Making vegan food ‘cool’ again; Why young India loves bridge jewellery

Hello,

And…it’s curtains down on the financial year 2023-24.

FY24 was a year of many highs. The BSE Sensex was up 24.85% during the fiscal year—the second-highest rise in the last five years. The largest gain of 68% was recorded in 2021.

Nifty 50 too soared nearly 29%, logging its best performance in the last three fiscal years.

Food delivery giant Zomato was the best-performing largecap on the bourses, growing 261% in market value to nearly $19 billion. 

The financial year also saw a buzzing IPO activity, with Rs 61,000 crore raised via public issues—up 19% from Rs 52,116 raised in FY23.

Meanwhile, the total EV registrations have hit a record level this March, with the electric two-wheeler sales crossing 1 lakh units this month, the second time since May 2023. It was the largest component of the total 1.75 lakh unit sales.

And lastly, ever seen a burger made from idlis? Sorry, not sorry.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Making vegan food ‘cool’ again
• Why young India loves bridge jewellery
• Jamie Oliver Kitchen’s comfort food

Here’s your trivia for today: Since 1980, what has been the largest US public company to file for bankruptcy?

Wine and Food

Making vegan food ‘cool’ again

Typically, restaurants serving vegan food have been stereotyped for featuring ‘dull’ or ‘boring’ menus. People of Tomorrow is exactly the opposite—it has dishes curated by several celebrity chefs who went the extra mile to showcase ingredient-forward food, keeping sustainability at its heart.

YS Life visited People of Tomorrow's new restaurant in Vasant Vihar, Delhi to find out if it was worth the hype. 

Reinventing veganism:

• The vegan restaurant’s menu is crafted by chefs including Anahita Dhondy, Surabhi Sehgal, Dhruv Nijhawan, Sambhavi Joshi, Anukriti Anand, a ‘secret’ chef, and People of Tomorrow’s in-house chef, Tashyaa Mehrotra. 
• Tomatoes of Tomorrow—a zero-waste dish with confit tomatoes, dried tomato jerky, and creamy stracciatella—uses every part of the tomato, from the skin to the leftover pulp used in the jerky.
• The menu also features Raspberry Bramble made with gin, raspberry foam and American lemon; Cosmopolitan with Cointreau, cranberry juice and lemon, and paper plane with Aperol, Montenegro and lemon.

Splurge

Why young India loves bridge jewellery

For the longest time, fine jewellery has been treated as an asset for its appreciating and emotional value. With time, functionality and versatility have overpowered the ‘status symbol’ factor, and modern buyers are now using jewellery as an extension of their personal style and mood. 

Versatility and affordability:

• Bridge jewellery, as the name suggests, is crafted with the same precision and standards as fine jewellery, only they are made with less expensive metals and gems.
• “There is a rise in everyday fine jewellery—delicate necklaces, stackable rings, and earrings that can be dressed up or down. People are more conscious of getting the most wear out of their jewellery,” states Shweta Gupta, Founder of Jewels by Shweta.
• “While they (bridge jewellery) may not appreciate in value, their worth can be subjective to the aesthetic and sentimental value of the wearer,” says Kabia Grewal, Co-founder of Outhouse.

Wine and Food

Inside Jamie Oliver Kitchen’s comfort food

The Jamie Oliver brand opened its 31st outlet in India with Jamie Oliver Kitchen in Indiranagar, Bengaluru. The brand takes the idea of crowd-pleasing flavours cooked using locally sourced ingredients and presents with craft and hospitality.

“Jamie and all of us don’t necessarily believe in being hugely experimental… that’s not our game. We believe in doing classic things really well,” says Jasper Reid, Managing Director of Dolomite Restaurants, India.

Comfortable and familiar:

• Jamie’s Fried Chicken is unlike any other. It’s exactly what fried chicken is supposed to be—juicy, its crust peppered with garlic flakes and flavoured with a hint of spicy seasoning.
• Then, there’s King Prawn Linguini, which marries the earthy pepper with the tang of tomato with the utterly sweet king prawn and shrimp.
• Its Lemond Curd Bar is a kind of dessert that jolts you awake. The set lemon curd doesn’t go wild with tang, but it’s the acidic sweetness of the raspberry compote that makes you revel in it for long.

News & updates

• GenAI boom: Microsoft and OpenAI are working together on building an artificial intelligence supercomputer called “Stargate” that could cost as much as $100 billion. Stargate will be the biggest in a series of supercomputers that Microsoft and OpenAI plan to build over the next six years.
• Doubling up: Instagram is developing a “Blend” feature that creates a private feed of Reels recommended for you and a friend. The feature is designed to make it possible for users to discover new Reels together. The company said that the feature is an internal prototype and is not being tested externally.
• Space drugs: After many months in space, Varda Space Industries’ small automated laboratory came back to Earth in February with a special cargo—a form of HIV drug ritonavir, commonly used to treat HIV, that was manufactured in space. Varda Space seeks to autonomously manufacture pharmaceuticals in microgravity.

Since 1980, what has been the largest US public company to file for bankruptcy?

Answer: Lehman Brothers.

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