Raw Appeal
Chef Vineet Bhatia and his quest to promote Indian food internationally.
Chef Vineet Bhatia and his quest to promote Indian food internationally.
At five feet four inches,it was a confident Vineet Bhatia who walked into a hotel and applied for an apprenticeship at the Lancers bar. The irony was lost on him. Lancers,those strapping soldiers,had little in common with this diminutive young man. The intrinsic courage that was to underline his culinary journey was not yet evident to him,instead he wore an armour of quiet confidence made up of his napkin-folding skills and memorised repertoire of cocktail recipes. The training manager suggested that he was better suited to the kitchen,somewhere in the innards of the hotel,away from the guests eyes. These were old-fashioned days,hotels were glamorous professions and he just wasnt presentable enough. This slight was to change his life.
Vineet Bhatia is probably the best Indian chef working today. Its a claim that may be disputed in the fiercely competitive culinary world,but I am ready to stick my neck out. His journey is the stuff that makes icons. He is the first Indian restaurateur-chef to get two Michelin stars. His culinary life has been as much about professional triumph as it has been a quest for freedom.
Its not a collage of news headlines and glitzy PR shots,its raw,unapologetic hard work and guts. Its nights of labour,memories of dishonest partners who left him in the lurch with no money to even buy baby food for his child,a 3,50,000 loan that left him one decision away from homelessness and that quiet determination that made him board a flight to England with 7 in his pocket.
Bhatia always wanted to cook Indian food,he wasnt swept away by European cuisine,as was the trend of his times. But the training he was to undergo had him reporting to a French restaurant. Serendipitously,the soup section was right next to the tandoor,so when the chef wasnt looking,he swapped sides. He had zero interest in western food and for it,was considered gauche by his colleagues.
After he moved to England in 1993,he worked at a restaurant for five years before he stepped out to open his restaurant Vineet Bhatia. British food critic AA Gill reviewed it and said that there was Never a Dahl moment. It changed his life. But three months later,Bhatia was out; even though his name was still on the board,his partnership had failed. It was the first of many such instances,where he was taken in by the lure of experimenting and buying himself some freedom only to be ousted at a convenient time or cheated of his earnings or credit. It is one of the pitfalls of creativity,a proclivity to focus on the horizon as the ground slips from under your feet. To say he landed on his feet is an understatement. A now famous restaurant that he spent six months birthing,went on to open its doors after easing him out. He watched its success from afar and noted that his name was not mentioned in the book that chronicled its journey from conception to present,although the current menu still runs on the format he suggested all those years ago. But the bitterness didnt hold him back,he opened his own restaurant,a more modest endeavour,but one that earned him a Michelin star in a year. The amnesiac restaurant,meanwhile,is still to get one.
For a young chef with no fascination for European cuisine,this move to take Indian cuisine global was of audacious intent. European kitchens are notoriously racist and when Bhatia advises young Indian chefs to work on their own cuisine and take it to the world,he isnt being jingoistic. There is immense depth in Indian food and room for experimentation. His own food philosophy has revolved around making Indian food lighter,playing with the flavour profile and proving that 24 masalas dont make a good dish. To understand his creativity is to take a look at one of his many notebooks a recipe will start as an etching,a scribbled thought,the flavours will burst in his mouth as he puts the ingredients down on paper,and the dish is already cooked before the pan is placed on the flame. He doesnt know how he does it,nor does he analyse it. Hes already moved on.
Right now,he wants to give back. He wants to set up an academy where he will train disadvantaged youth and give them a shot at a career in the kitchen. Its just too transient to make it about himself. Hes also turned down an offer for a restaurant in the Middle East. I cant be everywhere, he says. But through his food and his inspiring journey,he doesnt realise that for many young chefs,he already is.
Advaita Kala is an author and has worked in restaurants and kitchens in India and abroad.
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