The fact that Chef Prateek Sadhu is one of the most creative Indian chefs experimenting with hyperlocal ingredients from the Himalayas and highlighting India’s rarest culinary gems is very well known. From the Culinary Institute of America to Mumbai’s award-winning Masque restaurant, Chef Prateek Sadhu has constantly focused on bringing the best of Indian food on the global table. And now, this renowned chef has announced the opening of his new restaurant, Naar, nestled in the mountains of the Himalayas.
Ever since Chef Prateek Sadhu parted ways with Masque in March 2022, Indian food enthusiasts have watched with keen eyes how this chef travelled across India setting up pop-ups known as The Himalayan Table to introduce people to ingredients from the high-altitude terrain. In a recent announcement on social media, Chef Prateek Sadhu revealed that all this work has been done to lay the foundation of his new venture, Naar, which is expected to open its doors in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh on October 7, 2023.
Video Credit: YouTube/Mountain Family
“It takes a village to make a lifelong dream come true,” the chef wrote on his Instagram page while sharing images of the restaurant’s entry. “After 18 months of sheer madness, the moment has arrived! These last 18 months have been a journey of learning, and, more importantly, one of unlearning. While our course is set, and we know the direction we want to take, the truth is, we have more questions than answers. This is just the first step, and we're figuring it out as we go. What we're doing is undoubtedly ambitious, and the journey ahead won't be easy.”
In a video post, Chef Prateek Sadhu revealed that he was “moving to the mountains” to open Naar. He revealed that while the team had been building the restaurant for 18 months, they had also been trying to understand the lifestyle of the people in the mountains. More than that, understanding the food culture and how the seasons provide different produce has also been quite the journey for the chef and his team. “We are trying to develop different flavours from whatever is growing in the ground,” he explains.
Some of the locally grown or hyperlocal ingredients that Chef Prateek Sadhu has been giving us a sneak peek into are also expected to show up on the menu of his restaurant, Naar. These include Himalayan trout and herbs that are clearly visible in the video he shared, along with a berry known as Ma Huang or Sifat that resembles Nordic cloudberries. Sea Buckthorn, with which Chef Prateek Sadhu has innovated a brilliant sorbet before, is also expected to show up in new avatars at Naar.