Standing outside his refurbished Vile Parle home, doling out potting tips to the gardener, Peter Paul Souza, who sports a sequinned bandana to hold back his salt and pepper crop, doesn't look like he is made for the kitchen. "Don't let my looks deceive you," the hairstylist says, with a laugh. "I am a great cook. But, the kitchen is meant to be a place where you go unseen. When I was younger, I was tempted by the glamour of hairstyling [to give the kitchen a miss]."

Peter may have dropped the idea of a culinary career, but he continued to experiment with food, especially what he learned from his mother at their Pilerne home in North Goa. You can take the Goan out of Goa, but not his affinity for local food, says Peter, as he introduces us to his son, Adam's new enterprise, The Souza's.