Sanjay Manjrekar's daughter launches new kitchen studio in Lower Parel

How does a person go about building a career Well the obvious first step would be to decide on one And it was at the age of 17 in 2011 that Devika Manjrekar first had an inkling of what she wanted to do in life I was in college doing my BA and started watching too much of Masterchef Australia I know it sounds clicheacuted But I was addicted and that made me passionate about food leading me to start off by writing a blog Manjrekar says sitting in a kitchen studio she launched earlier this week called Popups by DevikaManjrekar in front of a wall covered in pastaIts a fairly compact but smartly designed space in Lower Parel located in a lane with a temple bang opposite the Bombay Dyeing showroom Manjrekar hosts us there on a weekday morning and a bunch of empty cider bottles stacked neatly in a corner serve as remnants from her launch party held earlier The main door opens out to a long curved wooden table that can seat roughly 20 people An open kitchen lies on one side with a table that functions as the pass but which can also be moved around to create more space since it has wheels And a wall covered with the various culinary degrees that the 25yearold has amassed reveals how Manjrekars career has evolved since the time she was a teenage food bloggerI was constantly in search of good food to write about back then but didnt really find it in city restaurants So I was like I have to learn how to make it myself Thats when I started experimenting in the kitchen and reached a point where I was certain that being in the FampB industry is what I want to do the youngster says adding that she told her parents mdash former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar and wife Madhavi mdash that she wants to drop out of college to study the culinary artsFrom left Mum Madhavi Devika and dad Sanjay ManjrekarBut she also says that they gently persuaded her to rethink her plans since her future still wasnt set in stone Seeing the wisdom in their advice she enrolled herself for a onemonth course at Irelands Dublin Cookery School at the age of 19 which became a sort of baptism by fire since she realised how intensive working in a professional kitchen could be That was further corroborated when she joined Le Cordon Bleu in London immediately after her graduation for an exhaustive oneyear degree Finally after working for a bit in the British capital she returned to India in 2016 aiming to jump headlong into the food industry hereCakes that the young chef bakedThat though turned out to be a bit of culture shock The sort of professionalism and hygiene standards she had seen in the UK were as absent here as say a vada pav stall would be on the beaches of Brighton I didnt see myself being in that situation for long and decided that I would learn as much as I could and then find something else Manjrekar says revealing how she next did a monthlong unpaid stint with a British chef and a summer course in Italy where her love affair with the countrys cuisine beganAfter that it was back to square one She returned to Mumbai started doing small popups at her home in Prabhadevi realised that people were labelling her as home chef which she was uncomfortable with and applied yet again for a sixmonth work experience with British chef Sabrina Gidda Shes of Indian origin but born and brought up in England And at 30 she is the head chef of an Italian restaurant in London which for me was like Goals Manjrekar says adding that this was the turning point in her own careerFor it gave her the confidence to chart her own path And after a second brush with hosting popups at home and at restaurants she eventually hit upon the idea of opening the kitchen studio we are sitting in The plan now is to host popups workshops masterclasses and even supper clubs of the sort that are common across England There is in fact a dinner slated for tonight where the menu entails her signature dishes like gincured salmon misoglazed eggplant spiced roasted pumpkin and panna cotta Manjrekar is also mulling the idea of opening up the space for other creative arts such as comedy gigs and small exhibitions which could work since her studio has been designed aesthetically by Jashan Sippy of Sugar and Space a yellow wall covered entirely with bits of pasta deserves special mention But her dream for her career is to eventually own a restaurant by the age of 30 which would make her go one up on Gidda her idol And going by the singleminded progress Manjrekar has made ever since an addictive TV show sucked her into the world of food we wouldnt be surprised if she manages to do just thatDishing out nuggets of infoThe Manjrekars live in Prabhadevi and as a family some of the restaurants in the city they like frequenting are The Bombay Canteen Olive and Yauatcha Devika whose strength lies in Italian cuisine says that the one dish she makes that her father Sanjay mdash one of the Indian cricket teams batting mainstays from the 1990s and now a television commentator mdash likes the best is roast chicken She also adds that of the three Masterchef judges mdash Gary Mehigan Matt Preston and George Calombaris mdash Mehigan is her favouriteAt PopUps By Devika mdash Kitchen Studio shop no 7 ground floor Kabir Ashram Building Lower Parel On Tonight at 8 pm Log on to insiderin Cost Rs 3250 to Rs 3750Catch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates