Endless experiments with Indian cuisine 

Chef Manish Mehrotra on being on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list for the tenth consecutive year, and more
Restaurateur Rohit Khattar, founder and chairman, EHV International, and Chef Manish Mehrotra at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 in Singapore
Restaurateur Rohit Khattar, founder and chairman, EHV International, and Chef Manish Mehrotra at Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023 in Singapore

Arguably one of India’s finest chefs, Indian Accent’s Manish Mehrotra has been fixated on one aspect right from the start of his storied career—he wants food to be the source of people’s happiness. In a candid chat, Mehrotra lets The Morning Standard in on his journey.

Congratulations on being at number 19 on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ list. Ten consecutive years of being on this list...What’s been a constant over time? 

Thank you! We are the only restaurant from India, which has been on the list from the start of it [from 2013]. Most of the people who are working with us have been doing so for more than eight or nine years—the team is almost the same [from the start]. So, it is an achievement for my team. It feels great that we are on that list, and maintain that [spot]. There are many people who can be on the list and can achieve this feat. When the first list came out in 2013, there were seven restaurants from India. Now, apart from Indian Accent, none of the six restaurants are there on the list. So, it is not difficult to be on the list, but it is a challenge to be on the list for 10 years.

You’ve always maintained: ‘I want to make people happy with my food’. Fourteen years on (Indian Accent opened in 2009) and with two restaurants—one in New Delhi and another in New York—is the aim still the same? 

This is the ultimate aim—if any human being gets a chance to make another human being happy, I think there is nothing else one can want. Everybody wants to make other people happy… because when people are happy, the world becomes a better place. Also, food is one such thing that it is a necessity, a luxury, and a celebration. Buying a car is not a necessity for everyone, but eating food is necessary for survival. The poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich, eat food and celebrate with food, in their own capacity. I feel, good food with good experience and nostalgia can bring a smile to people’s face.

You started Indian Accent with the idea to reconnect young Indian diners with homegrown ingredients and cuisine.  Take us through your journey of achieving the same—keeping flavours desi and relatable, while elevating Indian cuisine.  

Before we started Indian Accent, the menus at Indian restaurants were stagnant for the last 30 years. Restaurants  would have some Tandoori items for starters; then a Shorba; there’d be non-veg or veg curries; anything with coconut would be South Indian; dessert would be Rasmalai, Malpua, or Kulfi. Indian cuisine was totally dominated by North-West Frontier food. Because of this stagnation, youngsters would not feel like going to restaurants again and again because there was nothing exciting happening. The idea of [starting] Indian Accent was to take Indian influences and create unique combinations of Indian ingredients and foreign ingredients without compromising on the taste, authenticity, or history of the dish. It was so that people—both Indians and those from outside India—can relate to the food, and there’s something unique, which was never done in Indian cuisine. Also, getting food from different parts of India—even from people’s home—and putting it on the menu with finesse and different garnishes to elevate the dish.

Many innovative chefs in India are tapping into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Do you see Indian Accent taking that route? 

We are in Delhi and in New York; we used to be in London; and we will be in Mumbai very soon—probably within two months. Let’s see after that. I feel people in Indian cities are ready, but I don’t know how much we can, because Indian Accent is a unique kind of restaurant, which doesn’t work on a template. Even if the name is the same, but venue-, décor-, service-, and style-wise, every Indian Accent is unique. And we want it that way. Replicating Indian Accent is a Herculean task, and unless we ourselves are sure whether we will be able to do justice to a new Indian Accent, we will not open.

Apart from Indian Accent, two Indian restaurants (#16: Masque, Mumbai and #30: Avartana, ITC Grand Chola, Chennai) are on this list this year. How do you think Indian contemporary gastronomy has transformed over time?

It is a great thing. Young chefs doing Indian food with their own interpretations and styles, is very good for the cuisine, right? You don’t have to go to a restaurant and see the same Tandoori Chicken, Paneer Tikka, Butter Chicken, Chicken Chettinad, Rasmalai. The thing is that there are differences—when you go and try Gaggan [Anand’s] food, or food at Indian Accent, or Prateek Sadhu’s [Masque] food, or even food at Avartana, they are all different types of Indian food. That is the unique way, and that is also how the cuisine will move forward. 

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