A TALE BETWEEN BREADS

The last few years have seen a boom of gourmet burger joints in Mumbai. Trained chefs and experienced hospitality veterans are, however, not at the forefront of this trend. It’s a show run by regular city folks who hail from starkly different industries. We speak to three men behind three of Bombay’s most loved burger joints. This is their exceptional story

- SUMAN MAHFUZ QUAZI

The year is 2011. US forces in Pakistan have killed Al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden. President Barack Obama is drawing up a plan to withdraw 33,000 troops by next summer — including the surge troops sent in December 2009 — after pressure from lawmakers and Democrats mounts, amid seething American sentiments towards the war in Afghanistan…

In the conflict-ridden country’s capital, Kabul, that same year, Sijo Mathew — a war contractor at the time — allied with his then-boss to shut down the recreational centre that served as refuge and respite at the camp, where 500-plus civilians working with the US Army and NATO forces lived. Their goal was to renovate it into a makeshift tiki bar, made with scrap materials, like bamboo and jute. "I think my passion is... I wouldn't say hospitality; my passion is facilitating a good time, and for me having a good time starts with food," says Mathew, who co-owns Mumbai's wildly popular burger joint, Good Flippin' along with partners, Sid Marchant and Viren D'Silva.