Chefs Without Borders

Like him,the city has seen several expatriates settled here,opening restaurants and cafes,and bringing a taste of their native cuisine to Pune. When Chang Soo Kim and his son Charlie Park moved from South Korea in 2001,they did not have many dining options in the city. Kim had dedicated his life to studying philosophy,and starting a restaurant was not a natural choice for him. “But we wanted to introduce Indians to Korean culture and food,” he says.

Four years ago,the duo opened Cafe Maroo,one of the three Korean restaurants in the city at the time. “The other two shut down because they focused on serving Koreans,and there aren’t enough Koreans in the city to keep such a restaurant alive. We,on the other hand,wanted Indians to sample our food. Of course,we ran losses for the initial year-and-a-half,but we could not bring ourselves to shut it down,” says Park.

Their perseverance paid off,and the cafe is now a well-known destination for those looking for Korean food. “Sixty per cent of the people who come to us now are Indians. Many of them have gone to Korea and know our food well,” says Kim. For those who are not familiar with Korean cuisine,the menu has detailed explanations about the dishes,and the owners also recommend items,if asked.

It was love that made Brice Poisson give up his life in Paris as a pastry chef and move to Mumbai so that he could be closer to his girlfriend,Rohina,who is now his wife. However,when he moved to Pune,he was reunited with his love for food and he opened La Bouchée d’Or — a French patisserie and boulangerie on Dhole Patil Road last year.

When it first opened,most visitors were expatriates. “They missed their breads and the word got around really fast. We also had a lot of Parsi guests,” he recalls. Slowly,Indians started to come by as well,and after trying the bread and pastries here,they came back again. “Now,half of our visitors are Indian. But when I began,I had to create the market,” he says.

After spending years in India,Poisson feels slightly cut off from the chef community in Europe,but doesn’t let that stop new ideas from brewing in his head. “I think,‘maybe I can put cardamom in that cream,or star anise’. There are fruits here that we never use in France,like chickoo and custard apple. They can make great pastries. I am really thinking of introducing some new flavours,” he says.