Pop-up meals take place with increasing regularity in the city, and there’s usually something for every budget. From home-cooked regional cuisines to lethargy-inducing multi-course dinners at restaurants and even purpose-built spaces, Mumbai’s food lovers have taken to special one-off meals.
The latest entrant in the game though, is a venerable icon: the Taj Mahal Palace, which will be playing host to not one, but two chefs for three nights only. Chefs Sriram Aylur and Srijith Gopinathan have both spent their careers with the Taj Group, and have gone on to earn Michelin stars. While Aylur has worked at London’s Quilon (one Michelin star since 2008), Gopinathan has experience with San Francisco’s Campton Place Restaurant (two Michelin stars as of 2016, with one star between 2011 and 2016) respectively. Now, the two chefs are coming together to cook up a collaborative dinner for three nights before the chefs fly off to Delhi, and do it all again at Varq, the Indian restaurant in the capital’s Taj Mahal Hotel. Living up to the pedigree of both, the setting and the chefs, the four-course meal is priced at ₹10,000 per head, though the proceeds from one evening in each city will be donated to the Taj Public Services Welfare Trust. For those that do attend, the meal will be preceded by a champagne reception, and each course will be paired with a wine. After the meal, you can sip on a cognac before making your way home.
In the lead-up to the dinner, we spoke to the two chefs, who have obviously developed a rapport while planning these meals across two continents. The two have never cooked together. Aylur quickly adds, “We both have not cooked in India for I don’t know how many years, so it’s going to be many firsts.” As for the dishes, both chefs were tight-lipped about what exactly will be on the menu. Gopinathan did let slip that it’s a complete collaboration. “See, the reason we are collaborating is that at the end of it, when you are experiencing a meal, it is about the total experience,” explained Aylur. “You don’t care who did what, you care how you experience it. So if we did just one course mine and one course [Gopinathan’s], it may not deliver.”
Their pragmatism essentially means that the two chefs will be bringing together their different styles, while putting together a menu that showcases their areas of expertise. After all, the Campton Place Restaurant serves up food that marries Californian produce with Indian spices. And Quilon is known for its coastal Indian cuisine with an emphasis on seafood. “We want you to have the experience of saying, one, it was balanced, and two, that you can feel or experience what each of us do, even though you may not know which [element] came from where,” said Aylur.
For those wondering how that actually will be implemented, the chefs plan to visit the local produce markets to find in-season ingredients, but there a couple of surprises up their sleeves. Each chef is also carrying ingredients in from overseas to introduce diners to different flavour combinations and profiles. Besides, both chefs work out of luxury hotels, and so understand their diner. Aylur, says that some of the confirmations for the Indian dinners are from regulars at Quilon, who travel back and forth between India and the U.K.
As Gopinathan said, “It is very difficult to deliver what we give at the restaurant in a completely new place and a completely new set-up.” The duo is hoping to bring their years of experience and technique to Indian diners, instead of specific dishes. “You can’t just do a San Francisco in Bombay, or a London in Bombay,” summed up Gopinathan. It seems what they have planned might just be more interesting.
A Michelin-starred soiree with the Taj is scheduled from March 20 to March 22 at The Chambers, The Taj Mahal Palace. For details, see tajgetaways.com/Michelin_ Starred_Dining_Experience/ Mumbai_Event
