Homecoming

Did you hear about the young hotel trainee chef who left after three years,emigrated from the country and returned 18 years later with more international fame than the hotel? Vineet Bhatia isn’t a household name in India yet,but he currently holds two separate Michelin stars for his restaurants in London and Geneva. He has,additionally,owned or consulted for restaurants in Dubai,Mauritius,Moscow,Saudi Arabia,Los Angeles,Leeds and even New Delhi,but the latter was early into his restaurant empire-building years.

Now,Bhatia could probably be counted amongst the top 10 chefs in the world by number of restaurants he has; although without achieving three stars for a single restaurant,the Ducasses and Robuchons of the culinary world will hardly take notice. Bhatia will,however,continue his empire building by opening a restaurant in March 2010 at The Oberoi,Mumbai,in place of Kandahar,the North-Western Indian restaurant that was damaged during the terror attacks last year. The hotel’s representative did not confirm this,stating,“we are yet to finalise details and it is too premature to give any information at this stage”. However,this development was hinted by Bhatia to us when we met him last week and confirmed by him in a British interview.

Bhatia owes a lot to the Oberoi group and says,“I had a strong foundation and very sound training,” referring to the two years he worked at the hotel’s Delhi branch and one year at Mumbai.

The chef is known for his modern approach to Indian food,especially in presentation. He says that his training and strong fundamentals allows him to play around with combinations in his mind first when creating new dishes. The restaurant is expected to be extremely upscale and feature plated dishes instead of having food to share.

This will be Bhatia’s second restaurant opening in India within a quarter,with his first opening at Oakwood Premier in Juhu in January. When asked whether he is considering returning to India,he says “Not really. I have had bad experiences here and that’s why I left; I would like to come back maybe when I’ve retired but doing business in India isn’t easy with all the red tape.”