Who let the chef out?

Cooking up a storm: Chef Hemant Oberoi
The culinary masters are now increasingly mingling with diners, making Page 3 appearances, and donning the marketer's hat.


BL :Sravanthi Callapalli:june 6,2012

 

With a swipe of the cleaver, Martin ‘Wizard of the Wok' Yan chops a clove of garlic into smithereens, and grins widely, knowing he's making an impression on the couch potato watching his show. The amiable Sanjeev Kapoor, perhaps India's best recognised culinary king, has been talking up a storm even as he ladles out dish after dish from his Khana Khazana. Anthony Bourdain has delighted and disgusted with panache while the delectable Nigella effortlessly puts together an entire Christmas meal.


Chefs have been holding us in thrall in our living rooms as they cook up a feast on the TV shows. Now, even 9-year-olds amaze us with their very adult recipes on Junior Masterchef.


But wait, who's that person approaching our table at the fine dining restaurant? S/he's the chef, and wants to know if you're enjoying your meal. It's not just the celeb television show chef who's a big brand. Every other fine dining restaurant in town is now forcing its culinary wizards out of their kitchens to meet and chat with diners.


And they are not confined to the restaurant. They make regular appearances on Page 3, on television shows and other media to promote their establishment, be it their own or their employers'. On the one hand, the chef markets the restaurant while on the other, the establishment promotes its chef as a culinary star. The result: The chef is increasingly wearing a dual hat. From menu planning to marketing recipes, he's got to be savvy at both.


To build and maintain the image of the celebrity chef, the media and customers must be kept constantly excited by innovative work, so now appearances on TV have become de rigueur. Hemant Oberoi, Corporate Chef and Grand Executive Chef at the Taj Mahal Palace, says, “There are two types of chefs – television chefs and chefs on television. I aspire to be remembered as the latter.”


Chennai-based Chef Anand of the restaurant Cornucopia has been mingling with his diners since as far back as 1987. “I do it because I love meeting people, and I'm very passionate about my food, but not as a marketing tactic. Of course, it eventually translates into more money but that wasn't the motivation,” he insists.


DUAL ROLE DILEMMA


A chef who did not wish to be identified said the desire for celebrity causes problems – Marketing wants the chefs to come outside and chat up the patrons; some chefs don't want to do it. They dislike guests telling them how the food should have been and often do not accept criticism, he says.


Recently, a senior chef of an upmarket restaurant in Chennai was given his marching orders for failing to comply with a company policy. His fault: He rarely went out to chat with the diners.


To Vipin Sachdev, his employer, managing director of Tuscana Kryptos Restaurants, this was anathema, as he believes a chef should inspire as much trust and confidence as a good doctor – both professions involve one's health, after all! “If you go to the hospital, you would want to be seen by the doctor, not the receptionist. It's similar in restaurants, best to meet the chef rather than the manager or the waiter,” he says. The group has its own celebrity chef in Chef Willi, a New Zealander, who is used extensively to market its restaurants.


Sachdev says having an experienced, celebrity chef can even turn into savings for the restaurant. “Yes, they cost money, but more people come in. And they know how to make great-tasting food even while curbing wasteful expenditure,” he says, adding that in Burgundy, one of his restaurants, he recently cut the price of the lunch buffet from Rs 785 to Rs 650. He doesn't accept, though, that prices are hiked because of the chef's celebrity. “Whether it's Rajinikanth or some other actor, the ticket prices at the cinema stay the same. It's the same case here,” he argues.


Vikas Khanna, the New York-based Michelin-star chef who hosts Masterchef India (Season 2), says India's love for food as a country has “become pronounced with the help of so many networks and outlets.” He believes celebrity chefs have intensified the bond with the guest and it has created a much higher demand for dining out.


Mehrnavaz Avari, Food & Beverage Manager, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, admits restaurants gain a premium due to their association with celebrity and titled chefs (Michelin-starred, or Iron Chef, for example). She says, “Restaurants can command a higher price if a celebrity chef is actively involved in the menu creation,” she adds.


The Le Meriden brand of hotels has gone a step further and given them a new artistic positioning. Renowned coffee barista Fritz Storm is part of this group, as is Michelin-star chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and they ‘curate' (note the usage of the word – relatively new to the world of food and beverages ) the coffee and breakfast experience across the Le Meridiens of the world. Both actively engage with guests and the media.


CUISINE GURUS


Globally, while chefs have already earned cuisine guru status, that development is slowly being seen in India too.


In Bangalore, the restaurant scene is incomplete without a reference to Chef Abhijit Saha, the chef and co-owner of Caperberry, which does food based on molecular gastronomy. Saha has also created the menu for Fava, a Mediterranean restaurant and lounge bar in the ultra-luxurious UB City. A willingness to ‘do the new', apart from communication skills and confidence are important attributes of a celebrity chef, he says.


Marryam H. Reshii, Delhi-based gastronomy writer, says the true celebrity chef as in Anthony Bourdain (who does not cook but travels and writes about food and presents it on TV), Gordon Ramsay, Angela Hartnett and Pierre Hermes is still some time away from India. Quite scathingly, she adds, “We are obsessed by phoren, which is why Praveen Anand (of Park Sheraton, Chennai), Ranveer Brar (Executive Chef, Novotel, Mumbai) and Saby Gorai (Olive, Delhi) are not approached by fans on the roads.”


Brand endorsements are another aspect of celebrity-chefdom. Chef Saha views them as stepping stones towards celebrity stature. “The marketing of an external brand further strengthens one's status. This is very good in terms of business for the restaurant.”


Chef Saha is clear about the role of a celebrity chef in building brand image. “Many restaurants today are celebrity chef-driven. Customers find it easy to associate with such restaurants. Numbers cannot be driven by a celebrity chef alone; they have to be backed by substance in terms of consistently high quality food and service,” he says.


While opinion is divided on who's a celebrity chef and who's not, and whether these chefs have caused a rise in the price of food, it is clear that the day of the chef as a brand ambassador has finally happened.


And as Vikas Khanna sums up, “Prices on the menu mean nothing. If the food and the experience are worth the value, the places will continue to exist.”


With additional reporting by Archana Achal