What is your concept of a writing a menu for your Restaurant and how a new dish makes to the menu list? For both my team and myself, pastry has always been about flavour pairing, texture combinations, mouth feel and of-course the look. Each dish on the menu is always approached with these components in mind. A lot of time is spent in our test kitchen doing numerous trials, research and tastings, before we finalize on a particular dish. How you develop your team, what responsibilities and freedom you give to your juniors? I have always encouraged my team to implement their creativity in coming up with new recipes and ideas. We spend a lot of time in the test kitchen in designing, creating, critiquing and tasting new menu items. During research and development, we are always in the lookout for lesser known ingredients, working with both classic and newest techniques to be able to create flavours, textures and most importantly; a memory. All of the recipes, be it for the academy or the pastry shop has always been a combined team effort. And I’m so proud of my team! Even in my absence I am rest assured that nothing will obstruct the flow of production. How you keep up to date with a constantly evolving world's culinary scene? Although it is true that the culinary landscape is constantly evolving, it is very important for chefs to have a strong foundation of the very basics. Age old techniques and recipes are still the foundation of all the incredible dishes we see every day. It is therefore imperative to know your basics very well, respect the art and also keep yourself upbeat by constantly learning. Learning for me happens every day. From books, the internet, to the people I meet, the chefs I work with and most importantly; travel. Although keeping up pace may sometimes be challenging, to be relevant in todays world, I firmly believe that travelling is the best teacher of all. One of your worst food critic or comment you received and how you dealt with it? Every day, chefs are constantly criticized and judged. You may have created a brilliant dish, but there is always room for criticism, thoughts, opinions and judgements from people who may know less or more than you. The key is to listen closely and take in what is relevant but also remember the once that are not. #FINEDININGINDIAN | 08 JUNE 2019
9 Publizr Home