An hour and a half from Mumbai, across the Dharamtar Creek, on a 5,000 square foot farm villa designed with Scandinavian inflections, Gaurav Shah keeps a 90-year-old acoustic piano, over 4,000 vinyl records, guitars, art from some of India’s finest contemporary artists, and a kitchen that makes Konkani food the way it was meant to be made. The name means “I’m coming” in Konkani. It is an invitation.
The word yeto means “I’m coming” in Konkani — the coastal language of Maharashtra’s Konkan belt, shaped by centuries of fishing communities, Portuguese colonial presence, and the particular culture of a coast that has always lived in close relationship with the sea. Gaurav Shah chose it as the name of his farmstay in Uran because it is also the first thing you want to say when you hear about this place: I’m coming. As soon as possible.
Uran is a coastal town in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, across the Dharamtar Creek from Mumbai — less than two hours from the city, accessible by ferry or road, and one of the most genuinely overlooked parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. A fishing and agricultural village, primarily, with a culture shaped by the Agri and Koli communities who have always called this coastline home. The JNPT port complex has brought industry to the immediate area, but Uran itself retains the coastal village character of the Konkan: mangroves, fishing boats, salt pans, and the particular light of the Arabian Sea at dusk.
In the middle of this landscape, Gaurav Shah and his wife Simrata built Me Yeto — and the result is unlike anything else within two hours of Mumbai.
The Villa
Me Yeto is a 5,000 square foot villa on a property of lush green surroundings and homegrown orchards. The architecture has a Scandinavian inflection — designed and built by an Indian architect whose engagement with Nordic design sensibilities produced something that manages, somehow, to be simultaneously European in its clean lines and entirely Indian in its materials and spirit. Open patios welcome moonlit nights into the bedrooms. A recreational lounge occupies the lower level. The property produces many of its own ingredients.
What distinguishes the interior from every other farmstay in the region is what Gaurav and Simrata chose to fill it with: not decorative objects purchased for a homestay aesthetic, but the accumulated passion of two people who have spent years surrounding themselves with things they genuinely love.
A 90-year-old S. Moutrie & Co. labelled upright acoustic piano occupies the living room — a genuine instrument, not a prop, played and played well. Alongside it: classical and acoustic guitars in various states of readiness. And then — the collection that defines the space above all — over 4,000 vinyl records, representing a musical library that spans genres, eras, and geographies with the specificity of a person who has been building it with intention for decades. Art from renowned Indian contemporary artists is hung and placed throughout, collected with the same care and knowledge as the records.
This is a home built by a chef who is also a musician who is also a collector who is also a farmer. The synthesis of these identities is Me Yeto.
Gaurav Shah and the Kitchen
Gaurav is the kind of chef for whom cooking is a form of communication — a way of sharing who he is, where he comes from, and what he finds beautiful about the world. His professional background gives him the range: 5-course fine dining experiences with global flavours are available at Me Yeto for those who want them, and intimate pop-ups highlighting different cuisines — Japanese, European, various global traditions — are curated for small groups with the discipline of a chef who takes every meal seriously.
But what Gaurav loves most is Konkani food. The cuisine of the coast he lives on: the coconut-based curries, the seafood preparations of the Koli and Agri fishing communities, the rice and fish and fresh vegetable dishes that have been made in these villages for generations with the ingredients that the land and sea provide. At Me Yeto, this food arrives from a kitchen that uses produce from the farm’s own orchard and garden — farm-to-table in the most literal possible sense, made by a trained chef who understands flavour deeply enough to let the ingredients speak for themselves.
Daytrips to Me Yeto for the dining experience are possible — Gaurav curates menus for small groups and hosts intimate pop-ups — making it equally accessible to Mumbai residents who want a day in the country and overnight guests who want the full experience.
Music, Art, Books
The 4,000+ vinyl records and the 90-year-old piano are not background details. They are the reason the evenings at Me Yeto have a particular quality that guests describe as unlike anywhere else they have stayed near Mumbai. Music is live at Me Yeto — not streamed, not ambient, but present in the specific way that a physical collection and a playable instrument make it present. Albums chosen for the mood, for the guest, for the weather and the hour and the direction of the conversation.
The library of eclectic books rounds out an intellectual environment that is unusual in a farmstay context. This is not a curated shelf of travel books and popular fiction. It is a library built by people who read seriously, across subjects, and keep the books they have loved.
The art — from Indian contemporary artists of genuine reputation — gives the walls of Me Yeto the character of a private gallery: works that reward attention, that have specific conversations with each other across the rooms, that carry the evidence of a collector’s eye rather than a decorator’s brief.
Where Uran Takes You
From Me Yeto, the Uran coast and its surroundings offer a version of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region that most city residents have never seen. The mangroves and mudflats of Uran are among the most important coastal wetland ecosystems near Mumbai, and the birdlife they support — especially in the winter months — is exceptional by any standard. The Karnala Bird Sanctuary, one of the best birding sites in Maharashtra, is approximately 40 kilometres away. The Elephanta Island caves — a UNESCO World Heritage Site, accessible by ferry from the Gateway of India and also visible from Uran’s coastline — are a boat ride away. The Uran coast itself, with its fishing harbour and the particular quiet of a coastal village that tourism has not yet significantly changed, is worth exploring on its own terms.
The broader Raigad district — Alibag beach, the Kulaba Fort, the Murud-Janjira sea fort — is accessible for day excursions.
Why It Stays With You
A guest at Me Yeto described it as a space that takes its time — a home studio that Gaurav never has to leave, tranquil enough for him and his family to flourish. Another described the combination of the music, the food, and the farm as something Mumbai offers no equivalent of, regardless of how much money is spent in the city’s most expensive restaurants and hotels.
Me Yeto is the expression of what happens when a person of multiple serious passions — cooking, music, collecting, farming, hosting — brings all of them together in a single place and opens the door. The vinyl is playing. The Konkani is simmering. The piano is available.
Yeto — I’m coming.
Plan Your Visit
Address: Uran, Raigad District, Maharashtra (approximately 1.5 hours from Mumbai) Instagram: @me_yeto Booking: Via Instagram DM · Also listed on By The Boutique (bytheboutique.com)
Hosts: Gaurav Shah (chef, musician, collector) and Simrata Shah Design: Indian architect with Scandinavian influences
Property: 5,000 sq ft villa · Lush green surroundings · Homegrown orchard and farm · Open patios · Recreational lounge (lower level)
The Collection: — 90-year-old S. Moutrie & Co. upright acoustic piano — 4,000+ vinyl records — Classical and acoustic guitars — Art from Indian contemporary artists — Library of eclectic books
Accommodation: 2 guest rooms with open patios Dining: Farm-to-fork Konkani cuisine (Gaurav’s speciality) · 5-course fine dining (global flavours) available · 3-course Japanese meals available · Curated menus for small groups · Intimate pop-ups (different cuisines) · Day visits possible for dining
Getting There — From Mumbai: approximately 1.5 hours by road via the Palm Beach Road and NH66, crossing the creek at Belapur or via the Rewas ferry from Mandwa/Gateway of India. — Ferry option: From Gateway of India (Apollo Bunder) to Rewas Jetty, then road to Uran — approximately 1.5 to 2 hours including ferry. Most scenic route. — From Pune: approximately 2.5 hours via the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and NH66. — The property is in Uran — coordinate exact approach and arrival with Gaurav via Instagram before visiting.
Nearby — Uran fishing harbour: adjacent · Karnala Bird Sanctuary: 40 km · Alibag: 45 km · Elephanta Island (ferry): 20 km by sea · Murud-Janjira: 100 km · Mumbai city: 1.5 hours
Best Time to Visit: October to February for the most pleasant coastal weather and the best birdwatching in the Uran mangroves · November to January for winter migrants in the wetlands · Year-round for the music, art, and food — the collection and kitchen are available in every season
