So you were in India, you did your training there and then you made a move to the UK. >> Yes. >> Right.
>> I love the idea of moving somewhere and starting fresh. I've never had I've never experienced it unfortunately in my life. Um what was that like because it's a massive change, right?
The the culture in India, the flavors, the sounds, the languages, the color coming. >> Was it to London you came first? >> I came to London.
>> What was that like for you? >> Oh, it was fantastic. So I'll just take a step back that like the reason reason I moved to London.
>> Yeah. >> Uh you know 80s and 90s were uh difficult economic times in India though I was doing quite all right. Uh I was such chef at at the Ora hotel uh trained at the Ora school.
Uh my younger brother who was staying with me in Delhi that time fell ill right >> and I had no idea what has happened to him and I I would go to work and look after him and come back and still look after him for it. It happened for three four days and he he started not responding as well and I was very worried. I had limited resources and I didn't know what to do.
So I called a friend uh whose uncle was a doctor and she came to see him. She said it doesn't look good. I told let me call my uncle and her uncle who was quite a good doctor he came and he says oh gosh your brother's got menitis.
>> Wow. >> Um we got to transfer him to hospital. We transferred him to hospital but my mind was racing.
I got very little money. How I'm going to afford all this? Uh we put him in the hospital.
Saving his life was first and foremost thing. And to save his life, he got saved. Thank God.
Uh in we reached in hospital in time. Though we were a little late as doctor said he said you should have brought him much earlier than now, but we'll do our best. So he completely recovered and came out fighting fate.
But that process uh landed me uh in a lot of debt because I had to just go and borrow to to look after him. >> And mom and dad had already retired and there was not much enough funds and I had to look for >> an avenue to go and get this done. And I started looking for jobs abroad that time and I I had no intention ever in my life >> to move abroad.
I I was just so driven to be around my parents and my sister and brother. Leaving the family was the last thought in my mind. >> Wow.
>> Uh but I had to do it financial reasons. So I landed up in London. Uh because it was economic reason.
I had to come and earn money to be able to repay that debt. >> How old were you >> that time? >> Yeah.
>> Uh I was 20 21 22. >> It's a lot of pressure. >> It is.
But you know uh if you don't have a family then what do you have? >> Yeah. >> So I I never thought about pressure.
I thought about this needs doing. >> G. Yeah.
>> Yeah. It needs doing. That's that's all that was in my mind.
So I applied for many places. I funny enough I >> applied for piano cruises. I applied in South Africa.
>> Uh I I was lucky enough to get offer from all the places and the London one seemed right. Uh it was a new brand new restaurant being opened that time and I was introduced to the owners of that restaurant through one of the senior chefs and also by Mr Obra who I was working for. So I it felt much more correct to me and I took the job and landed up in London in November of 94.
>> Wow. Were you quite an experienced chef at this stage? How how how long had you been training for?
So I after leaving college three years of college I had worked for almost five years by then. So I was fairly trained chef you know I I could I could handle kitchens. I >> I was handling a team of 100 plus people by that time.
So I >> I was quite quite there. >> And did people spot your talent early on? Did you did someone say you're going to you're going to be special?
H so um I I never took uh compliments I always took compliments as flattery let's put it that way I I didn't take it seriously got to get the work done that's more important to me so there was a big PR uh who was looking after the restaurant and I think in a lot of ways uh this particular gentleman Alan Crompton Bat his name is uh he was the first self-styled London restaurant PR company he he actually started what restaurant PR is today. It's a massive thriving >> Yeah. >> industry now.
>> Yeah. >> But he was the first man who said I should be doing PR for chefs like Marco and Niko. >> Uh so Marco and Niko were his best friends and he started promoting them.
>> Uh and then he I think I was third or fourth client he had >> and I had no idea I'd come from India. Who's Alan Crompton back? I didn't even know who Marco Pi was.
When I was introduced to Marco, I just met him as a senior chef and respect with respect and knew very little about him. The only people I knew well about was Rue Brothers because we had in my curriculum I had a couple of books and in my library I had couple of books from them which I knew that they are really accomplished chefs and uh Alan always said I have eaten Indian food all my life. uh but what you cook is totally different >> and your take on food is totally different as well.
So it'll be interesting to promote you. And I always Yeah. Okay.
I I never took it that he's serious about it. I I just wanted us to do well. I wanted restaurant to do well.
And then 94 95 were actually quite hard economic times in the UK that time. >> We were going through a huge transition pretty much similar to what we have at the moment. Uh so restaurant was wobbly in in in the beginning.
Uh but two years down the line, two or three years down the line, it started picking up and never looked back. >> Did you ever doubt your decision at any point when you were here? Did you think I haven't made the right move?
I should have stayed. I I never doubted my decision to be honest. I I always uh enjoyed being in London.
Uh and what what I I'm a kind of person who likes a challenge. So London came as a challenge. So I spoke to my dad a lot.
Pros and cons of London, the what I'm doing and what I'm not doing. The kitchen is a small kitchen. I'm only working with five other guys in my kitchen.
Whereas I had 80 something people working around me and it was a much bigger operation whether I like it or not like it. Hotel versus restaurant was another big challenge because hotel is such a big entity. >> Yeah.
>> So my dad was very wise man. He said why don't you u go and befriend some of the hotel chefs >> uh or or chefs other restaurant chefs and check out what exists there and then perhaps that will bring more peace to you. So I knew about chef Alberu.
So I knocked on his door and went told him who I was, introduced myself and was was very welcoming and sat me down, gave me a coffee and we had a long chat. Uh and then he introduced me to a couple of hotel chefs. There's a uh executive chef of Dorchester Hotel, Chef Virna.
So I went to see him through Chef Alberu and he showed me around and it was just a kind of learning process for me to see what they're doing. And then I would come back to my kitchen. I think actually I'm good.
>> I'm satisfied where I am and this decision is good. So whenever I doubted I had somebody to go to in India, my dad and here Chef Alvu who I could go to and have a chat with them regarding my profession. >> How did it feel being an Indian chef at that time?
Especially because now you going to have this PR company working for you but everyone else surrounded that level was probably white. So, how does that make you feel? Did you feel in any way that you were um not at their level or did it get any insecurities or how did you process that moment?
>> You know, I I never felt intimidated or out of place at any time. >> Uh it could be self-confidence as well. Uh I I knew my craft.
Uh I knew the strength of Indian food and I knew Indian food is quite popular in this country. maybe a different level altogether. You know, there were Indian restaurants were called curry houses those days.
>> They were not called Indian restaurants. >> So for me it was it was something to work with. >> Uh I wanted to tell the world that you know Indian restaurants can be very posh.
>> Uh I wanted to create an experiential place and it took time. Uh you know it wasn't it wasn't one day's battle. It was over a period of time.
uh people would always come to restaurant and say you know I'll have beer nothing else >> and for a restaurant just to sell curry and beer will not survive in Mayfair to be honest so you needed full experiential meal >> so we we started we were one of the first restaurants to start tasting menus in Indian restaurant >> right >> uh with paired wines I think we were tamarind was the first Indian restaurant to have a silia >> right >> so I I did some drastic things which others wouldn't have thought Uh and results came, results did come. You know, people started looking at us very differently. We were valued very differently.
Uh and then finally rewarded very differently. How did that success make you feel like did because it's it's it's about maintaining a a level head. We we speak about this off camera about ego, right?
Ego in a kitchen. All of a sudden you're getting praised. for you with your upbringing.
How did you manage that? >> It's quite natural to kind of feel elated, feel sometimes bigheaded as well. >> But I came down to my reality very quickly because I I never weighed uh success in form of how much name or fame you have >> uh or how much money the restaurant is taking.
Uh my my success has always been on my relations. how I related myself to my people, the guys I worked with, >> people in front of the house and to my wider family. It was very important to me because uh if I become arrogant and I became big-headed and I said bad words to someone, uh I would have to still return to the same society.
>> Yeah. >> How I'm going to face them? >> Yeah.
>> What are they going to think about me? So I I always had that conscious in me. So if you become an arrogant person and you still would have to go back to your people to for me to my chefs to my family that that never gel well with me to be honest.
I I always I always preached people to be nice and kind to each other. I it was very important for me that I was standing and chopping onions next to a die to not only just get the work done but also make a conversation in appropriate time uh in the day to make sure that he's well he's happy uh his family is doing okay I've always maintained that relation so till date I don't know how many hundreds if not thousands of people have gone through my kitchens and they all are on my phone book uh and they are still part of my universe. Uh, and I love them.
Love them.
