The dark, slightly smoky kitchen where his Aw! (Grandma) sitting on the stone floor shaping puffed rice and melted jaggery into Kurmura Chi Laddu ( puffed rice and melted jaggery laddus), is a memory etched in the heart of Chef Rahul Akarkar.
Long before he worked in the professional kitchens of New York and later changed Mumbai’s food landscape with modern European fine eatery Indigo in Colaba in 1999, his first lessons came from his grandmother’s kitchen in Nashik, where love meant feeding her breakfast one after the other.
In the 1970s and early 80s, when Rahul was in New York pursuing a degree in biochemical engineering, he found himself among various professional chefs offering to work for free. “I’d make a deal with the chef,” he recalls smiling, “I’d work for free for a month. If I’m good, pay me. If not, ask me to leave.” The cooks saw the open hands, and at that time they did not know that Rahul was laying the foundation of a revolution. The young man eventually returned to India to open Indigo, a restaurant that not only served food – but also broke the rules. He dared to believe that Indian diners were ready for something more than just a five-star hotel buffet or a local curry house.
In his undoubtedly honest memoir, biting off more than i can chew (Published by HarperCollins), Rahul narrates the wild journey from his mother’s kitchen and his first dining establishment, the multi-cuisine Under the Over in Kemp’s Corner, to leading Indigo, which was included in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2007, and opening other renowned eateries including Indigo Delicatessen, Neel, Qualia, Odd, Warsaw, among others. And her latest child, Flint.
After working in New York kitchens and without any formal culinary training, it wasn’t until he had the real-world experience of eating Indian food in Bombay that he began to discover that side of his roots and work with those flavors. “I didn’t think much about it, but I was very conscious about balance and about how things come together on the plate. The reason I say that is I don’t know whether I Westernized Indian or Westernized Indian, because my cooking techniques were largely Western – or let’s say non-Indian and non-Eastern. I reached that middle point where the two culinary traditions merged,” he says.
His untimely departure from Indigo has been well documented, but when he reflects on its legacy, Rahul admits that at 67, there is a feeling of having been there, done that. “As much as I love what I do, there are days when it’s like, ‘Oh, I have to go to work.’ Recently returned from the US and working in a Mumbai landscape devoid of “subtle” standalone food, his mind was buzzing with idealism and untapped ideas. And while a lot has changed in the culinary landscape in India since then, some things have remained the same – for example, his self-proclaimed ADHD and OCD, and his attention to detail. His North Star has deep respect for his patrons and never takes them for granted.
When asked what has really developed his skills as a culinary leader, Rahul points not to his accolades or failures, but to his “struggles”. He compares cooking to arts like jazz or blues, which are born out of a certain amount of pain and perseverance. “When you’re enjoying success, you can get a little complacent. It’s when you’re struggling that you’re constantly sweating the small stuff. You’re more aware and focused,” he shares, about what drives him toward his goal. The core philosophy is that reputation is never a permanent shield – “You’re only as good as your last meal,” he says.
Given the option to do things over again, would he still bite off more than he can chew? “Yes, I would, except I would like to be a little more conscious about the business side of running a restaurant,” he believes. However that may be, we must not forget that it was their refusal to play it safe that, to some extent, redefined the tastes of a nation.
