While a young chef’s fried rice, served from his car trunk in New York, became a viral sensation, we get Mumbai’s celebrated chefs to recall memories from their rookie days of grit and a passion for cooking
Yony Hung sells Venezuelan-Chinese fried rice from his car in New York. Pic Courtesy/@elchinovenezolovnzl
From Massimo Boturo confessing to eavesdropping on senior chefs discussing techniques, to late Anthony Bourdain working seafood gigs in his early days, chefs are the epitome of hustle for the love of cooking. Recently, a young chef in New York City created a global stir for selling fried rice out of his car trunk. After the 22-year-old chef Yony Hung’s Venezuelan-Chinese fried rice went viral, it drew in large crowds with foodies travelling a long distance for a serving. Here are our desi chefs’ recollections of their early days of the grind.
‘Burnt rice, learnt lesson of hustle’
Ajay Chopra, celebrity chef and consultant chef
During my days at IHM Goa, I was that over-enthusiastic student who practically lived there. One lunch service, while cooking for nearly 400 students, I made a classic mistake: I burnt an entire batch of rice. Within minutes, the entire dining hall knew. The roar of complaint was a moment of embarrassment, but in hindsight, it was those early burns — both of the rice and of my ego — that shaped me. The learning continued outside the classroom through outdoor catering gigs with the Taj. We worked 12-hour shifts for '75 a day, driven by a simple, powerful mantra: If you want to eat the butter chicken, you first have to carry the chairs. The hustle was real, raw, and unforgettable. But it sharpened us. Those early days taught me resilience, the art of jugaad, and one non-negotiable rule: no matter what happens, show up, cook, and finish the service.
‘Worked at a kebab stall; set off on a trawler’
Ranveer Brar, celebrity chef and actor
A young Ranveer Brar fillets a fish during his early years in the kitchen
I was 17 when I decided to stay away from home for seven months — to work at a kebabwala called Munir Ustad behind Odeon cinema in Lucknow. This was a rebellious act to prove that I was doing something meaningful, and was one of the first of the many stupid rookie things. I would prep the charcoal, grind spices and nothing more; I never even got to the stove. The cart is long gone; the owner has passed away but that time made me the chef that I am and value every job in the kitchen. The training was strict; they came hard at you. Later, when I was 19, I moved to Goa. As a Delhi boy, who was unfamiliar with seafood, and was in-charge of Morisco, a seafood restaurant at Taj Fort Aguada Resort. I sought permission from my seniors, and took 10 days off to set out on a trawler for five-six days. I spent another four days around fish markets. When I returned, I could identify fish, and had learnt Konkani.
‘I’d brine the hog in my bath tub’
Alex Sanchez, chef-partner Americano and Otra
A dated photograph of Alex Sanchez (on the right) in the Americano kitchen
When I was 18 years old, I talked my way into a job at the local sandwich shop down the street from where I grew up in San Francisco. It wasn’t glamorous work but I loved it, and it set the stage for my career in the kitchen. On my off days I would keep myself busy by catering whenever I could find someone willing to take a chance on me [it didn’t hurt that I was young and affordable]. I soon became known for my pig roasts. I would drive out to the farms about four hours from San Francisco, and get my hogs at wholesale prices. I didn’t have my own commercial kitchen, so I’d brine the pigs in my bathtub with plenty of ice. I’d stay up all night baking Parker House Rolls, making all of the sauces and accompaniments. Then, I would show up to the event location around 4 am, dig a pit and start a fire. The pig was wrapped in leaves and buried in the ground where it would slowly cook for hours. When the guests arrived, I would lay everything out on a table, and cut away the leaves to reveal the whole steaming hog. The meat was so tender you could eat it with a spoon. It was wild and liberating, and exhausting all at once.
‘Turned a minivan into a pop-up store’
Aditi Handa, chef owner, The Baker’s Dozen
Aditi Handa reads the menu at the Bandra store
Back in 2014, we had to shut our Bandra store for two days due to termite treatment in the building. A two-day closure meant a loss in sales, and at that stage, every single sale mattered. Instead of shutting shop, we turned our delivery tempo into a mini pop-up store. We parked it across the road, stocked it with products, and continued sales. A team member would stand outside the closed store, and if a customer walked up, they’d guide them to the tempo: ‘Don’t worry, tell us what you need, we have everything right here.’ For those two days, that truck became our entire operation: from shelves, the counter, and service. Looking back, it was chaotic, but it was also creative, resourceful and a lot of fun. That experience taught me very early that hustle isn’t just about working hard but about adapting, improvising, and doing whatever it takes to serve the customer. Such makeshift moments shape you the most.
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