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Journalism of Courage
A starter made using three kinds of corn greets us soon after we take our seats: its crunchy base is a purple corn cracker, topped with a creamy mousse of sweet corn and surrounded by charred baby corn cut into delicate circles to form a flower on the plate. Paired with this is a dish featuring two fried water chestnuts — known popularly as singhara and consumed in northern India as a summer fruit — seasoned with mild red paprika and served whole.
We are at Masque, an ingredient-forward restaurant founded by Aditi Dugar in 2016 that recently ranked number 16 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list – a smooth climb upwards from 2020, when it received the ‘One to Watch’ Award. It subsequently made it to spot number 32 and number 21 in 2021 and 2022. At a ceremony held in Singapore on March 28 this year, Asia’s 50 also bestowed upon it the title of ‘Best Restaurant in India’.
Parked inside Shakti Mill in Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi, the restaurant serves a 10-course tasting menu that changes with the seasons. The latest one boasts summer ingredients. Expect familiar elements like jackfruit, passion fruit, and lychee to relatively lesser explored tadgola, celtuce, and ponkh millet. Hidden regional gems like ratambe, a tangy summer fruit native to Konkan, and kachampuli, a unique dark vinegar found in Coorg, find their place in the desserts. Unusual pairings such as the seaweed ponkh bhel served with raw mango, and the citrusy tadgola momo paired with a passion fruit thukpa left us wanting more.
“As head chef, I have to dig deeper and not just go with the obvious choice,” says Varun Totlani, head chef at Masque, “For instance, summer is synonymous with aamras puri in Mumbai, but to put a twist on it, I decided to offer it as separate elements and let diners figure out how they want to enjoy it.” Instead of traditional puris, the dish comprised golgappas, two types of mango sorbet, and mango chunks. One could either have a mango pani puri or make a chaat out of it.
Totlani has been a part of Masque’s team since inception, but he took over the reins of the restaurant in March last year after chef Prateek Sadhu hung up his apron. The biggest challenge with this transition, he says, was managing his time. “While cooking is still my priority, my role has expanded beyond the kitchen. But Masque has never been about one person and it will never be. It is all about the team,” he says.
Given his stature in the culinary world, Sadhu is a tough act to follow, but Totlani says he was ready to step into his mentor’s shoes. “Pressure is always going to be there but it pushes you, makes you work harder. It is only a problem if it stops you from doing something out of worry. When this opportunity arrived, I asked myself: Am I ready? Am I good enough? All that I have been doing now is proving to myself that I deserve it and I think I have done it,” he says.
He finds validation in founder Dugar. “Masque needed to be led by someone who has young ideas and can be a risk taker. Varun is a Bombay boy, he has been there since day one of the restaurant and we needed someone who understands the ethos of what the brand stands for. He was always the obvious choice,” she says.
The last two months saw Masque having a moment in the spotlight, from making it to Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants to preparing lunch for luxury fashion giant Christian Dior’s team during their pre-Fall fashion show in Mumbai, to joining hands with Relais and Châteaux. The latter, an association of individually owned and operated luxury hotels and restaurants, is known for its strict admission standards, and Masque, the only restaurant from India on their map, has been added for its focus on sustainability and the overall experience it offers.
The recognition has been great for business. “It adds credibility and brings a lot of newcomers into the restaurant,” says Dugar. “Awards like these open doors to immense possibilities. There have been so many chefs I grew up watching, wanting to cook for them or in their kitchen. This award lets me stand with them as an equal. And when they say, ‘we have been following your work’, it is just surreal,” says Totlani, adding, “We want to look at the next year and focus on how to get better at what we do. We are happy at number 16 but we won’t be pleased getting the same rank next year. We don’t mind if it is only to number 15, but we want to climb up.”
