You can tell there is something special about Veronica’s – a coffee, wine and sandwich shop in Mumbai, India – from the constant queue outside on any given day.
It would not be an exaggeration to describe the offerings there as scrumptious: the pastrami sandwich, made with buffalo meat – it is illegal to eat beef in Mumbai – is a generous portion, with ribbons of the stuff interlaced with dills and pickles in a warm milk loaf.
The smash burger is the dirtiest of delicious burgers – a short rib and bone marrow double patty, browned onion, cheddar and bacon in a brioche bun. The sauce and fat drip down your fingers as you devour it, and you ask yourself whether it would be against decorum to lick your fingers in public.
The shop is in Bandra, a gentrified suburb of low-rise apartments and refurbished bungalows where you can buy anything from independent designer clothing to a swanky cocktail.
“I was having a moment when I was creating the sandwiches for Veronica’s,” says executive chef Hussain Shahzad, a Mumbaikar who trained under Daniel Humm at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, and worked alongside Indian-American chef Floyd Cardoz.