Neighbourhood Hospitality Management Services, that's the name of the company the three young partners have just formed. Very clear about the objective of their new enterprise and future endeavours, Sumiraj Gambhir, Abhishek Honawar and Pankil Shah cannot stop smiling. And why may that be? Because in the short time that Woodside Inn, has been in their charge, it has already shown them the fruits of their labour, or passion, more appropriately put.

The concept behind their venture is to give to Bombay, spaces that will provide simple and classic hospitality services where the young and the young at heart can come, relax over a chilled glass of beer, eat food which is not pretentious, but of the highest quality and at affordable prices. The idea is that the location of these cafés or bistros will be in places that blend in with a friendly neighbourhood. A good plan, one would say given the dearth of such outlets. It does sound very inviting to know you have a place just round the corner you could drop in at either on your way home from work, or after you have returned home, had a nice hot shower, got into your favourite old pair of jeans and walked to the Bistro to catch up with your local friends.

It does sound very inviting to know you have a place just round the corner you could drop in at, either on your way home from work, or walk to after a quick shower.

If Woodside Inn, the flagship brand of the company is any yardstick, The Woodside Boys are on the right track. Here is a small, warm and friendly bistro housed in Oriental Mansion, a beautiful, 120 year old stone building situated in the heart of South Bombay at an important junction of Colaba, right opposite Regal Cinema. The charm is that it is on the main road and yet off it, sitting pretty and cosy with an entire residential neighbourhood all around in the many lanes that lead away and across from it. The interiors are very much in keeping with the exterior. Sensibly the boys did not alter but enhance the old world charm, with suitable memorabilia on its walls.

Abhishek and Sumitraj both hold degrees from HAFT (Hotel Administration and Food Technology), Sophia Polytechnic in Bombay. While Sumitraj has industry experience from establishments like Hotel Ambassador and Taj President, Abhishek has honed his skills at Hotel Renaissance at Powai and the Ambassador Flight Kitchen. He was also part of the opening kitchen team of Zenzi, now a hugely popular restaurant in Bombay. In addition he left a mark also in Goa where he established and successfully ran Kamasutra Kitchen and Bar on the sunset strip of Baga. Pankil returned home from USA where he completed a BSc degree in Economics and Computer Science. A marketing whiz-kid, Pankil decided to transform his passion for food into a career.

Now together as friends and partners they plan to seamlessly create pockets where city residents and travellers, groups of friends can casually walk into non-intimidating environment and enjoy some special time. Here's wishing them luck. With the kind of zeal and enthusiasm they display it won't be long before we find many Inns beckoning us in.