Andrew Denton, a well-known Australian television producer and presenter, once said, “If Antarctica were music, it would be Mozart. Art, and it would be Michelangelo. Literature, and it would be Shakespeare. And yet it is something even greater; the only place on earth that is still as it should be. May we never tame it.” Denton would know as he would be on his eighth visit to Antarctica this January.
Hopping on a cruise to the southernmost end of the world, hobnobbing with seals and penguins at sub-zero temperatures―all for nearly 012 lakh per person―is a dream in itself. What makes it dreamier are the wine and starters served on a table as you look at tall waves lash on to French glass windows as the cruise moves along the Drake Passage―the patch of sea with the choppiest waters in the world, at the tip of South America where the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans meet. Recently, Michelin-starred chef Vineet Bhatia, 55, set sail to Antarctica on board a French cruise liner with his son and a group of 150 passengers. Close to a hundred of those passengers were “uber-rich Indian residents and NRIs”. The group set sail from the Argentinian city of Ushuaia, also called ‘the end of the world’. On board, he served “authentic, Indian comfort food” to “some of the wealthiest Indian families, all of whom were mostly vegetarians and Jains from Gujarat, Kolkata and abroad. There were children, youngsters and also the elderly,” Bhatia tells THE WEEK. This was just one among his “plentiful ultra-rich, exquisitely crafted experiences”.
Having cooked for the who’s who of the world, including prime ministers and presidents, Bhatia was recently awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire)―a first for a Michelin-starred chef of Indian origin―by King Charles III for his “services to the UK cuisine, to hospitality and to international trade”. That exclusive honour has come to him 30 years after he arrived in London, after quitting his job at The Oberoi’s flagship Kandahar restaurant. In less than a decade of his arrival, he earned his first Michelin star for Zaika in 2001, becoming one of only two Indian chefs to do so then (Atul Kochhar, who was with Tamarind, was awarded the Michelin star the same year). “I think it was a breakthrough for Indian food because finally we were being recognised and acknowledged,” recalls Bhatia. He went on to open two Rasoi restaurants―one in Chelsea, London, and another in Geneva, Switzerland. They won Michelin stars in 2006 and 2009, respectively. At present, Bhatia has 11 restaurants to his name across the world.
Alongside his global stature, it is his love and passion for Indian spices and gourmet-style vegetarian cooking that has him catering to some of the most affluent Indian families across the world, who, he says, have “plenty of money to burn at exquisite destinations for very personalised experiences”. But what makes Bhatia the go-to guy for the most unforgettable culinary experiences? “I think it has to do with this creative, innovative spin to the taste and presentation of what I am involved with that works,” he says. Take his spin on papad, for instance, which is mostly accompanied with chutneys in restaurants across India. This, in any of his restaurants, might be made with sago and then topped with tuna and mango kachumber. His desi cooking has a modern twist to it―char-grilled lamb chop with beetroot butter, cashew-crusted lamb kofta, blue cheese and mushroom truffle naan, dahi bhalla ice-cream, wild mushroom khichdi, chocolate samosa, grated chocolate on lobster and coffee on kebabs. “I think what I have been able to do is evolve the palate of the non-Indian in a way that they are much more at comfort with Indian food and spices and enjoy it a lot more, appreciate it a lot more than ever before,” says Bhatia, who has been the culinary ambassador for the Indian government in the UK for the past three years. “Their palates have kind of been trained and treated over the years to a certain kind of modern Indian food.”
At the high-end, ultra-expensive luxurious cruise, however, it was the most basic fare that the patrons paid for―“khichdi, dal and rice, Jain samosas and chhole and dhoklas”. “The thing is, in the five-day long journey, you cannot possibly stay on pizzas, pastas and sandwiches,” he says. “We Indians crave for our desi fare. Wherever Indians go, they like to carry their food or their chef with them. In fact, that an Indian Michelin-starred chef was also present helped in the sale of tickets for the cruise.” Also, being at sea is not easy. “Everybody was seasick at some point with nausea, vomiting and a severe lack of appetite,” recalls Bhatia. “The waves can go up to 5m. So, literally, the entire ship begins to shake. That is when you want to have the simplest of meals.”
Antarctica is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Bhatia’s culinary adventures. In 2018, he trekked to the base camp of Mount Everest to set up a pop-up restaurant for 10 lucky diners who flew in via a helicopter. And then there was the seven-course meal hosted for the UK ambassador at his residence in Doha during the FIFA World Cup. The next level of ultra luxury for the rich Indian will be very personalised travels with non-disclosure agreements. “My most memorable was the one in the Swiss Alps with an Indian family,” says Bhatia. “I cooked exclusively for 10 [people] over two days. It was magical because it was highly personalised.”
For someone who is constantly cooking and tasting food all day, how does he keep fit? “I do tend to put on weight but I do not smoke or drink,” he says. “I go low on carbs, fats and high on proteins.” His breakfast is just a single egg and brown toast. His lunch is done by 1pm, and dinner by 6.30pm, “before work starts and guests begin trickling in,” he says. “If I am still hungry and tired by the end of it, around 12am or later, I simply snack on a bowl of dal and another of curd.”
Bhatia was once asked if there was anything he could not make, and he cheekily replied, “I am bad at making a daughter.” He has two sons, aged 23 and 24. Neither has taken after him. The elder one works at the front office of Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai and the younger one lives in London and works as a system analyst. He wears the toque at home, too. He cooks, his wife does the dishes and the boys lay the table and clear it afterwards.