We serve authentic food with a mix of global ingredients and methods- Manish Mehrotra

Manish Mehrotra is one of the few chefs who has contributed a lot in giving Indian food an all new avatar. Known for his modern Indian food and India’s best Restaurant Indian Accent, Manish Mehrotra talks to Restaurant India talks to about his global venture.

Now that you have opened Indian Accent in New York. How is the response so far?

Indian Accent is ding very good in New York. We are getting great response and reviews from both diners and food critics.

What are you serving at Indian Accent in New York?

The food we serve at Indian Accent is a modern inspiration of traditional Indian food. We serve real authentic food with a mix of global ingredients and methods. It is a new type of food where we are keeping all the authenticities without compromising on quality and consistency as this is the key.

Who are your regular customers at Indian Accent in New York?

We have got a good response from the locals there. 60-75 per cent of customers are the local residents and rest are a mix of Indians who live there and other tourists.

What is the trend you see growing in India?

I think in the last two three years there is not much happened in India when it comes to evolution of food and trends. Everybody is opening and doing same kind of food and restaurants- modern Indian food, gastro-pub and beverages bars. And, I believe there is much to do when it comes to food and global trends. Though, there is demand for a new kind of Indian food in the market.

What is your plan expanding the brand to other markets?

At present our focus is on New York. We are poised to grow this brand in the region and then think of expanding it. I am also doing Chhor Bizarre in London which serves traditional Indian food in its original avatar.

Indian Accent has been awarded best restaurant for years. What is the hidden reason behind this success?

I believe in training my staff and that’s what I have been focusing in all these years. Second important thing is maintaining consistency in the food that we serve at our restaurant. And coming up with something new all the time are few of the reasons for success of Indian Accent.

You are known for introducing modern Indian Food. What made you to introduce something new to the Indian plate?

India is now a global country, people from all over world comes to India and everything in the country is on its progressive part. But food was the only thing where we were stuck and people used to think that Indian only eat curry based, thick gravy, ghee, creamy and heavy foods which was not true. And it came as a major source of inspiration for me that I have to do something with Indian ‘khana’ that everybody appreciate and can relate to it.

How do you maintain the authenticity of the food still playing with the original flavours?

Authenticity is a very subjective word and when you prepare food, similar dishes can be prepared in many ways, and it becomes really difficult to describe what authenticity of food is. At my restaurants I never compromise on taste of the food. So, according to me taste is the most important thing and after that you can do anything with the dish.

How is the pricing done at your restaurant?

Food plus the hard work behind preparing the food is how we decide on pricing the food.

What is your biggest achievement so far?

The biggest achievement is ‘Indian Accent’ which is now number 1 restaurant in India and making Indian food global.