Top chef

Dressed in a white cotton shirt and khakhi pants,sporting a stubble and armed with a laptop,today is clearly a day he is donning his ‘businessman’ hat. When asked whether he is a chef any more,he muses,saying,“It is something that I wrestle with a lot. Some days I wake up and I want to be chef,other days I get a kick out of this. I’m still involved in the kitchen and the menus — just not in a hands-on role. It’s a bit like my background — I’m a jack of all trades.” Akerkar never studied culinary arts and had multiple engineering degrees before he decided to become a chef. He points out that his wife,Malini,helps him in his business by looking at branding and marketing and running her own furniture store,Pallate.

As we saunter towards the Gateway,he nods towards the Taj hotel and says that he spent his first night with Malini there. He likes sailing but points out to the filthy green hue of the sea and a couple of patches of oil,citing them as the reason he doesn’t sail much in Mumbai. A keen diver,Akerkar is a qualified instructor and recently took his two daughters,Amalia and Shaan,aged 11 and 16,to Oman and Sri Lanka to learn the sport. When asked which is easier — running several restaurants or being a parent — he wryly smiles,saying “restaurants. Kids are tough to run; they run you. I’m the disciplinarian and put limits whereas Malini is more lenient”. The couple met when Akerkar ran Just Desserts for a few months in partnership with AD Singh of Olive fame; “I took a shine to her and kept inviting her and her boyfriend home for meals. She finally dumped him.”

Asked about the recognition he has received through awards,Akerkar points out that while he appreciates each,his only grouse is that “it gets absurd at times when awards are given to almost every establishment”. While Akerkar seems reassured,he admits that restaurant reviews still affect him — but he reads them with a pinch of salt. “It’s always terrible to read something nasty about your work,but you can tell by the writing style and the tone of the review whether the writer understands what he or she is doing.” He gets defensive about new establishments getting slammed for teething issues; though diplomatic,one can easily read his (perhaps justified) contempt towards food critics.

Twenty years on,Akerkar should naturally be proud of his achievements,but shows no sign of complacency. More self-assurance,as he willingly poses for the camera and lets us know that one of his quirks is to get a line of strangers to pose with him in the ‘running man’ stance everywhere he visits. The only moment he loses his composure is when a flock of pigeons fly into his face,startling him.

Good Eats
* Bhel Puri
* Vada Pav
* Thaali at Thackers
* Dim Sum at Royal China