Designer food

New York chef Suvir Saran teams up with Rohit Bal for a new restaurant in the capital, but will this turn out to be a delectable partnership?

Madam, the best Indian chef in America sits before you." Suvir Saran, 32, chef, current toast of New York, Newsweek subject of its last issue, says this "" slightly pompously, but more matter-of-factly. We've been discussing Indian cuisine, what else?

It's rightful, or rather wrongful place, in the world of haute eating-out ("No one regards Indian food as fine-dining anywhere") and in the pantheon of chic international diners (Amaya? "Have you had the food there? It is lacklustre"); not to mention the existential crisis, if you like, dogging cuisine back home ("In India, chefs still follow trends that became outdated internationally a decade ago; they still serve you carved gajar and cucumber with kebabs that everyone keeps aside...").

Conversation with Saran is never dull. You may disagree with him of course, but you have to give this to the chef: He packs quite a punch. There is no conciliatory quibbling, no diplomatic niceties, the chat as tangy as his favourite "chaat", crispy spinach, or a pyramid of bhel, dressed up street-food that he doles out. But we'll come to that later.

Contentious morsels are just the starters. The main course is the reason why I am meeting Saran at all. It's a rainy Saturday afternoon and I've been circling Indira Chowk, as they call the outer circle, CP, in the hope of visiting one "very different" Indian cuisine restaurant in the heart of Delhi. Veda is being dubbed just that.

That, and, the tag, "Rohit Bal's restaurant". True, the designer is one of the owners and has done a rather fabulous job with the interiors "" Venetian mirrors, thekri ka kaam-studded dome, reflections of silver lotuses et al; a bit dreamy, a bit romantic, a bit over-the-top, rather like its creator. But as I find out, these are not its only defining features. Instead, what will set Veda apart in the days to come (the restaurant opens to the public early October) is surely its cuisine.

For a while now, non-hotel, Indian cuisine restaurants in the country have been trying to shake off their down-market image. Butter chicken in brass handis, out-of-tune "live" ghazal singers and turbaned waiters in greasy uniforms are giving way to smarter options "" say, young lounge bars with 'masala martinis' and food cooked in olive oil. Veda takes such intended chicness many steps forward. Saran is a partner and brings his New York sensibilities back home.

"No qormas" but simple, home-style food with an emphasis on seasonal and fresh ingredients. "The food served in Indian restaurants is not what people eat at home", points out the chef. In 1993, when Delhi-boy Saran arrived in the Big Apple to study professional art this is precisely what he realised. Subsequently, he made it his mission to rescue "authentic" Indian cooking, recipes picked up as a young boy from his grandmother and family cook but presented more stylishly and in a "contemporary" way ("My food is never fussy, just contemporary, no drama, classic French presentation", he says).

In a sea of butter chicken masala, the strategy naturally paid rich dividends. Saran today owns a very successful and chic restaurant, Devi in New York apart from dreams, according to Newsweek, of opening another one in France, final foodie frontier.

For the moment, it is Delhi though. Veda is ready with a seven-course, first-of-its kind tasting menu (they are still debating whether to have a la carte options), each dish carefully composed with an interplay of textures, colours and flavours "" there are as many as 56 tastes and textures, according to the chef, here. Not that the offerings in themselves are unique "" though Saran does promise a crab kulcha that left me rather breathless.

Mung chaat and pea samosas, kararee bhindi and tandoori prawns, fried and quartered idlis hitherto in the kitty party domain, artistically plated with just that much chutney as you'd eat.

The closest I can approximate this kind of food is to what they serve at Fire, The Park, though the presentation, I'd say, resembles ex-Zaika chef Vineet Bhatia's. Saran does not quite care for the comparison but that's another story. Instead, he calls it "food with soul embellished with plating". The big question remains, would you pay Rs 1,500 for this meal?

At Veda, they are confident guests would. Society diners the restaurant has been lining up for the last couple of days have apparently lapped up the likes of gobhi manchurian ("without that horrible cornflour") and baigan ka achar.

Saran himself believes that in a world where moms no longer frequent the kitchen, there will be enough takers for his home-style fare. But what works in NY may not necessarily work in ND where the best Indian food is still to be found at home "" cooked, if not by moms, then by well-trained cooks. So, let's wait and watch.