It's a buzzing kitchen at Mumbai’s Hyatt Regency. Stax, the Australian sea food eatery, is waking up as people stumble into the chic restaurant with trendy, glass interiors. Sean Cummings’ lip smacking prawn cocktail is the talk of the town. And if you are not completely bowled over by the cute chef and his cuter Aussie accent, he’ll sure get you once he dashes onto the stage to join the live band, Roundabout. And boy, is he a great singer! Metro restaurants seem to be full of interesting chefs like Cummings who come from all over the world. Most of them, like Ronald Neubauer, the executive pastry chef at J W Marriott’s Bombay Baking Company, are here on contract. Neubauer, who’s been with the Marriott group since 1992, has been in India for the past 20 months. But some, like Delhi’s Tarsillo Nataloni, who set up the popular Italian restaurant Flavors in Defence Colony, settled in the capital ‘‘by chance.’’ Nataloni first came to India as a tourist in 1992. ‘‘When I came here, I felt very close to the country. India is much like Italy and I really love its people,’’ says Nataloni, who was looking to open an Italian restaurant in either Europe, South East Asia or the Carribean. Dario Dezio, who came to Pune 14 years ago leaving Cabaret Voltaire, his restaurant in Sicily, is another of the species. For someone who’s passionate about yoga, travelling to the mystic East in search of a guru was the obvious choice. Here, he found his soulmate (now his wife) Rebecca, who had also come to India from Britain for the same reason! Dezio’s joint, La Pizzeria, is a must-visit for every food-loving Punekar. A look at Cummings’ appetising prawn cocktail, served in a broad plate instead of a glass, is proof enough. But this tasty tidbit is close to the chef’s heart for more than one reason. Cummings popped the big question to his now wife, Laura, when they were both high on prawn cocktail. Though fusion is a complete no-no, these chefs don’t miss making the best of both worlds. Like Galli, Nataloni too is settled in blissful matrimony with an Indian, Mary Claire. Again, when it comes to Indian cuisine, they love it. Nariyoshi Nakamura, the Japanese executive chef at The Metropolitan Hotel Nikko, Delhi, has fallen in love with the city and Indian food. This Kaiseki and Sushi expert dishes out a grand Japanese fare at Sakura, the popular Japanese eatery at Hotel Metropolitan Nikko, but relishes “tandoori chicken, dal, curry, roti and Indian rice”. And Francis Luzinier, the new executive chef of Renaissance Hotel in Mumbai’s far flung Powai, is the guinea pig when the hotel’s desi eatery Nawaab Saheb’s chefs are test-driving their kebabs. ‘‘The chef says, if I sweat, he knows the food is good!’’ says Luzinier laughing. Between dishing out exotica and ensuring that all their guests are floating on clouds after sampling their meals, our chefs have no time to spare for the mundane.
