Chef Zilli in The City

You know you’ve met extraordinary talent when a chef feeds you aubergine and it is lip-smacking delicious. But then it should hardly be surprising if the chef in question is Aldo Zilli and the dish his signature fare.

Best known for his fleet of Italian restaurants in London, international celebrity chef Zilli, 57, made his Asia debut in December with Zerruco by Zilli at The Ashok in Delhi. Zerruco is a contemporary Mediterranean dining restaurant that Zilli has co-branded with the main promoters Kashif Farooq and Prashant Ojha of the Urban Pind fame. A popular TV chef, Zilli is also a best-selling author (he has written over 12 cookbooks including two autobiographies) and a successful restaurateur (he opened his first at age 26 in Soho).

In the indoor dining area of the restaurant, Zilli is reclined on a cream couch with his arms spread out on the backrest. He is wearing a short-sleeved chef’s coat with Delhi winter being more “like spring” as he puts it and quite unlike London. A skylight in the textured ceiling just above the bar washes the interiors in natural light. The walls are panelled with shiny dark wood and embedded with mirrors. It was a much-anticipated visit, says Zilli of his maiden trip to India. “Indian food is a big part of the global cuisine especially in England. A trip here was much anticipated in the last ten years. So when I got a chance I jumped at it,” he says.

Zilli sold his seven London restaurants two years back and is in partnership with 18 restaurants at present. In 2012, he teamed up with The San Carlos Group of Italian restaurants to launch their second Cicchetti restaurant at Piccadilly Circus. This all-day Italian dining in the heart of London is famous for its small plate, tapas-style cuisine, something Zilli has brought to Zerruco as well. “The offerings here will be the same as London, which is small dishes so that people can try 3-4 different dishes. That I think is the way to eat anyway. I don’t like big portions of food anymore,” he says. The menu here has been designed entirely by him and he has prepared an entire section just for vegetarians. “We cater to everyone and there is lots of vegetarian food on the menu. What I have in mind here is to keep the menu very fresh and source the main ingredients locally.”

This may be his first trip to India, but Zilli says he has sampled a lot of Indian food in England and finds a lot of similarities between the Indian and Italian food cultures. “In England, English chefs have to be taught everything, but you guys come to the kitchen with flavours already that you’ve learnt from your parents and grandparents, much like Italians. We have a similarity in the sense that we both like flavour in our food. Our food is not bland, especially in the south of Italy from where I come.”

Zilli’s journey from Italy to England is a remarkable story and would make for a silver screen blockbuster.

The youngest of nine children, Zilli says his older siblings went to work on their farm while he was left behind to help his mother in the kitchen. That is when he learnt cooking. “We were a very poor family and food was at a premium. The farm offered everything, but what grew in the farm had to be sold for money,” he says. 

At 17, he left home to realise his dream of working in a kitchen. The reason being one most Indian boys who enjoy cooking would identify with. “My father didn’t want me to be a chef as he thought cooking was done by women,” he says. He first went to Germany and France to learn the trade. “I learned the best skills and techniques in France,” he says. In 1976, Zilli moved to England. “I met some friends there and got a job straight away.” An entrepreneur at heart, Zilli saw a gap in the market that he could fill and pretty well too. “Italian food in London in those days was terrible. It wasn’t cooked by Italian chefs. People were cooking oily lasagne, overcooked pasta and terrible pizzas,” he points out. At 26, he began running his first restaurant, Il Siciliano on Dean Street in Soho, which was the most successful Italian restaurant in those days. He thus began building his spectacular empire.

The scene here in Delhi he admits is a lot different. There is plenty of good competition.

“There are some good Italian restaurants in Delhi and I’m looking forward to competition,” he smiles. Zilli will be back in town in February. “I will be here every season to change the menu as I like to cook with seasonal food. Other than that I am in contact with my chefs here every day. We Skype, it’s easy.”

By Supriya Sharma:  I E :05th January 2014 12:00 AM

Last Updated: 04th January 2014 01:02 PM

Five Questions to Chef Nobu

Photograph: AFP


Live Mint :Sidin Vadukut :Fri, May 31 2013. 01 50 AM IST

Chef Nobuyuki ‘Nobu’ Matsuhisa talks to Mint Indulge about his culinary experiments

Nobuyuki ‘Nobu’ Matsuhisa is one of the world’s finest chefs. His restaurant line that showcases a unique blend of Japanese and Peruvian ingredients and techniques is world renowned and hugely sought after. Recently, chef Nobu was in Dubai to hold an exclusive, ultra-gourmand dinner for a select group of friends, family and guests at the Nobu restaurant at the Atlantis at The Palm Hotel and Resort. Mint Indulge asked him a few questions via email.

1. You are a chef who has attained everything there is to attain in the world of fine cuisine. What keeps you motivated? What is your next challenge?

My family of chefs who I work with keep me motivated every day. I travel for 10 months of the year visiting the teams across my 26 restaurants that are located in five continents. The young chefs who are eager to learn are the next generation of chefs who will change the culinary world, and I thoroughly enjoy sharing my knowledge with them and watching them grow.

Most recently, we have launched the first Nobu Hotel under Nobu Hospitality. The hotel is located in Las Vegas at Ceasar’s Palace and we are looking forward to opening more properties across the world.

I believe that to be a chef, you have to have passion and patience but, most of all, you must love food. The special ingredient in my cooking is my kokoro, which means “heart” in Japanese. To be a successful chef, you need to put your kokoro into your cooking.

2. There also seems to be a new fondness for the simple and the home grown. Perhaps this is buoyed by a greater awareness of food origins and the dangers of mass retail. Do you feel that there is a return to simplicity?

My cooking is based on the practice of simplicity. I believe the art of using simple techniques in the kitchen brings out the best flavours in ingredients that allows me to create dishes combining Japanese and South American influences.

It is very important to me that my restaurants use locally sourced produce as much as possible in the countries where they are situated. At Nobu in Atlantis, The Palm, we have created a Japanese garden where we grow our own herbs and vegetables.

3. What is the last dish you imagined that you’re particularly proud of? And what is the best meal you’ve eaten this year so far? Where was it and why did you like it so much?

It still amazes me how popular the Black Cod with Miso dish is. In this dish, the black cod is paired with a miso sauce, which is a mix of miso paste, sake, mirin and sugar in which the fish is marinated for three days to enhance the flavour. It means a lot to me when people all around the world tell me it is their favourite.

My favourite chef is my wife. All of the dishes she cooks for me are my favourite—they’re simple and delicious.

4. Let us talk about your restaurant at the Atlantis. How do you approach such a restaurant? How do you work the location, the environment and the local clientele into your restaurant concept? Nobu Dubai has been operating since the launch of the Atlantis, The Palm, in 2008, and it’s always great to visit the restaurant...I try to do it at least twice a year.

It is the first of my restaurants to open in the Middle East and it reflects the style my restaurants are known for, including the open sushi bar and wood-burning oven. The most recent component to the restaurant is the Japanese garden, which is a spot for reflection and tranquillity. In the garden, we grow fresh herbs that are used for cooking in the restaurant.

Dubai has a competitive dining scene and it’s key to stand out and offer something different and that’s what I think we do there.

5. You have so much experience and seen so many geographies. Are you still moved by how your restaurants are experienced by clients? Do you find differences between how your restaurants are received in different places? Anything peculiar about the way your restaurant in the Atlantis serves clients?

The concept of Nobu across the world is the same; the cuisine is a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian flavours and you will taste this at every restaurant. However, each menu varies and offers a slightly different selection of dishes depending upon what can be locally sourced.

I also put trust into my chefs and give them the freedom to influence the menu. For example, in the Nobu at the Atlantis, The Palm, in Dubai, there are a number of dishes exclusive to the restaurant, including Langoustine shiso salad, beef tenderloin with dry miso, and scallop and foie gras with vanilla den miso.

CHEF :Vikramjit Roy :Konnichiwa Chennai!

The Hindu :Shonali Muthalay: May 17,2013

Chef Vikramjit Roy of the city’s first contemporary Oriental restaurant Pan Asian, talks to Shonali Muthalaly on his years in Japan mastering the cuisine and reinventing it for an Indian palate

There’s a rhythm in the kitchen. The soft sound of a heavy knife slicing through zucchini. Thumps from pots being lined up on searing stoves. The steady sizzle of saucepans. All veiled in a cloud of warm, wet steam. Quietly padding through all this, in chocolate brown Crocs, is Chef Vikramjit Roy. With a resume, that lists stints in Tokyo and Delhi’s feted ‘Wasabi’, 

Chef Roy is working on simultaneously strengthening and re-inventing Japanese food in India. His latest move, ‘Pan Asian,’ is possibly his most significant contribution so far. Set in the gargantuan ITC Grand Chola, this is Chennai’s first contemporary Oriental restaurant and the ITC’s first step towards creating a national ‘Pan Asian’ brand.

It’s 11 a.m., and his team is already busy in the open kitchens, designed like a chain of islands in the massive restaurant. As Chef Roy leads us to his ‘studio’ he points out the empty picture frames hung along the exposed brick walls.

 “The idea is to imagine whatever you want in there,” he says, with a dramatic wave. Poet-artist-chef? This gets more surreal every minute. We climb a flight of stairs to the chef’s studio, from where people can “look down at the restaurant, and feel special”. How special? “We charge anything between Rs. 6,500 to Rs. 50,000 a plate.” Rs. 50,000? “That’s nothing,” he shrugs, “I’ve done a meal for 1.5 lakh a plate in Delhi.”

Back downstairs he hands me a chunky cup of tea. “Kitchen chai... Hot, sweet, strong.” As we settle down, he describes how he rode his Harley to Tranquebar last week, just to eat podi idlis. “I heard about a guy who makes really, really fantastic podi idli there. So I just had to go.” Hmm. Not that la-di-dah then, despite the designer studio, and Emperor’s-new-clothes picture frames? Clearly, Chef Roy, is just as enigmatic as his food.

Lessons for life

After graduating from IHM (Institute of Hotel Management), Kolkata, Chef Roy began working with the Oberoi in New Delhi in 2003. He eventually moved to Tokyo to pursue his interest in Japanese cooking. “It was to work in a hotel called Okura, which has two restaurants, each with two Michelin stars. Sazanka specialised in sushi and Y

amazato in teppanyaki. I was a mid-level chef, so I naturally assumed I would be cooking there… Then, I was told my job would be to carry fish from the market to the hotel.” He did this for almost a year. “I hated it at first. Waking up at 3 a.m., going to the market, and then working in the kitchen all day. And through it all, I was not allowed to cook. My mom would call from Calcutta and say ‘I hope you’re doing well’ and I’d lie and say ‘Yes’. It was a bad phase.” He pauses, then adds earnestly, “But that is what made me what I am. I finally understood that in Japan, you need to prove your mettle. Only then will they have confidence in you, and give you the opportunity to learn.”

The lesson that made the biggest impression, however, was to do every job with passion. “Over here chefs will complain if someone says they’re vegetarian. Over there, you should see the love, care and exuberance they bring to anything they make. Even if it’s a simple mountain potato, they will poach it, grill it and serve it perfectly… I’ve seen Japanese chefs do 23-course menus that are completely vegetarian, and nothing will be similar.”

After living and working in Japan “on and off for eight years,” Chef Roy ended up in Delhi, courtesy Chef Masaharu Morimoto. “I had worked with him in Napa Valley, so when the Taj group decided to open India’s second Morimoto in Delhi, I was called in.” 

Convincing Delhi that there was more to Japanese food than sushi was his biggest challenge. “To them it was all raw fish. So I worked on creating food that customers could connect with, without compromising on authenticity. Something like tamari glazed Chilian sea bass, for instance. Good simple flavours, but styled differently. Or I would serve fish Carpaccio topped with hot oil. Since its cut really thin, customers felt like it was cooked. Gradually, they started experimenting more.”

He continues, “In 2007, sushi in India was filled with cream cheese, spicy mayonnaise, cucumber… To me sushi should be basic. A nigiri sushi for instance is just rice and fish. The rice should have adequate vinegar, the nori should contribute umami and what stays with you after you bite in should be the flavour of the fish. Nothing more. Nothing less.” 

His style of cooking follows the same rules, except he brings in unexpected global flavours to detract from the starkness, and add an element of surprise to make food fun. “I like to combine unexpected elements. The Japanese don’t believe in mixing flavours: For them simmered eggplant should taste like simmered eggplant. So if I say, lets add a buckwheat crumble, and serve it with some dehydrated pineapple on the side, they won’t like that. But Morimoto gave me that freedom.”

Chef Roy’s philosophy is simple. “I want to connect. But I don’t want to be like someone else. I want to create food that shows my personality.”