Silver Jubilee for Little Italy Juhu
Back to the time of bell-bottoms and big hairstyles, Mumbai had just started getting a continental zest to its tongue in the ’90s. Without a doubt, the glorious Italian cuisine of pizzas and pasta was wildly trending. In such a time, Little Italy Juhu was only the very second restaurant to have Mumbaikars acquire a taste of some vegetarian Italian goodness. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, we reminisce about Little Italy’s uncompromised quality. With the primary focus on serving some good food and good drinks, they gave us a good time.
Founded by Late. Umesh Laxmidas Mehta, Little Italy Juhu has always been a star restaurant. One big not so hush secret about Little Italy’s piquant delicacies is that everything served there is made inhouse. Right from the pasta to bread and even the sauces are made by the kitchen team, ever since the inception. Every morning for the past 25 years, sauces are freshly made and taste-tested to ensure quality and authenticity. Not even once, were the sauces refrigerated and reused. This tradition has been followed like a religion passed down through the generation since the launch of the outlet which is carried forward by the chef on the daily.
Counting in the past 25 years, Little Italy Juhu has seen a great learning curve. With a vision ahead of its time, the founder Late Shri. Umesh Laxmidas Mehta kept the menu up to date with new delightful additions always. After his sad demise, the management was passed on to his wife Swati Mehta who not only upgraded Little Italy Juhu but also carved a path for her son, Abhi Mehta the current MD of Little Italy Juhu. He melted and moulded the menu complying to the new age needs of the food industry by introducing vegan and furthermore not-so-run-of-the-mill vegetarian dishes.
Little Italy Juhu was started with a vision to give people a taste of continental vegetarian food and always stayed true to it. There’s no doubt that all dishes served at Little Italy Juhu are nothing but innovative and scrumptious since the beginning. With over 300 hundred classic dishes on the original menu like Bolognese Pasta, Margherita Pizza and Bruschetta to name a few, they’ve had multiple gourmet additions like Sunflower Pizza, Spinach Pinenut Ravioli, Aglio Olio Pizza and Nutella Pizza. Slowly and eventually they started serving Mexican and Lebanese delights like the good ol’ Enchiladas, Nachos with
Cheese and Hummus. Even though Italian is their primary cuisine, they managed to delight their patrons with dishes like Lebanese Jar, Sicak Hummus and Malfatti. To keep the health-conscious and the millennial crowd entertained, dishes like Avocado Pasta, Avocado Toasties, Kiwi Chia Pudding and a lot more healthy alternatives to the classic dishes were introduced.
Shedding light on his experience as the current Director of Little Italy Juhu, Mr Abhi Mehta, says, “I am grateful to have my family as mentors that guided me throughout and their lessons added to my learning experience; helping me grow in presenting ingenious dining experiences to people. Throughout my course in learning, the primary focus has always been on bringing in variety and innovation to the dishes and cuisines in the vegetarian space. We follow the ideology of our food to not only be visually appealing but also healthy and is thoughtfully indulgent. The past few months have been difficult, but we are practicing all safety measures and hygiene standards to ensure the utmost safety of the patrons.”
On the occasion of marking the silver jubilee milestone, a sister brand called Little Treats Patisserie will be introduced by Alisha Mehta. Little Treats Patisserie is again, a genuine attempt to have people turn to a healthier, vegetarian and vegan lifestyle while not missing out on the greatest pleasure of life – desserts. With Alisha’s Diploma in Baking from Le Cordon Bleu in Melbourne, one can only imagine the desert storm that’s gonna be whipped up!
To wrap it up, Little Italy Juhu is nothing but grateful and thankful to the loyal customers. Not to forget the Little Italy family consisting of directors and partners that are Swati Umesh Mehta, Abhi Umesh Mehta, Ami Abhi Mehta, Alisha Umesh Mehta, Karan Singh – General Manager, CS Purohit ji – Financial Advisor, Sudhangsu Mondal – Chief Accountant and last but not the least, Little Italy Juhu’s entire staff without whom none of this would’ve been possible.
