A Conversation With a Legend

Bikramjit Ray May 03, 2016

HEMANT OBEROI never wanted to be a chef. It was a bout of fever that made him fail the physicals of his entrance test to the defence forces which pushed him towards a career in hotel management, along with a pushy cookery prof and Taj’s Ajit Kerkar who took his entry interview at IHM Pusa which helped start his career, “almost 42 years ago”.

Oberoi, who was the first entrant to the BW Hotelier Hall of Fame, spoke with BW Hotelier’s Consulting Editor, Sourish Bhattacharyya and Executive Editor Bikramjit Ray at a session titled Being Hemant Oberoi during the BW Hotelier Indian Hospitality Award and Summit which was held at the Leela Ambience Hotel Gurgaon on March 21-22, 2016.

“We have graduated from Khansama to cook and now chef. Finally chefs are being recognised,” he told the gathering when asked about what he felt about the Padma awards being conferred on Chef Qureshi.

With a career with one company which spanned more than four decades, the one person in the kitchen that Oberoi really idolised was someone who he had the opportunity to work under from 1974 to 1977, the legendary Chef Miguel Arcanjo Mascarenhas, fondly known as Chef Masci.

“I remember he joined the Taj at the age of 16 and worked till he passed away at the age of 75,” Oberoi reminisced. It was Chef Masci’s potato soufflés, which were as light as air, which made the biggest impression on the young chef. “Not everyone can make potato soufflés like that,” he told the gathering.

Asked about the origins of the legendary Zodiac Grill restaurant, which opened under the helm of Oberoi and has now shut down, Oberoi remembered, “when I took over as Executive Chef at the Taj in 1986, Mr Kerkar said, do something spectacular and different. So, we started to do the research work. I went to every food capital in the world. When we came back, we made a list of 300 odd items.”

But after a year, the restaurant still hadn’t opened. So Kerkar as asked and he sat down and ordered six cheese soufflés, the Camembert Dariole, had a spoon from each and gave the go ahead. The rest is history. Zodiac Grill opened with a menu which didn’t have any price and diners were invited to pay what they thought the meal was worth. Most paid more than fair price, Oberoi confessed.

On the 25th anniversary of the restaurant, Oberoi remembers doing a special dinner where he invited 50 special guests and served them a 25 course meal. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian, with only one old dish, the Camembert Dariole. They were charged Rs 25,000 each and ate until 1.30 am in the morning.

Among the many special relationships which Oberoi has nurtured during his career, we asked him about his friendship with Alain Ducasse. “Fourteen odd years ago, I was doing an event at l’Hermitage at Monte Carlo. My chef at the hotel said Alan Ducasse is in town would you like to meet him? I did and invited him for a meal, which was served in the European fashion. Ducasse was impressed and we talked all evening about food,” Oberoi told the gathering. The resultant friendship continues to this day and Oberoi was the only Indian chef among 75 others who was invited when Ducasse celebrated the 25th anniversary of his 3 star Michelin restaurant.

The other friendship which Oberoi touched on was more poignant. It was during the 26/11 attacks, when the kitchen was the worst hit. “I kept telling the 50 and above guys to escape because they would not be able to keep up with the youngsters, but they kept saying no, we will go together,” he remembers. Seven chefs lost their lives in the attack, but it’s a credit to his team that, while still working through their grief, they could get all the restaurants opened and running within 21 days of coming back to work.