The Library at NMACC

Walking into The Library at the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) feels a little like stepping into a personal study tucked inside a European castle, minus the frescoes. Except this one is brightly lit, with statement fixtures, a cafe-style restaurant, a bar, a programming stage and plenty of modern flourishes. It is, after all, a library with a rather social side.

From the NMACC lobby, a wood-panelled shopfront with a sliding glass window catches your eye. Follow the heady waft of freshly brewed coffee and you'll find a display of fresh viennoiseries: pain au chocolat, croissants, danishes, muffins, alongside signature entremets such as raspberry rose and lychee, berry baskets, cheesecake and choux. Behind the counter, a circular coffee bar wraps around a live tree, making it quite the spot to linger over your first cup.

There are two ways into the space. One leads to the Edit Room, home to the coffee bar and a quick-bite corner. The other, and the primary entrance, opens into the main dining area. Here, cosy nooks and alcove seating sit alongside a fireplace wall, grand ceilings adorned with chandeliers and mirrors, a programming stage and walls lined with books. Designed by Asheish Shah, the space reimagines what a modern library can look like when social encounters are as much a part of the experience as reading. The bar too, dressed in wooden panelling, is small but mighty.

A wooden spiral staircase takes you upstairs, where the bulk of the book collection lives. The mezzanine is a different mood altogether, with cushy benches and bright, skylight-esque lighting making it a quieter corner to browse, read or simply lose yourself in a book. This is also where you can pick up titles from the collection, along with curated stationery.

Spread across roughly 2,750 sq ft, the 70-seater houses over 4,500 titles (and 9,000 books) across more than 40 genres, all curated by Rolly Books. The collection is as eclectic as you'd hope: a Chanel coffee table book sits comfortably alongside Japanese fiction, while shelves cover art, design, photography, food, architecture, business, politics, science, self-help, manga, YA titles and Indian classics. There's even a beautiful Amar Chitra Katha art installation outside, while inside, you can browse and buy from their entire collection.

Of course, a library this sociable comes with a tempting food and beverage programme. Aditi Dugar brings her expertise to the table through her catering arm, Sage & Saffron, with the NMACC team handling on-ground execution. The all-day menu is organised like chapters in a book, with a table of contents that takes you through breakfast, working lunch, brunch, all-day dining, pinchos (Spanish-style bite-sized snacks) and cocktails.

I started with the beetroot and orange salad, fresh and tangy with just the right hint of sweetness, dressed in pistachio pesto, arugula and lemon vinaigrette. The whipped labneh, topped with crispy chickpeas and halloumi, was another winner, as were the chicken skewers, Bombay baby corn on the cob and khao soi with chicken.

But the potato hashers are what I'd go back for. A crunchy hash brown base topped with avocado and salsa, the dish packs in distinct flavours without trying too hard. The corn mousse is silky smooth, and a poached egg on top (which you can request as an add-on) would make it even better. Another hit was the Asian grilled snapper, served with a toothsome curry. The fish was seared beautifully, while cherry tomatoes cut through its richness.

There's a dedicated butter programme here, too, with four varieties: cafe de bombay, herb-alicious, roasted garlic, and date and salt, served alongside house-baked bread of the day. Frozen yoghurt bowls offer a soft-serve fix that could easily double up as a meal, while the desserts deserve an exploration of their own. Make room, too, for the signature matchas and coffees.

The cocktail edit follows a classics-with-a-twist approach. Think gin washed in ghee, bourbon infused with orange marmalade, white pepper rum paired with smoky whisky and pineapple, and a spritzer mixing tequila, soju, sparkling wine and green apple juice. There's also a well-stocked selection of wines, aperitifs, gins, rums, mezcals, vodkas and brandies. If you're steering clear of alcohol, you'll find zero-proof drinks, Campa (of course, Reliance!), juices and kombuchas.

A visit to this Library may take you all the way to the esoteric BKC, but trust NMACC to find a way to bridge art, craft and gastronomy. Imagined as a literary and cultural destination by Nita Mukesh Ambani, The Library is particularly interesting for the way its culinary and cultural programming is designed to work as one experience. And, for the most part, it does.

There's a monthly cultural calendar in place, with book readings, poetry evenings, launches, cultural debates, workshops and more. Read a Kitaab is the official literary curation partner. The food is good, the coffee even better, and the space gives you room to choose your own pace. You could pop in for a quick morning coffee, settle in for a leisurely brunch, spend an afternoon picking apart the design details or head upstairs for an uninterrupted reading session. I can quite see people losing a few hours here without noticing.

An icing on the proverbial cake would have been a set of stamped or customised library cards, complete with a book-lending system. But who knows, they may just start that. For now, there's enough reason to make this Library a regular stop.