Minimalist, yet functionally adequate is how one would describe chef Chetan Sethi’s three-tier kitchen that serves three different types of cuisine— Indian, (Bengali), Chinese and Italian— at the Howrah, Zaffran and Bistro triad of restaurants at Mumbai’s Crawford market. Howrah, South Mumbai’s most authentic and popular Bengali cuisine restaurant, is the oldest of the three. “It just completed five years, Zaffran will be five in June and Bistro is two-and-a-half years old,” says Sethi as he dishes forth some penne in Formagio sauce for us, in literally a dash. “Once everything’s in place, I can cook up to 300 plates an hour. I don’t like to keep my customers waiting for more than 10 minutes. The prime reason for them being here is that they are hungry and the belief holds true for fine dining too.” The 29-year-old chubby and cheerful chef started his career in Mumbai’s Oberoi (now Hilton), Marriott and Renaissance hotels, followed by a year’s stint in Dubai, when he decided to become an entrepreneur with friend, and partner Munib Birya. “We put all our resources into Howrah—the lone brief being to serve authentic Bengali cuisine at value-for-money pricing,” says Sethi, adding, “The prices haven’t changed in the last five years.” Incidentally, all of Howrah’s cooks are also from Bengal. Overall, Sethi heads a team of 40 cooks, with the base stuff for most dishes for the second suburban edition of Zaffran too being cooked at the South Mumbai unit. “My only requirements while cooking are—a help at hand, ingredients within reach and good ventilation,” he sallies. Fancy-free tube lighting is another essential. “Unlike the multi-lighted theme dining spaces outside, it’s only tube lights in the kitchen because they help to know whether the colours in your dishes are right,” informs Sethi. So the yellow-green looking Penne in Formagio would actually look a shade red when served in Bistro’s mellow purple lighting. The restaurants open at seven in the evening but it’s generally easy up to dinnertime Monday to Thursday. “Fridays and weekends are the busiest with people crowding in till our closing time of 2 am.” Sethi however remains in the hotel till six in the morning, as that’s when the fish comes in. “A restaurant serving Bengali food has to have its fish right and fresh. I personally supervise the buy every morning before heading home for four-five hours of sleep. And, I am back by 2 pm to oversee the other non-cooking nitty-gritty of running a multi-restaurant catering kitchen.” So when does the eligible master chef have any time for himself? “Well, the best of ‘my time’ has always been in the kitchen, ever since I started my date with cooking after my 12th standard exams, 11 years ago,” he smiles.
