For the longest time, a 40-year-old mango tree that grew in a compound nestled in a by-lane in Juhu lay barren. Then, at the end of 2003, a first-time restaurateur at the time and a 31-year-old Worli boy, Prashant Chaudhri, took over the property to start a new diner there. Unlike former owners, who restrained the tree to the backyard, Chaudhri decided to make it central to his venture.

It came to be called Mangii Ferra or "mango tree" in Latin, which was appropriate since the burly evergreen, adorning the entrance, became a bit of an icon on its own. And in the summer of 2004, a few months after the establishment had opened in February, the tree surprisingly bore fruit.