Bringing 'dosa' to Chennai

MARS ATTACKS. Er... sorry, it should have been `attacked'. But the invasion which began on the evening of Tuesday continues. Where? Just Around the Corner.

The Mars chain of restaurants from Bombay with K.P. Restaurants launched Chennai's own `dosa'ge of waterholes early this week. The two brands, `Just Around the Corner' and `Dosa Diner' opened with all the jazz that the city could rustle up.

That night with the lanes leading off from Greams Road (right opposite the Fruit Shop) choked with cars - big, small and mighty there was little space to put a foot down safely. And in their evening best, a list of who's who in the city trooped in to the large patio of `Just Round the Corner (JRC)' and `Dosa Diner', exclaiming `how authentic' the whole thing was.

To let you in on a secret that is no longer one, it was former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen who ushered the Martians in, last night. Driving down with a few friends in a neat Ford Ikon, the black-clad actress came, saw and cut the ribbon. Why did she bother at all, for a restaurant? Apparently, Sanjay Narang of the Mars group of restaurants is a great friend and she wanted to wish him well on his brand new twin babies.

She also answered a few questions. The usual: beauty pageants and intelligence, her acting career vis-a-vis Miss World Ash, her movies, her friends and of course, `whatever she liked to talk about'. It was just a few minutes actually, she breezed in, answered all, some seriously, some with meaningful laughs, and others not at all.

Of course, the photographers were trigger happy. Obligingly, she smiled on, even waiting a while after she got up to leave, on request. Miss Chennai Pooja Nair hung round the fringes, before she got an opportunity to walk up to Sen and say `I've always wanted to meet you'. Sen posed with Pooja as the cameras kept flashing. But, a few minutes later, she shrugged off the group around her and vanished into a larger crowd.

JRC is a self service diner, in the style of MacDonalds - mood elevating bright interiors, stainless steel counters, furniture and natural cedar wood with glass table tops. Going by the crowds, it looks like Chennai welcomes this Martian invasion.

By Ramya Kannan

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