Rahul Akerkar: The kitchen is my stage

Rahul Akerkar

Rahul Akerkar smiles when we tell him that our social media feed has been constantly throwing up three words: 'Rahul is back.' "It is scary. I don't know what it means. I don't feel I ever left, though I have been silent for the past few years," admits the 60-year-old who opens Qualia at Lodha Crest today after a four-year-long hiatus when he quit Indigo in 2015.

"When we were in the exploration phase, we went out all the time. It started crimping my creative process. To step forward, you need to not think of the risk. It is too analytical, which is not me."

Tuna loin

Qualia, which means the quality of a sensory experience (origin: Latin), will serve modern food that will continuously evolve. With an inviting seating of red sofa, table and high chairs options, a wooden ceiling becomes the backdrop of the bar that holds jars filled with colourful ingredients like mustard, beetroot, amla, mushroom and lemon that have been pickling for months together. Ceiling-to-floor golden chain curtains create a fluid sense of enclosure and openness. "The kitchen is my stage, and I wanted it to be interactive," says Akerkar, wearing a black tee, jeans and sport shoes.

Rice and pickled berries has jasmine rice pudding, basmati rice ice-cream, Assamese rice and Jharkhand pink rice puffs. Pics/ Pradeep Dhivar

"The food is modern with local flavours. I don't wish to label it. It is what I am doing now; it may not be what I am doing tomorrow. It's certainly not what I was doing five years ago. I love the ambat goad (sweet-sour) flavour profile. That's why I like pani puri and margherita, not necessarily in that order," he laughs, explaining the organic manner in which his restaurant took shape. "I am not a strategist. I am all heart, and go with the flow. When we got this space, I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but with time, it has taken a life of its own," shares Akerkar. Apart from the chefs, one of his early hires was the head of accounts. "Something I learnt to do over the years," he jokes.

Yellow gazpacho

The menu includes less popular fish like mackeral and lady fish, apart from snapper and sea bass. "They are beautiful fish and so readily available here. Recently, someone who tried my food told me the tuna was not bright pink in colour. I asked him if the tuna that he usually consumes is vacuum packed and imported in square pieces. Our tuna is fresh; our loin is cut every day. Of course, it will have grades of colour. Eating stored tuna is like eating blot-ink paper!"

Chef de cuisine Tarang Joshi has worked with Akerkar at Indigo

The tuna loin (Rs 695) on the menu comes seared in a Kerala-inspired curry leaf and sesame spice rub with an avocado pachadi, and pickled beet. The sourness makes our mouth water. They all come together in a beautiful synergy.

Sous chefs, Malvika Pratap, who has a masters in sustainability from Italy

We bite on sour dough bread with clarified butter that comes on a bed of seeds, topped with salt crystals. One gets a taste of his ambat goad balance in the yellow gazpacho (Rs 650) which comes with pickled melons, crumbly feta and flavoured with jasmine and tarragon oil. India's flavours speak through the five rice pudding (Rs 425) that offers us an instant initial connect to kheer but this version is elevated by the complexity of the pickled berries, and various textures of rice forms.

Ash Moghe who has worked with DeGustibus for four months and before that, in restaurants in Toronto and New York

The last time we had interviewed Akerkar, he made a statement: "People with dietary preferences should eat at home." He laughs, when we remind him, "It's like one goes to Georgio Armani to buy clothes but what he wants is khaki shorts. Armani will tell you to go to Macy's! However, we do have dishes that just turned out to be gluten-free and vegan!"

Head baker and pastry chef, Rachelle Andrade, who was earlier at Magazine Street Co.

Once Akerkar had his core team, it took a bit of retooling to understand the style of food. He says, "I am tough on everybody. I believe work is work and play is play. I can be a total as'''le at work and two minutes later I will say, let's have a beer. It confuses people sometimes."

In dad's footsteps

Akerkar's Shaan, 25, has debuted with him on this project. "She has shadowed me; at times, she gets frustrated that I don't give her clear work to do, but I tell her there will come a time when the penny will drop. Opening a restaurant is not algebra, where there is a method of teaching. With time, she is now fully involved with communications. She will be on the floor interacting with guests, and will eventually find her space. I have been very tough on her because I expect more," shares dad Akerkar. Shaan says, "I am doing everything that is asked of me. I enjoy interacting with people. I've studied film and wanted to open my own bar. So it made sense to take this experience."

At: Qualia, ground floor, Lodha World Crest, Building R2, 402 Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel.
Time: 6.30 pm to 1 am
Call: 7304586862

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