The excitement around restaurants championing seasonal produce can wear off once you scratch the surface and see that most of it is puffery, and very little is conscientious cooking. But one can understand the reason behind this inexorable trend. You see, seasons and memories associated with food are intertwined. And that may be why summer has us pining for mangoes, while monsoon leaves us with pakoda cravings. Now, city bartenders are toying with popsicles, giving them zany twists adding liquor and experimenting with flavours that catapult us to lazy summer vacations spent in sprawling verandahs. Tippler or just a toasted Mumbaikar toiling under the scorching sun, there is something for everyone.

Going gola over it

It is difficult to explain briefly the joy of sucking on a juicy kala khatta gola by the beach and with abandon. So, it is even more exciting to find out there are variants with alcohol in them. Speaking about the Chowpatty chooski (R320), Vinayak Desai, bartender at a Chembur restaurant, tells us, "The cocktail fits perfectly with our restaurant's concept as we are trying to amalgamate the old and new cuisines of Bombay. The flavours are basic, so we have crushed ice, lime, gola masala, and kala katha syrup, but we add vodka to it for a twist."