‘Cooking allows for constant learning’: Chef Rahul Akerkar reflects on his career in his new memoir

Being a witness and an important contributor to the changing landscape of Indian fine dining, chef Rahul Akerkar’s memoir Biting Off More Than I Can Chew: A Maverick Chef Remembers is an illuminating read about an evolution that most of us do not have a direct view of.

Long before launching Indigo in 1999, his first European fine dining restaurant in Colaba, his first set of lessons came from his grandmother’s kitchen in Nashik. According to him, the thumb rule of running a restaurant is very simple – consistency. The memoir recounts how he arrived at this lesson and the personal ways in which he has sought to make a mark on the hospitality industry.

In a conversation with Scroll, Akerkar talked about cooking as a hobby and as a profession, the value of feedback, and why the ambience and décor of the restaurant have become central to the dining experience. Excerpts from the conversation:

Fusion cuisines are the trend these days. As someone who has been doing it for decades, what do you make of it?
Fusion isn’t new – it’s just more visible now. Every cuisine, if you look closely, is the result of influences meeting over time. So the idea itself isn’t the problem.

What is overdone is superficial fusion...

Read more