BENGALURU: There are two moods to chef Suresh Pillai’s Instagram account – the mouthwatering dishes he makes and the people he lovingly feeds. And these include some of the top names in the world...Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle. Later this week, Pillai will be launching his restaurant in Whitefield where he’ll be serving some Onam delicacies. The Quilon Sadhya will have 26 types of savoury items and three types of payasam with boti.
“I’m bringing most of the ingredients from Kerala so that Bengalureans can enjoy Onam the way it should. It’s going to be a takeaway and delivery service,” he says. In fact, Pillai recalls meeting Kohli a couple of times who is a big fan of the Kerala sadhya. “He’s vegan and a majority of the items for sadhya are vegan-friendly. Though it can be a heavy meal, he ends up having it for lunch and dinner when he visits,” he says.
Pillai is no stranger to Bengaluru or the famous boys from here. Back when he was working at Veeraswamy in London, Pillai says that Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid had dined at the restaurant. “From what I remember, Dravid had paneer makhani, green leaf bhajiya and naan. Kumble ordered the Malabar prawn curry, pineapple curry and appam. This was more than a decade ago,” he exclaims.
Given his reputation, he’s getting requests by the minute from Bengalureans who are keen to taste his dishes. In the many years that he’s been in the culinary industry, Pillai has gone from working as a waiter in Kollam, Kerala, headed Coconut Grove restaurant and worked at The Leela in namma Bengaluru, then at the Veeraswamy in London and is now corporate chef and culinary director at The Raviz
Hotel in Kerala.
Apart from the cricketers, chef Pillai has a special love for the city. “Bengalureans are discerning about their food. They know the flavours they want. That’s why I’m thrilled to bring a piece of home to the foodie city and celebrate Onam.” (The Quilon Sadhya will be available on August 20-22 at
`999 per sadhya. To pre-book, call 8943150000 or 8943250000)
Favourite picks
If Roger Federer enjoys Pillai’s butter chicken and naan, Tiger Woods visits for his Sri Lanka Kottu Rotti. In fact, he made his signature Neymeen Nirvana, a pan-fried fish cooked in thick coconut milk for Gayle during one of his houseboat trips in Kerala.