Chef Gaggan talks about his week-old innovation lab, drawing out of a restaurant deal in India, the Emmy nomination for his Chef’s Table episode, and finding honesty on a plate
Chef Gaggan
You know what the problem with the Indian media is?” chef Gaggan, who owns three restaurants in Bangkok — Gaggan, Meatlicious and Suhring — asks us, in reply to a question about his five-month-old daughter. “You give more attention to my daughter Tara than to me,” he laughs hoarsely over the phone, apologising for his sore throat.
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Chef Gaggan. Pic courtesy/Vasco Celio
On September 2, the 38-year-old maverick will fly to Mumbai as part of his Asia tour to host a pop-up for 30 guests. “In 36 hours, I will be back in Bangkok. I’m no celebrity chef with time for leisure travel,” he shrugs, clearly hinting at a growing breed.
Gaggan and his daughter Tara
Excerpts
Q. The pop-up in Mumbai
A. It’s for 30 lucky guests, and we are lucky to serve them. One of the dishes is a paper, created using a freeze dryer, with toppings. When you take a bite, it tastes like masala chai. I’m not revealing more.
Q. The Lab in Bangkok...
A. Was launched last week. It is a kitchen cum spaceship, spread across 2,000 square feet. It cost us $700,000. I could have opened two restaurants in that budget, but the purpose was to shorten the gap between our innovation and activation of a dish. Sometimes, a particular dish is incubated for one to two years. That’s too long.
Q. Innovation...
A. Is a continuous process. Food has become fashion, and we have to have a collection for autumn, winter, summer and spring. We are an eight-member core team, and every Friday night, we meet for BBQ and discuss food. Our last brainstorming session went on till 5 am. There have been times, when struck with an idea, I have rushed to
my kitchen in the middle of the night.
Q. When I judge a food show...
A. I look for honesty in a dish. A dish can have attitude or arrogance. Attitude is like rock and roll, and arrogance is you either take it or leave it. The problem with today’s kids is that they think they have learnt everything. At 38, I am still learning every day. Recently, I got a call from MasterChef India. They wanted me to speak to a contestant, who is my fan, on the phone as he was expected to win. I was by the phone for three hours but I never got that call. I called them the next day to ask why, they said because he didn’t win. One bad day doesn’t make you a loser. You must be fair to the winner and loser.
Q. The Emmy nomination for Chef’s Table episode on Netflix…
A. Makes me feel like Malala. This nomination is not for me but for the story. This one is for the team, especially the director, David Gelb, who spent three weeks with me. When I heard about the nomination, I called him and told him: ‘Now you will know how I feel the stress I got through when I am nominated in the 50 best chefs list.’ Nobody knew my family background, and many journalists asked why I never gave them this story. I told them, you didn’t deserve it. David ensured he didn’t add any unnecessary drama to the episode.
Q. Chefs have become super stars...
A. That is the biggest problem. You can either cook on TV or be true to your restaurant. How many celebrities actually cook in their kitchens? When you are a restaurant chef; your name is behind every dish that goes out. I dedicate 40 per cent of my time in my kitchen. I have a dedication of 200 nights to Gaggan. What use is an actor if he doesn’t act? Just like our attitude towards Olympics where authorities don’t want to create infrastructure, chefs in India crib about not getting world recognition.
Q. El Bulli...
A. It taught me the greatest lesson of how to work like a family. Today, I have staff from 14 nationalities. I was an intern at El Bulli for an entire winter month. All we had were tomatoes, melons, seasonal vegetables, meats and bread. I was fed up of eating salads, potatoes, meats with dressing of red wine vinaigrette. One day, I made some dal. A chef asked what it was and I told him I was craving home food. He told me I had to eat what everyone ate, and made me throw the food in the bin. A sentimental Indian, this made me angry. Now, at our restaurants, we have a cook for every cuisine for our internal meals. Yesterday, we had a whole goat biryani, the night before, Latin BBQ.
Q. A restaurant in India...
A. Is not on the cards. Till early this year, I was sure about signing the deal, but while going through the 200-page contract, I realised it was too much. I was getting 11 per cent profit, and everyone else would end up making money on my name. The first sitting would pay the landlord, second sitting would cover my costs and in the third, I would make profit. At my steak house in Bangkok, Meatlicious (where he is a partner), we fire meat on grills, add salt pepper and serve without any presentation. I broke even in seven months. Why would I wait for five years to make a profit, and spoil my name? Bhaad mein jayen.”
Q. Classic dishes...
A. Are like platinum music hits. Nothing can beat Michael Jackson’s Beat It. It is an evergreen song. Just like that, I will reinvent 70 to 80 per cent of my menu, but the 20 per cent will be constant. The yoghurt, for instance, is the statement dish.f you went to a restaurant that serves your favourite crab pepper fry and they replace it with crab do pyaza. How will you feel? Won’t you say, ‘Why the f*** was it removed?’
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