Lounge Loves: Daniel Craig, The Broth Station and more

In hot water

The weather in Bengaluru is damp and chilly—just right for ramens and broths—and finding a restaurant dedicated to serving all these within delivery distance has been a godsend. The Broth Station in BTM Layout does a variety of broth-based dishes such as Chicken Thukpa, Chicken Japanese Miso, and the house speciality Mutton TBS, a hearty one-pot dish of mutton bone broth and chunks of meat with freshly made noodles. There are vegetarian dishes built on veg stock as well, like the Veg Pho and Khowsuey, and pureed soups like Broccoli and Walnut. The packaging is sensible: the dry ingredients come in a box and the broth in an aluminium flask—just mix them together at home and you have the perfect weeknight dinner. —Shrabonti Bagchi

All we need is Daniel Craig 

A few days back there was a first- look image of Daniel Craig from Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, which will premier at the Venice film festival in September. It shows Craig’s character, from behind, shooting photographs. Based on William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel of the same name, Craig plays an outcast American expat in Mexico, who is obsessed with a younger man (played by Drew Starkey). Craig sure knows how to shake things up. In 2022, he was gyrating in a Belvedere vodka ad directed by Taika Waititi. Now he’s having fun in the recent Loewe campaign: side bangs, multi-colour knit sweaters, beaded trousers, yellow-tinted glasses. What’s there not to Loewe? And, he will be returning as detective Benoit Blanc in Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery next year. You don’t need Bond when you have Daniel Craig. —Nipa Charagi

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The unexpected duet 

Quavo and Lana Del Rey’s unlikely collaboration on Tough is a genre-bending country-trap track that explores resilience. The first time I heard it, I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me—remembering times I’ve had to be tough. On Tough, Quavo’s deep, raspy voice with auto-tune beats seamlessly merges with LDR’s haunting, dreamy vocals and twangy guitar. The song’s unexpected harmony felt like I was watching friends from different circles clicking at a party. Lana’s chorus kicks off with a trio of iconic American images. Quavo’s verse captures the same sense of isolation that defines her sound, by adding dramatic stress to his words. He raps about growing up in Atlanta and loss in his life, “through the pain, gotta show ‘em give ‘em light”. The track unravels the complexity of life’s trials and the bittersweet feeling of being tough. —Ghazal Chengappa

Collecting pebbles

If the Friends theme song was written today, it would be something like, “I’ll be there for you, one meme at a time.” Days when I am struggling with work deadlines or my mind is clouded with thoughts, there’s always a funny meme or an inspirational Reel waiting in my social media DMs sent by a friend to cheer me up. This is an act of pebbling, the latest buzzword in internet slang inspired by penguins who bring pebbles to their loved ones. Almost every day I am given pebbles, sometimes in the shape of videos showing two cows smiling while chewing grass or a meme of a woman sipping wine near a beach while the world behind her is on fire. Each pebble makes me realise someone is always there for me. —Pooja Singh

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