Regional Indian food done right
A dependable, neighbourhood-friendly restaurant: That’s what celebrity Chef Kunal Kapur aims to offer at his new restaurant Pincode that made its debut in Delhi’s Civil Lines this March. The thought behind the restaurant, says Kapur, is to offer unadulterated, typical regional Indian cuisine while the idea stems from the belief about the existence of a certain level of awareness and inquisitiveness about it globally. He feels, over the years, Hindustani khaana has been presented in a different avatar and is not original anymore. “My aim is to bring the original fare on the table, literally, especially for the global audience. Our main ethos is to be innovative as is the trend these days but also ensure we create authentic regional dishes so that the guests walking in to dine with us know the food is of certain quality,” shares the chef.
What’s in the name?
The name, Pincode, has a special meaning behind it, according to Chef Kunal. “A pincode is very specific. Every place, every region can be located by its pincode. What we wanted to do was have those as identifiers of good food,” he reveals. Explaining further, he gives the example of what people loosely call Hyderabadi Biryani, asserting that despite the term, there will be certain lanes or specific places where this biryani is made a certain way. This, he shares, is the intent behind the name. “We go deeper into the cuisine and bring it out by kind of denoting them with various pincodes,” he avers.
Menu of personal experiences
A lot of thought has gone into the menu at Pincode, inspired from personal travels Chef Kunal undertook across India. These include mouthwatering delicacies like Pressure Cooker Chicken Curry, Malai Prawns, Lamb Seekh Tawa Masala, Old Delhi Style Bread Pudding, Chaat Hummus, Dhokla Chaat and Falooda and much more.
“As I have travelled extensively across India, mostly on food trips, it was easy for me to finalise the dishes on the menu,” he says, asserting most of them are ones he relished during those trips and wanted people to know about.
The restaurant offers a complete service menu, beginning with Indian street food fare. Pincode offers different types of chaats from across India. “One of our signature dishes is Dhokla Chaat consisting of dhokla, different chutneys and sweetened yogurt. In fact, our chutney ranges from berry chutney and passion fruit chutney to raw mango chutney instead of the conventional sonth and pudina chutney,” he shares, adding this an example on how Pincode brings out the popular classics while focussing on the lesser-known versions.
The street food fare is followed by starters comprising primarily of kebabs in vegetarian as well as non-vegetarian Pan-Indian varieties and then come the main course and dessert, Chef Kunal shares. For guests looking for chef’s recommendations, Chef Kunal shares that his favourite dish on the menu is Potato Spiral Chaat. “I love potatoes, thus the pick,” he reveals.
A place for all
A unique aspect about Pincode is its friendly ambience. The restaurant outlets, both in Dubai and Civil Lines, do not serve alcohol as the team wants guests to enjoy food than indulge in alcohol consumption. “We want Pincode to be the place where people come to enjoy food and food alone,” he avers. Chef Kunal’s team has also tried to create an environment where families and youngsters can get together to focus on just the delicacies.
Making restaurant smart and sustainable
One of the first things Chef Kunal and his team did at the start of the restaurant was to identify the non-sustainable aspects. He feels in a kitchen, plastic waste is one the biggest problems, and therefore, all the water bottles used at Pincode are made of glass and cling films are completely avoided. “Even for tagging or takeaway containers, we use good quality paper or cardboard,” he shares. In fact, Chef Kunal’s team has also started identifying suppliers who can provide them with supplies without plastic.
Technology, on the other hand, is pretty much a standard that Pincode follows, including getting reports of customer preferences and feedbacks to make it easier for them to identify the shortfalls and strengths, be it ambience, service or food.
Near, far, a Pincode wherever you are
With Civil Lines outlet’s launch done and out of the way, Chef Kunal is opening a second outlet soon in Select City Walk Mall Saket. “These two will take care of North and South Delhi. Moving forward, we plan to have one each in West, East and Central Delhi,” he says. The aim, shares Chef Kunal, is not to make Pincode into an exclusive one-place restaurant but an easily accessible, neighbourhood-friendly one.
Chef Kunal’s idea is simple. “We don’t want to outprice ourselves or place ourselves as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that needs to be booked months in advance. Instead, we are coming to you, around your neighbourhood, and anytime you feel like having a good meal, walk in or order.”
