Mumbai Food: Restaurant teams up with top chef for unique pop-up

Chefs Matthew Orlando and Prateek Sadhu at a farm in Karnataka

What do you get when two stellar chefs join hands? A meal that's twice as nice. To prove this, Chef Prateek Sadhu of city fine-dine restaurant, Masque, is collaborating with Matthew Orlando, chef and owner of Amass in Copenhagen. The pair will whip up an elaborate 12-course meal for guests over a three-day pop-up beginning Friday.

Orlando at his restaurant garden in Copenhagen

Meet on a plate
Although situated halfway across the world from each other, Masque and Amass share a philosophy: both are farm-to-table establishments that use only the freshest, handpicked ingredients in their menus.

Amass and Masque follow the farm-to-table philosophy

Orlando started his career in San Diego, California, at the young age of 15. Since then, he has worked his way up the ladder, with stints at Aureole and Le Bernardin in NYC, and The Fat Duck in the UK, among others. Before launching Amass in 2013, he was chef de cuisine at René Redzepi's celebrated Copenhagen restaurant Noma for over two years.

With only fresh produce making its way onto a plate

For the pop-up menu, which is shrouded in secrecy, Orlando reveals that he has not brought along any ingredients from Denmark. "This trip is about discovering new ingredients. India is a diverse country with unique and interesting
produce. We are using Indian ingredients and looking at them and applying our way of thinking to them," he says.

He tells us that chef Prateek Sadhu and he are at a farm four hours outside of Bangalore. "Along with his knowledge of products, we are slowly shaping the menu through our experiences, leading up to the dinner. It is a real treat to get to work with new and different produce."

Zero waste matters
Amass has its own garden, which houses over 80 varieties of plants, including leafy vegetables, berries, herbs and flowers that appear on the menu daily. But it goes deeper than that. Orlando has ensured that his restaurant has followed a zero-waste philosophy from the word go.

"We really look at the by-products we are generating through our refinement of ingredients. We then let these by-products drive our creativity," he adds. For instance, leftover coffee grinds are saved, dried overnight and milled into flour.
This flour is then used to make crisps, which find their way into dishes. Even the stems of herbs are dried, ground, and used to season vegetables.

Are other restaurants around the globe embracing this cause, too? "Not as much as I would hope. That said, it is a conversation that is becoming more common, so it is coming," he says.

He believes there is no substance to the term New Nordic, automatically associated with the type of cuisine gaining prominence in Scandinavia post the emergence of Noma, which first popularised the idea of foraging for ingredients and plating local oddities. "New Nordic is something created by the media; it doesn't really mean anything. It's just a label."

So, does Orlando have a list of restaurants he will be frequenting while he's in Mumbai? In a surprise response, he says, "I plan on eating as much street food as possible."

On: January 20 to 22, 8 pm to 10 pm
At: Masque, Gala 3, Laxmi Woollen Mill, Shakti Mills Lane, off Dr E Moses Road, Worli
Log on to: insider.in
Cost: Rs 12,000