Akira Back Plans Next Restaurant at Bellagio in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex

  By Sourish Bhattacharyya

AFTER HIS successful debut at the JW Marriott, New Delhi Aerocity, Korean-born American celebrity restaurateur Akira Back-(see photo)-is planning his next foray in India, this time in Mumbai, at the MGM Grand’s Bellagio Hotel coming up at upscale Maker Maxity in the Bandra Kurla Complex.

Akira’s signature contemporary Japanese restaurant, Yellowtail, is one of the star attractions at the Bellagio Las Vegas, that hotel famous for its dancing fountains and cameo appearances in innumerable Hollywood films. The chef-entrepreneur, who’s famous for his tuna pizza on a tortilla base drizzled with truffle oil, now owns and operates five restaurants, including his newest in Jakarta, and he says his next destinations are definitely Dubai and Bangkok. ’When I first came here, I had one restaurant; now, I have five. We are underdogs no more,’ he says.

Akira is back on a whistlestop visit, which will culminate in an evening of cocktails and snacks on February 7 (after Delhi has voted and it’s no longer dry). A new order, meanwhile, is taking charge of the JW Marriott Akira Back.

Jason Oh, the ever-smiling Korean American who seemed to have settled down very well in his Vasant Kunj digs, has gone back home and been replaced by Dae Hyeon (’Danny’) Kim, who, apart from being a master of sushi and sashimi, is Delhi-NCR’s first chef certified to handle the potentially poisonous fugu. Kim was a chef at Akira Back’s Kumiat the Mandalay Bay Las Vegas and then returned to his mother country, South Korea, to work at top-notch restaurants. ’His resume is really, really impressive,’ Akira assured me.

Next to leave will be the very competent Kurt Nyren, who will join his wife, who’s due to deliver their child in May, back home in America. Nyren will be replaced by Corey Asato, a chef from Waipahu, Hawaii, who also has a Las Vegas connection ’ he’s a hotel management graduate of the University of Nevada ’ and Back insists that he ’really wanted’ Asato to stay back because he’s so good at his job.

’The next time I come, my pastry chef will be with me,’ Akira says, clearly indicating what his next big priority is. Well, if the new dessert on the Akira Back menu, Coconut Panna Cotta on a thick pool of berry compote, is anything to go by, then we are in for good times.

’Our food is getting better, our service is getting better,’ Akira adds with a touch of well-deserved pride. His mini chicken tacos drizzled with a finger-licking good tomato ponzu sauce make you want to keep digging them. The tuna pizza drizzled with truffle oil definitely tastes better each time I have it. You can make a meal out of the Red Dragon Rolls, which come packed with crispy shrimp tempura, kanikama (crab stick) and spicy tuna, drizzled with kabayaki (sweet soy) sauce and tempura crispies. And the miso-marinated black cod with pickled parikko (cucumber) providing a sort of a textural counterpoint? What can one say about it except exclaim, ’I bow to you, master!’

Is Akira planning to roll out a new menu? ’You can expect tweaks, but I won’t do crazy things. Now that we are known, people are copying us, so we have keep going up a little notch,’ he says. My next two questions make him break into a smile. Has seen India beyond the perimeter of the hotel? Does he propose to include Indian spices in his culinary repertoire? ’The next time I plan I come and visit India, I plan to stay here for 14 days ’ seven days to work, seven days to explore India,’ he says, and then: ’Indian spices? We are working on them!’ His hopeful smile makes one make a mental note of what to look out for.

I can see that Akira loves his association with India. ’The energy here is great,’ he says, as we look around to see a restaurant buzzing with activity on a dry day. Ankur Chawla, the hotel’s bright-eyed beverage manager, informs me that the Congress chief ministerial hopeful, Ajay Maken, was at the restaurant with his friends on the previous night (he may not win the election, and I feel bad for that, but he certainly has good taste!).

As I turn back to Akira, he completes his train of thought. ’We haven’t had much of a turnover,’ he says pointing to the busy kitchen. ’I haven’t lost any staff because they believe in our concept.’ That’s good for them, I thought. It won’t be long before they shine in kitchens around the world.

Sourish Bhattacharyya is Consulting Editor, BW Hotelier