I first met Floyd with Chef Michael Romano when they came to Bangalore in 1996 (and later in Bombay) during their R&D trip for their upcoming restaurant Tabla, in New York. They spent some time with us, at the time when we were running Kuteeram, PromitaBedi's 10-room boutique property opposite Nrityagram. Malini and I took them around to several home cooks and restaurants in Bangalore and Bombay as they went about their R&D.

I recall them loving the food at Karavalli and their interaction with Chef Sriram at the Taj Gateway. Many years later, I remember talking to him about his win on the TV show, Top Chef where he made the humble upma in the final. We had a good laugh over that.