage is rendered meaningless without the people that inherit it, that understand, interpret, value, use, and eventually transmit this heritage.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Inheritage-Project/267919503245808?sk=wall

Phone 9930317897
Email [email protected]

http://theinheritageproject.wordpress.com

http://in.linkedin.com/pub/alisha-sadikot/41/160/7b3

Scots Kirk

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

(also known as the Church of St Andrews and St Columbus Scottish Church fashioned after the popular design of St Martin-in-the-Fields London) built in the year 1815, and

Scots Kirk

Scottish Kirk, Church of Saints Andrew & Columba (Greater Bombay/Mumbai)

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wiki mapia Coordinates: 18°55’37″N 72°50’1″E

Elphinston College

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

Old Map of the Area 1900

The Elphinstone College building is a majestic Victorian Gothic Revival building that forms the backdrop for the ensemble of cultural institutions that make up the the Kala Ghoda Art District. Designed by Trubshaw and supervised by Khan Bahadur Muncherjee Murzban in the 1880s, the building was completed in 1888 by John Adams, Executive Engineer to the Bombay Government.

The building is designed in the Gothic Revival style, an aesthetical composition of golden basalt (used as the main backing masonry), and lighter coloured Porbunder limestone (used for detailed works). The well articulated façade has a colonnaded ground floor arcade supporting two floors of arched fenestration and finely detailed cornice bands, punctuated with lofty pyramidical tiled roofs that create a dramatic skyline with spires and turrets. Finely articulated balconies, brackets and balustrades along with intricately designed surface motifs add to the decorative features of the building. UNESCO

Elphinston College

Elphinstone College boasts of a history that dates back earlier than that of University of Mumbai. It is one of the premier institutions in the country that has a long and cherished history of imparting quality education for 150 years. Named after the English scholar, Mountstuart Elphinstone, this institution stands as reminder of the start of higher education in the long list of India under the British. Long after its institutionalization, Elphinstone College is proud of the firebrand revolutionaries that led the thoughts and hearts of Indians in the Indian fight for freedom. Today, the Elphinstone College is fully managed by the Government of Maharashtra.

The building of the College, with its gothic architecture, has been classified as a grade I Heritage structure. It has recently been restored by the Kala Ghoda Association and the college has regained its luminous look. It stands out like a pearl as night falls. The Elphinstone College was awarded Asia-Pacific Heritage Award for Culture Heritage Conservation, in 2004 by UNESCO for the one of the best Heritage buildings restored.

Project Title Restoration of Elphinstone College

Date of Completion Phase 1 completed September 2003

Location Mumbai, India

Costs US$ 52,330

Client Government of Maharashtra

Heritage Architect Abha Narain Lambah

Contractor M/s Construction Techniques

Conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah has been battling to save historic buildings in Mumbai for the past 12 years. She has restored many old structures to their former dignity, among them Mahatma Gandhi’s former home and the JJ School of Arts,

Abha Narain Lambah

http://www.hecarfoundation.org/abhanarainlambah01.html

http://anlassociates.com/

Articles

Capturing the glorious past

Holding on to old mumbai

Vanishing treasures

“As an advisory body we have no teeth to enforce our regulations. A regulation is just as good as the next notification. We need legislation.”

Elphinstone College, 156, M. G. Road, Fort, MUMBAI – 400 032, INDIA

http://www.elphinstonecollege.ac.in/

Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India.

He was appointed as the Governor of Bombay the following year, 1819. His principal achievement was the compilation of the “Elphinstone Code.” He virtually founded the system of state education in India,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountstuart_Elphinstone

Mountstuart Elphinstone: Indian Customs and Manners, 1840

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/indiasbook.html

KALA GHODA ASSOCIATION aims at reviving the historic building and spaces of the Kala Ghoda area as the art district of Mumbai.

MS. PALLAVI SHARMA

Kala Ghoda Association

C/o A.T.E. Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.,

4th Floor, Dr. V. B. Gandhi Marg,

Fort,

Mumbai 400 023

Tel : 6505 5034

T/F : 22885972

mail[at]kalaghodaassociation.com

http://www.changemakers.net/node/7721

http://wikimapia.org/186413/Elphinstone-College

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Prince of Wales Museum of Western India

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

Prince of Wales Museum

Built to commemorate King George V’s visit to Mumbai (while still Prince of Wales), it was designed by George Wittet and completed in 1923. Open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30 am to 6 pm.

After an open competition for the design, George Wittet was commissioned to design the Museum building in 1909.His other works in Bombay include the Court of Small Causes and the magnificent Gateway of India.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya

(Formerly known as: the Prince of Wales Museum of Western India)

George Wittet was commissioned to design the Museum building in 1909
Indo-Saracenic also known as Indo-Gothic
It drew elements from native Indian/Indo-Islamic architecture, and combined it with the Gothic revival style favoured in Victorian Britain.
Dominated by a huge tiled concrete dome and comprising a whole series of ranges based on a scholarly interpretation of the Muslim architecture of the Deccan

The Museum building is one of the few specifically planned and built as a Museum. It is constructed of Basalt and Kurla stone, with elaborate brackets and carved features on its principal exterior. The main elevation is three storeys high capped by a dome set upon a base that adds another storey to the centre of the composition.

Being basically in the Western Indian style, the Museum Building is an amalgam of several features such as a Islamic dome with a finial similar to that of the Taj Mahal in Agra, protruding balconies and inlaid floors reminiscent of Mughal palaces. It is interesting to note that John Begg sent George Wittet on a two week tour of Bijapur. The architecture of the Museum echoes several architectural elements of that tour including the Museum dome which resembles that of Golconda Fort and the inner vaulting arches which supported it which are similar to those of the Gol Gumbaz.

George Wittet incorporated the columns, railings and balcony of a 18th century Wada (A Maratha Mansion) from near Nasik into the internal architecture of the building. Into this eclectic mixture also went Jain style interior columns that form the main body of the central pavilion above which rise the Maratha balcony, the intersecting vaults and finally the dome. www.bombaymuseum.org

The dome is modelled after the

Gol Gumbaz in Bijapur,

It incorporates a variety of details from different Indian styles– small bulbous cupolas on towers, Saracenic arches with Muslim jalis as fillers, semi-open verandahs and Rajput jharokhas. (over hanging windows) theory.tifr.res.in

Distinguishing Features of Indo-Saracenic Style

* Onion (bulbous or concentric) domes

These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point, and strongly resemble the onion, after which they are named.

* Overhanging eaves

* Pointed arches, cusped arches, or scalloped arches

* Vaulted roofs

* Many miniature domes

* Towers or minarets

* Harem windows featuring intricate grills

* Open pavilions

theory.tifr.res.in

colonial architecture

Prince of Wales Museum King George V, who as Prince of Wales, laid the foundation stone of this museum in 1905. Situated near the gateway of India, it was designed in the Indo-Saracenic style to commemorate the King’s first visit to India.

During the First World War, it was used as a hospital. It was opened as a museum in 1923 and has three main sections: Art, Archaeology and Natural History. One of the best museums in the country, it is a treasure house of art, sculpture, China, rare coins and old firearms. It also has a priceless collection of miniature paintings. www.csre.iitb.ac.in

The museum is made up of various styles of architecture the white jali is the rajput style ,the side window were the mughal style .

Ms. Shraddha Bhatawadekar of the BHW Team of Presenters

Mumbai G.P.O(Fort)

Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001, India

Get Directions

022 22844484

* approximate times

– bombaymuseum.org

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Co-founders & Organisers:

Abha Bahl & Brinda Gaitonde

Address:

THE BOMBAY HERITAGE WALKS

c/o Punjabi Chandu Halwai Karachiwala

Navyug Niketan, Ground. floor

185 Walkeshwar Road, Teenbatti

Mumbai 400 006 INDIA

Tel: (91-22) 2369 0992/ 2683 5856

Fax:(91-22) 2364 3234.

Email:[email protected]

Website:www.bombayheritagewalks.com

http://bombayology.net/2008/04/15/mumbai-in-a-world-of-cities/

Initiated in Bombay by John Begg (1866-1937) who was the Consulting Architect to the Government of Bombay and first seen in Bombay in the architecture of the General Post Office Building, the Indo-Saracenic style became the paradigm for British Architecture in this country.

John Begg (1866-1937) was a Scottish architect,
He, with George Wittet, was responsible for the evolution of the Indo-Saracenic style of architecture. Begg’s best-known building is the General Post Office in Bombay.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Begg

Bombay: The cities within by Sharada Dwivedi
India Book House · 1995
ISBN: 978-81-85028-80-4
ISBN-10: 81-85028-80-X

http://www.books-by-isbn.com/authors/sharada/dwivedi/

Jewels on the Crescent: Western India
By Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, Kalpana Desai, B.V. Shetti, Manisha Nene, Vandana Prapanna
Contributor Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya Staff
Edition: illustrated
Published by Antique Collectors Club Ltd, 2008
ISBN 189020644X, 9781890206444

JACOB, Samuel Swinton (1841-1917). Jeypore Portfolio of Architectural Details. London: Quaritch, 1890.

Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon

Edited by Peter Scriver, Vikramaditya Prakash

http://www.goethals.org/plamaps.htm

http://albumsofheritage.com/chapters.html

Clock Tower

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

Bombay (Mumbai) was given as a dowry gift by the Portuguese to King Charles II of England, when he married Princess Catherine of Braganza in 1662. In 1668, Bombay was transferred to the East India Company at a nominal rent of £10 per annum. In 1736, the company brought Lowjee Nusserwanjee, a master shipwright, from Surat to Bombay and assigned him the task of constructing ships for the British fleet and also the selection of a site for a dock [1]

The old heritage buildings of Naval Dockyard (from Lion Gate to Old Customs House) with the clock tower (opposite Great Western Building) on the east side of Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, belong to the original dockyard constructed by Lowji Wadia. The Dock frontage on the Shahid Bhaghat Singh Road forms a facade/magnificent wall which has remained almost unchanged over the past 200 years. Early prints and engravings depict it as one of the main street fronts of early Bombay, overlooking the street which led past the

Great Western Hotel (formerly the Admiralty House) built in the year 1764,

it is hard to imagine it was once the residence of the Governor of Bombay. William Hornby, a former governor who was instrumental in constructing the Hornby Vellard which bundled the breach at Mahalaxmi, lived here during his term in office. It also served as the Admiralty house, residence of the Commander in Chief of the Indian Fleet from 1770-1795. Around 1800 it was purchased by the Government and transformed into the The Recorders Court house until 1878. The original Porch was removed when the street was widened. The property was purchased by Rustomjee Jeejeebhoy and then sold to the Sassoon Family. In 1883 it was sold again and converted into a hotel known as the Great Western Hotel. A new 5 storied wing was added in the early 1890′s. It was designed by renowned architect S M N Chandabhoy. and another smaller 3 storied building in the later 1890′s. In time the Hotel closed and the rooms have been divided and further sub divided for optimum rental. [wiki]

When we were taking photo we met a parsi gentleman who stopped by and said i used to live here many years ago. it is now divided between marwadi brothers. There are only two floors with 20ft ceilings.

looking at his old house in nostalgia

Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

David Sassoon’s grandson, Jacob Eliyahu Sassoon, built the Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue in the Bombay Fort area, naming it for his father Eliyahu (David Sassoon’s second son). [1]

The three-storey Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue is located in a dingy back lane off Mahatma Gandhi Road, in an area called kalaGhoda

Mumbai G.P.O(Fort), Mumbai, Maharashtra 400001, India – 022 22831502

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http://www.jacobsassoon.org/synagogues.html

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/mumbai-bombay/sights/386709

http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2005/02/a_visit_to_kene.html

The Baghdadi Synagogues in Bombay and Poona

Photos

Kala Ghoda (“Black Horse”) which is not longer at kala ghoda but the statue is now in the Jijamata Udyan in Byculla

Victoria & Albert Museum (Mumbai) now called Bhau Daji Lad Museum Ranibaug, Byculla [2]

Esplanade Mansions

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

Watson’s hotel, now known as Esplanade Mansions at Kala Goda

Watson’s hotel was designed by the civil engineer Rowland Mason Ordish,

The building was fabricated in England from cast iron components and was assembled and constructed on site.

It was also the first place in India to screen the Lumière Brothers’ Cinematographe invention in 1896.

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Esplanade’s lost glory

It was where the first silent motion picture to be screened in India was presented by the Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe, way back on July 7, 1869. The handsome five-storeyed, 130-room building with a cast-iron frame that was called Watson’s Esplanade Hotel, was built entirely with material imported from England by the owner, an enterprising Englishman, John Watson.

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Mumbai’s First “5-Star” Hotel

A Mumbai landmark, structurally unusual, in peril

On arriving at Bombay, we housed ourselves at Watson’s Esplanade Hotel, a very large building. We went to see the sights of the town, and I was very much interested in all that I saw, ebooks.adelaide.edu.au

David Sassoon

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

Old photo of the Kalaghoda in front of the david sassoon library

Kalaghoda The name means Black Horse, a reference to a black stone statue of King Edward VII (as the then Prince of Wales) mounted on a horse. Although this statue was removed in 1965 to storehouses of the Bhau Daji Lad Museum (formerly the Victoria & Albert Museum (Mumbai)) in Byculla, Central Mumbai, the name persists. The statue is now in the Jijamata Udyan in Byculla.

Looking on to the Kala Ghoda, on Rampart Row, this Romanesque structure, completed in 1870, is built from the same yellow Malad stone as the rest of the buildings in the row– Elphinstone College, the Army and Navy Building and Watson’s Hotel. tifr

The columns are of black (Deccan) trap and the dressing is in random rubble masonry. The ground floor facade of the three-storeyed building has pointed arches decorated in white and black stripes protecting the arcade which is characteristic of the area

The foyer with its multicoloured Minton floor tiles, opens, at the back, into a garden. Above the entrance portico is a white stone head of David Sassoon. tifr

David Sassoon (October 1792 – November 7, 1864)

The Sassoon Docks (built by his son) and the David Sassoon Library are named after him.

Architectural Landmarks

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Flora Fountain

Posted on May 22, 2010 by mumbaikaar

The Flora Fountain erected in 1869 in honour of Sir Bartle Frere (Governor of Mumbai in 1862-67)

Popularly known as the Heritage Mile, D N Road showcases an architectural legacy Structures here, mostly built in the boom years from 1885 to 1910, were allowed diverse styles, but under strict design control. Dadabhai Naoroji Road (or D. N. Road) is an important road in Fort area. Siddharth Law College, J. N. Petit Library, Khadi Bhandar are on this road.

Mr. Avinav Venkat of the BHW Team of Presenters

The street was originally named after an intrepid British Governor, William Hornby (1771-1784), who defied the East India Company and spent an unbudgeted sum to build a seawall near Worli. The wall helped plug the Great Breach and give the city almost one-third extra landmass.

Flora Fountain, a sculptural artefact of highest perfection made in Neo-Classical tradition

Completed in 1864, the Flora Fountain was erected by the Agri-Horticultural society of Western India out of a donation by Cursetjee Fardoonjee Parekh. Built in imported Portland stone, but now defaced with white oil paint, it was originally meant to be named after Sir Bartle Frere, then governor of Bombay. However, the name was changed before the fountain was unveiled.

It stood in the center of the town as it then was. Now this area is the heart of the business district of the town. theory.tifr.res.in

The fountain depicts the Roman goddess Flora.Designed by R. Norman Shaw, it was sculpted in imported Portland stone(Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset) by James Forsythe. wikipedia.org

Flora Fountain Looking North, Bombay. c. 1890s photo

Mumbai Info

Category Archives: Heritage Walks

Irani Cafe – Heritage Walks – Jimmy Boy – Feb 2012

The Inheritage Project – Personalised and engaging heritage walks, tours and workshops in Mumbai

Scots Kirk

Elphinston College

Prince of Wales Museum of Western India

Clock Tower

Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue

Esplanade Mansions

David Sassoon

Flora Fountain