A chef is at their creative best not only while conceptualizing a single dish or an entire menu, but while executing it. I have always believed that if you want to fully enjoy a chef’s food, you have to see them at least plate up, if not while they’re cooking the food. The final plate is what the guest gets to relish, so its making and the person behind it need to be visualized just as much, right? I recently got the opportunity to not only witness Chef Viraf Patel plate up a six-course menu, but also got to taste it all—and nothing was lost in translation.
In case you’re unaware of the chef, then here’s what you should know. Chef Viraf Patel is the Director of Firebed Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. With over 20 years of expertise in European fare, Chef Patel has been associated with renowned restaurants like Indigo, The Tasting Room at Good Earth, the Impresario Group’s Salt Water Grill and Salt Water Café, Olive Bar & Kitchen, and then his own venture, Café Zoe in Mumbai. In recent times, however, he has been exploring his Parsi origins, the community’s cuisines, and doing pop-ups around the country.
Exploring His Parsi Roots And Reinventing Them
His most recent offering was a curated Chef’s Table menu that fused Levantine dishes with Parsi flavours (click here for a review of the menu). Chef Patel has travelled through Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Pune with the menu—next, it’s set to be presented in Kochi. The experience for the chef has been interesting, to say the least. “I’ve done pop-ups at places like The Conservatory, and I’ve done some at restaurants,” he says. “And I’ve seen that restaurants get a little chaotic. Restaurants are buzzing places where people don’t specifically come for pop-ups, so there’s a little up and down.”
But overall, his experience has been a revelation for the chef as well as the guests. There’s a lot about Parsi food that he is breaking down and refining, like serving up a Pardeli Pulao with a Braised Duck instead of putting it all together in a pot. Or, my favourite, recreating the Parsi khattu-meethu accompaniments with zereshk berries cooked with the Parsi pickling staples—jaggery, chilli and vinegar. His menu also hopes to break down one of the biggest stereotypes people have about Parsi food.
“One of the biggest stereotypes about Parsi food is that we do eggs with everything,” he says laughingly. “But that’s not totally untrue, and I’m doing another pop-up in Bangalore which is only on eggs, called Bawa Goes Kuku. We love to eat our eggs.” Perhaps it is the amalgamation or exploration of Parsi food’s Levantine origins that will dispel some stereotypes about the cuisine? “The Parsis came from Iran to India, and we started being called Parsis,” he says. “But all the food we eat actually comes from the Levantine region. After we came to India, we amalgamated with the Gujarati community, so the food changed. So, this is like an ode to what it would have been.”
The progression, he says, is quite natural. “The Levantine region is the foundation of all cuisine because of its age and historical significance,” he explains. “Of course, it’s all spread out now into various regions. Different people have come and gone, and the cuisine can be found in the entire Mediterranean region. I wanted to talk about the migration of the Parsi community more than talking about what the community is eating today as Parsi food.”
Why Chef’s Tables In India Matter
Because of his training and work experience, Chef Patel is usually known for his European cooking. But now, as indicated by this recent Chef’s Table and the upcoming ones, his focus has shifted to exploring Parsi food. “This is the food I’m dabbling into a lot more now,” he says. “I’m also working on the Japanese segment, exploring cuisines like these now, exploring if I can make them Indian somewhere maybe.” He believes that a Chef’s Table or a curated, set menu is the best storytelling medium he has, especially in a country where people are used to wedding buffets and elaborate festive feasts, even at restaurants. “Our guests are spoilt for variety! We offer up huge buffets with a choice of every imaginable cuisine! When catering to a mixed bag of guests, it’s probably the only way to go,” he says.
But there are opportunities only a curated menu can provide, to both the chef and the guest. “I believe a curated, set menu allows the chef to tell a story,” he explains. “It helps the chef walk the guest through the story behind, the thought process. Offering the same dishes as a la carte may allow the guest a choice of what they would like to eat, but that may also lead them to not order something imagining that they may not like it. When served as a part of a curated menu, it also gives the guest the chance to be pleased with something they didn’t expect to taste.”
A curated menu also gives the chef additional benefits, he adds. “The chef’s table concept is also a great way for chefs to express different cuisines that they may not be currently doing at their restaurants. Or a natural way to take the cuisine of a specific restaurant to another city or country. It’s super viable to test the waters with different types of guests,” he says. So far, his experiences across Indian cities has only encouraged him to do more. And need I add that those who have tasted his newest delicacies have a lot to look forward to?