Eating with the stars

Last week a dignitary and a regular at F Bar Mumbai walked intou00a0the restaurant at Elphinstone Road without any prior notice Wanting to ensure that they served his favourite dishes just the way he preferred them head chef Rakesh Talwar turned to consulting chef Vineet Bhatia for his opinion ldquoAdd an extra dash of black pepper and peanut butter to the chicken wings He likes it that wayrdquo Bhatia told him Michelin star chef Vineet Bhatia personally visits F Bar six to 10 times a year but is connected to the kitchen through the webcam almost every day PicSatyajit Desai This would seem like a regular routine but for one thing Bhatia is sitting in London and is witnessing the preparation and plating procedure through a video chatu00a0Bhatia a Michelin star chef has been part of the F Bar team as a consultant since its inception since May this year ldquoI play the role of an extra pair of eyesrdquo says Bhatia who is based out of London where he runs his Michelin star restaurant mdash Rasoi At F Bar Bhatia lends his experience to help design and reinvent the menu train the staff and add new food and beverage concepts This time he brought along goldencoloured bathroom tiles and got them cut into small rectangular pieces This he uses to serve appetisers ldquoI come down at least 10 times a year and the rest of the year I am connected to the kitchen through the webcam I work closely with Rakesh It doesnrsquot matter whether I am in Geneva Greece or London we speak every day and go over the glitches reportrdquo says Bhatia who is also the consulting chef at Ziya Oberoi Mumbai ldquoWhen I am travelling the world and working with different kitchens it gives me a better perspective I am free of any form of monotony and my mind never ceases to create new dishes and concepts I was on a bus in London and saw a girl eating white candyfloss That led me to create an Elaichiflavoured candy floss to add to F Bar Indian menurdquo says Bhatia who has introduced dishes such as Goat Cheese Samosa Lasagne Rasmalai and a Baileyrsquos Kulfi at the three monthold restaurant Chef Miguel and Chef Enrique from Valencia Spain who were part of Mirorsquos Spanish food festival this year F Bar is just one of the many restaurants in the city including Miro of Svenska Design Hotels in Andheri West JW Marriott in Juhu and The Oberoi at Nariman Point that are reaching out for the star chefs Michelin reviewers assess restaurants in five categories mdash the quality of the products mastery of flavour and cooking personality of the cuisine value for money and consistency between visits Spanish festival In January for its Spanish festival Miro a MediterraneanSpanish restaurant by Svenska Design Hotels invited Chef Miguel Lajarin who worked at the Michelinstarred restaurant Torrijos in Valencia and Chef Leon Benmergui Rosetti who served as Chef de Partie at La Hacienda Benazuza recipient of 2 Michelin stars ldquoWe felt we wouldnrsquot have been able to find chefs with our desired level of expertise for the festival So we decided to invite chefs who were at the absolute top of their game to train our staff Consequently the chefs were here for two monthsrdquo says Zia Sheikh CEO Svenska Design Hotels The visiting chefs worked closely with the team to devise something ideal for the Indian palate Describing the culinary creations of the Spanish master chefs as nothing short of art Mirorsquos 26 yearold head chef Rahul Bisht says ldquoThe chefs hailed from different parts of Spain but they actually had their own line of ingredients so sourcing authentic Spanish supplies became a lot easierrdquo Michelin star chef Sergi Arola Though the master chefs came armed with special gadgets and tools they also showed Bisht how to use his own tools to create different effects ldquoThey used a garlicfoamgun to create Parmesan foam that we infused into mushroom soup It was incredible to observe the ease and simplicity with which they transformed good dishes into great onesrdquo u00a0It seems Mumbai knows and recognises the worth of that stamp ldquoPeople here know that it promises authenticity consistency and the highest quality of food We donrsquot have local Michelinrated restaurants here yet so the best we can do is form an association with chefs whose skills have earned restaurants overseas Michelin starsrdquo The perfect taste As far as the starquotient goes Thomas Guss general manager JW Marriott Mumbai at Juhu asserts that Chef Sergi Arola the Catalonian chef after whom their Spanish restaurant is named ldquois more interested in the cooking and the food in offering the perfect taste and experience Indian diners have a passion for food that you donrsquot really see in other countriesrdquo says Guss For promotionrsquos sake Thatrsquos also why The Oberoi Hotel at Nariman Point rolled out the red carpet for Michelinstarred chef Daniel Hebet who received the title of Francersquos best pastry chef in 1997 in January this year Cedric KleinJochem executive assistant manager food and beverage The Oberoi says ldquoTo sustain a restaurantrsquos fame you need to maintain awareness to introduce a feature that creates a buzz every now and againrdquo Patata bravas File pic Hebet created a special menu for the length of the promotion at Fenix the hotelrsquos allday dining restaurant ldquoSuch is the Indian customerrsquos appreciation of the French star that Michelin has actually been considering creating a guide to the countryrsquos restaurants That is the future of restaurants hererdquo says KleinJochem Marriott hospitality grouprsquos decision to inaugurate Spanish restaurant Arola was based in part on the fact that they already offered Italian cuisine and felt Spanish food would suit Indian preferences better than other European cuisine ldquoIndia is on the brink of a culinary revolution I am very excited about bringing the Arola experience to India The menu will include specially selected mix of all the popular dishes from Arola restaurants all over the world while also creating signature items for Mumbai The aim is to surprise the Indian audience with eclectic European cuisine designed especially for their increasingly discerning palaterdquo says Arola who is the threetime recipient of Michelin stars mdash once for La Broche the Madrid restaurant he headed and twice for his own Sergi Arola Gastro Passion is principal Almost as well known for his passion for music the Catalonian chef is often described as a bold trendsetting avantgarde culinary rebel Chef Manuel Olveira Seller firstmate of what is clearly run as a very tight ship shares ldquoHaving worked with Chef Arola in Spain I know exactly what he wants mdash the flavour the look the concept even the plates mdash but still even when hersquos not in town we must touch base every week Chef Arola has to be updated about every detail right from the selection of music and guest feedback to issues like service and what dish was most favoured and so onrdquo Mini desserts File pic The chefs also routinely discuss recipevariations and the limitations of working in Mumbai or as Chef Seller puts it ldquowhat we cannot do hererdquo And the creation of a menu thatrsquos predominantly vegetarian for a cuisine thatrsquos principally nonvegetarian must have had its shares of roadblocks Sometimes things work in reverse though and Guss shares ldquoChef Sergi even has a Tandoori oven is in his kitchen because he loves the aroma and flavour it lends to the food but unfortunately we cannot have tandoori ovens in Spain or anywhere in Europe as itrsquos forbidden by the lawrdquo The Michelin man Andreacute Michelin first tasted the limelight at the age of 38 when along with his brother Eacutedouard he designed and patented the firstofitskind removable and easily repairable pneumatic bicycle tyre Andreacute was not optimistic about the future of the tyre industry and thatrsquos when the idea of a Michelin Guide was born It started as a motoristsrsquo guide a free blue pamphlet intended for those travelling across France which carried ads for the tyre company alongside information about petrol stations lodgings garages restrooms and diners on different routes Bibendum the tyre companyrsquos stackoftyresman a symbol pencilled by Andreacute Michelin himself back in 1898 was imprinted on these pamphlets and today this is one of the oldest corporate symbols still in use But in the years that followed Andreacute noticed that the dining section of these booklets received special attention and in response set up a team to conduct anonymous inspections of restaurants mdash a practise that Michelin still adheres to mdash and had them follow a very specific rating system In 1931 the blue cover was replaced by a red one and the free pamphlet that listed restaurants that provided consistently highquality food across budgets cuisines and styles now came to command a price This is why even today the stars are linked to travel 1 star mdash A very good restaurant in its category 2 stars mdash Excellent cooking worth a detour 3 stars mdash Exceptional cuisine worth a special journey Did you know For eight years now 47yearold Skye Gyngell has served as the head chef at Petersham Nurseries Cafeacute in Richmond London a modest restaurant whose guestlist has included Mick Jagger and Stella McCartney The restaurant was awarded one Michelin star last year Earlier this year she was so frustrated by the unrealistic expectations that came with the starrating that she handed in her papers publicly stated that the honour had become a curse and boldly announced that she hopes shersquos never awarded another star u00a0