Peta Mathias is snacking on masala peanuts and sipping a Kolkata gin and tonic as she writes to me from her friend’s luxury boutique hotel, India’s Glenburn Penthouse. There’s jazz music in the air, sweeping views out to the River Hoogly, and the maps on the wall trace myriad historic journeys to this same City of Joy. “My birthday is in October and I have so far been celebrating for three weeks and have eaten nine birthday cakes,” she types. “I plan to keep celebrating for another three weeks because when you turn 70, how can partying be wrong?”
The insatiable New Zealand chef, author, singer and broadcaster, who takes gastronomic tours through France, Morocco, Vietnam, Spain, Italy and, at the moment, India, sure knows how to celebrate. “I lead…
