Manish Mehrotra, A Magician donning the Chef’s Hat!
Gautam@2022 
From Patna pathways to ruling the culinary kingdom’s highstreets…
Chef Manish Mehrotra of Indian Accent is not just ‘called’ the best Indian chef. He has done everything to put the finest accent on Indian food!
Chef Manish Mehrotra, the name that’s creating waves in the culinary world at the moment! If you are a foodie, love fine dining, binge-watch cooking shows, love creating fusion foods and follow him for his magical food skills and craftsmanship, or have eaten in Indian Accent or Comorin, you know very well about him already! That’s right; he’s not just dubbed as India’s best modern chef, but he has redefined the image of Indian cuisine around the world in his own rights.
Despite all the awards, and accolades that he gets here’s an extremely humble man who grew up in the by-lanes of Patna, Bihar, and whose raison d’être is to tell the narrative of Indian cuisine to everyone, a mission he has accomplished with Indian Accent, a restaurant owned by Rohit Khattar. Indian Accent showcases inventive Indian cuisine by complementing the flavors and traditions of India with global ingredients and techniques.
By doing this, the Numero Uno Chef in India, who himself has claimed more awards than the spices in your spice rack, has catapulted Indian Accent to the international wall of Fame! The restaurant is counted in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants. It has been awarded the San Pellegrino ‘Best Restaurant in India’ for seven consecutive years unflinchingly! The restaurant has also been rated as the ‘No.1 Restaurant in India’ by Trip Advisor consistently for 6 years. Indian Accent, Mumbai is expected to open before the end of the year. It shall be housed in a beautiful space overlooking the fountains at the Dhirubhai Ambani Square at Jio World Centre in Bandra Kurla Complex. Chef Manish Mehrotra will don the hat of the Culinary Director for it. While his prodigy Shantanu Mehrotra shall be the Executive Chef of the Mumbai restaurant.
He believes that his ingenious approach to fusion dishes is partly a result of his childhood. “With no garlic and onion used in cooking at home, it taught me that food made with fewer ingredients can be really tasty.” Do we ask about his comfort food? “After all the traveling, I still love coming back to my comfort food, a steaming plate of Yellow Arhar ki Dal and Sukha Aloo with rice that is a North Indian staple or even a bowl of hot Maggi would do. Food memories play a lot of role in chef’s creations.” Chef Manish reminisces.
Having started his career in Mumbai as part of Ananda Solomon’s team at the Taj Hotels, he joined Old World Hospitality in 2000 and has been with the company ever since. “I always wanted to create a modern Indian cuisine, where the taste was absolutely Indian, but I could use ingredients sourced from around the world, which I would prepare and present in different ways,” says Chef Manish.
Indian Accent is owned and operated by EHV, which is part of the Old World Hospitality group. EHV’s other highly acclaimed unique regional restaurant is Comorin, in Gurugram. In Comorin’s menu, Chef Manish has added a few ingredients to enhance their typical flavors and he is heavily influenced by the street foods of India and the innovations street food vendors add to them. Like a Podi Rawa Idly gets a tangy lemony Podi and some golden crispy cashew nuts on top to add to its crunch along with the spicy of gunpowder! No western ingredients go onto it! The twist is all courtesy of Indian spices and condiments. It is a huge hit amongst youth who are their main customers!
But with Indian Accent, he wanted to create something relatable out of Indian food for the foreigners so that they don’t get intimidated by the names on the menu and be comfortable with the ingredients. “Until the foreigners are comfortable with Indian cuisine, the cuisine will not evolve. That’s why we created Blue Cheese Naan because bread and blue cheese are classic combinations and naan is very Indian. Blue cheese tones down with naan and makes it accessible to everyone” he says!
The Doda Barfi Treacle Tart is another very popular dish created by him! Punjab’s Doda Barfi found this amazing fusion partner when Manish was having a Treacle tart in London. However, he never mixes two Indian cuisines in one dish.
In his opinion, what sets Indian Accent apart from other restaurants is the experience. It is about adding the philosophy of the restaurant to the food served. Just not about food anymore. It’s about the immersive experience while fine-dining. The way dishes are served, the way they are presented and sometimes explained, and the way they are paired with each other and the drink, add that extra zing! Chef Manish reiterates that he always encourages the diners to come to the kitchen and see how the food is being cooked and meet the chefs who cook them. It’s that personal touch and wholesome experience of the hospitality that a diner comes back for!
Restaurants and hospitality businesses suffered a deal during the pandemic, but Chef Manish sounds positive. “Pandemic has taught us a lot, about hygiene, about workplaces, about mental health and I am happy that people are returning to normalcy and very happy that they are returning to Indian Accent as well.”
Being the culinary director is not an easy job. His focus is fettered on researching, adding, and experimenting with his diners’ palettes according to where the restaurant is based. “Since we have announced that we are coming to Mumbai, I am continuously thinking about Mumbai’s first menu, the plan, and the experience that I will be able to give this city. However, next month I will again go to New York and create another new menu for that city based on what are the current likings of our customers. ”
With Indian Accent, Mumbai on the cards soon, the world’s most renowned modern Indian chef is enjoying what he loves the most, creating enchantment with the pots and pans, and adding a dash of magic here and a sprinkle of love there to create a plate full of marvel!
So how much accent should go into your favorite Indian food?
The answer is “Swaad Anusaar”!
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