Of Chyawanprash Cheesecake and Phantom Cigarettes

A product of Mumbai’s Institute of Hotel Management,Mehrotra’s first professional stint was at the Ta President’s Thai Pavilion,where he immersed himself in Asian cooking. When he took over operations at Old World Hospitality (OWH)’s Oriental Octopus in Delhi,the restaurant rose to popularity as one of the city’s favorite pan-Asian dining destinations. Mehrotra’s success inspired hospitality entrepreneur Hirohito Khartoum to set up Tamara in London,also a pan-Asian restaurant. The exposure to European ingredients,contemporary dining and modern cooking techniques in London would boost Mehrotra’s natural inventiveness. When Khartoum launched Indian Accent,a contemporary Indian restaurant in Delhi,Mehrotra was touted as the captain of the ship. But not everyone was convinced. His experience lay in pan-Asian cooking and this was Indian cuisine. He was made to go through a trial. But he proved his mettle again as critics and patrons loved his contemporary European menu,layered with distinct Indian ingredients and flavours.

The awards began to roll in. “We have grown up eating things like aam papad,chuski or phantom cigarettes,but they are gradually disappearing from our food options. We try to incorporate these flavours into our menu so that we can take our guests back to their childhood and revive culinary traditions,” says Mehrotra. There are three musts Mehrotra follows when creating a menu: never play with authenticity,keep the presentation beautiful,and generate nostalgia among guests. Whatever he’s doing obviously seems to be working.

If you watched Foodistan closely,Mehrotra was the potential winner even before the results were declared. Yet,the ‘baap of innovation’ isn’t able to list his own favourite food. My idea of a perfect meal is going home and eating whatever is cooked there,” he says quite predictably.

Envisioning his future,Mehrotra says that he is keen to train young Indian chefs. “The food scene in India is evolving on an almost daily basis and I’m not sure if our catering schools can keep up with the pace,” says he. Ask him how to get it right with the apron on and he serves a chef’s special. “Never follow a recipe blindly. Read it as a reference,but always innovate,” he says.