Composer and entrepreneur Ashu Phatak is often one of the few people to walk past Starbucks and into Doolally for morning meetings. The coffee shop and the microbrewery sit cheek-by-jowl at Kemps Corner's Kwality House, a stone's throw from his August Kranti Marg residence. On a Tuesday morning, when we join him for a "power breakfast" at the brewery, indie musician Tejas Menon's The Next Best Thing is playing on the speakers. "The first time I came here for breakfast, I was told that they serve beer, not coffee," he laughs.

He didn't mind settling for the English breakfast on the menu as long as the space offered peace and quiet, and the option of bringing Prince, his delightful golden Labrador. "He accompanies me on most meetings," says the founder of True School of Music (TSM), and the Quarter at the Royal Opera House.