ATUL KOCHHAR, holder of two Michelin stars and chef entrepreneur behind Benares, in London and more recently NRI as well as Mumbai's first Peruvian restaurant Lima, participated at the BW Hotelier F&B Conclave and Expo which took place at The Grand, New Delhi on July 27. Kochhar spoke via the internet with Bikramjit Ray, Executive Editor, BW Hotelier and spoke on topics ranging from his experience of opening restaurants in India to the future of Indian food and its last frontier.
On the future of the Indian food and restaurant abroad, Atul said, “Indian food has been a force to reckon with because of the work done on popularising the Indian cuisine thanks to the names like Manish Mehrotra.”
“People have started recognising the Indian cuisine. Earlier it wasn’t the case, they only knew about India but, not Indian food,” added Atul.
He also told that many Indian restaurants like of Indian Accent and Bapuji are doing great work abroad. In four years people outside India started to indulge in Indian cuisine. World is opening up and Indian restaurants and chefs are getting recognition everywhere.
“The challenges are same as everywhere while setting up a restaurant. It is how to deal with people, staff and also the collection and availability of ingredient,” Atul said while addressing the challenges of setting up of a restaurant in India.
On his final frontier to be achieved Atul disclosed that ‘Sky is the limit’. “Like a farmer, I want to see my flower blooming. Currently, I am working on Italy and more particularly on Venice because it has evolved as one of the hottest destination for Indian tourists. The tourist inflow in Venice is humongous and also the wedding scene has taken all over it,” said Atul.
“NRI is a great hit. The diners really adore our food and hospitality. We are learning and in the process we do also commit mistakes but, we learn from it. We are evolving each day with the growing boundaries and taste of the people,” Kochhar told the audience.
In his closing remarks, he said that restaurants are like babies. One need to take proper care of it before moving to next.
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