Lounge Loves: Madeleines, zero-alcohol drinks and more

Madeleine memory 

It was a decade ago that I came across the “madeleine anecdote” from Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. While the author talked about how a sensorial experience could unlock a memory, I was quite taken in with the description of “squat plump littles cakes…. molded in the fluted valve of a scallop shell”. Over the years, I have come across versions that have been too dense or heavy. Recently I chanced upon a light and elegant variety from the patisserie at The Imperial hotel in New Delhi. They have curated a box featuring an assortment of 12 madeleines and a gugelhupf, or a ring-shaped cake. You can choose from a selection of 10 flavours for the former. I favoured the caramel banana and milk chocolate. It seems a little meta that the taste unwittingly unlocked the memory of having read Proust’s madeleine anecdote. —Avantika Bhuyan

New spin on old clothes 

A fashion hack that seems to be popular on Instagram is re-styling clothes forgotten in the wardrobe. And a good chunk of those sharing these hacks are mothers. One of my favourites is Lisa Ing-Marinelli, who I discovered recently after a friend shared her profile as a “pebble” via DM. What makes Ing-Marinelli, a corporate lawyer, stand out is the way she layers her clothes. A white T-shirt is paired with a plaid shirt and dark jeans. And everything comes together with an oversized grey coat and brown loafers. Similarly, a green-white striped T-shirt, olive cargo pants and beige loafers get a new life when she wraps an orange sweater around her shoulders. It’s clever styling at its best. —Pooja Singh

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Gong Yoo is back

The scene-stealer and effortlessly stylish Gong Yoo—he rocked white on white at a Louis Vuitton event in August—is back in a K-drama after three years. The versatile and subtle actor plays a tormented music producer, Han Jeon-won, who wants to get back with his ex-wife, in The Trunk, which dropped last week on Netflix. “I like the things you say sometimes. It just feels like you are undoing the buttons that were fastened wrong and rebuttoning them correctly, one by one,” says his character to his contract wife Noh In-ji (Seo Hyun-jin). And, he will be back as the salesman in Squid Game, season 2, later this month. Can one ever get enough of the “Coffee Prince”? —Nipa Charagi

Joy in an orange drink 

Winter in the north-east of India is the time for large picnic groups cooking up a feast by the river. Baskets of shiny, fresh oranges are an essential part of the ingredients list. They are eaten whole, juiced or put into salads. The seasoning for the salad is salt, chopped chillies and coriander. In my opinion, no other fruit can ever come close to that experience. Last week, I was at Masque in Mumbai, and decided to try their zero-alcohol menu. The first drink was named Salted Orange. It was made with two different varieties, Nagpur and Malta, mixed with carbonated water, garnished with an aromatic lemon leaf. One sip, and dormant picnic memories from more than two decades ago sprung up. It was a pity I had that drink at dinner. Ideally, it should be part of my everyday breakfast menu. —Jahnabee Borah

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