I was at a preview of the stunning new Indian Accent in Mumbai (which may have opened to the general public by the time you read this), and as I tasted the food (on current form: better than the Delhi original), I thought back to the seminal role Indian Accent has played in the development of modern Indian cuisine. Indian Accent’s NYC outpost serves dishes such as the makhan malai with saffron milk and rose petals. (Images: Indian Accent, Rohit Khattar)

Indian Accent’s NYC outpost opened in 2016 and is flourishing.

But Khattar, who had studied hoteliering in America, was not content. Way back in the 1990s, when India’s restaurant scene was still fairly basic, Rohit wanted to open all kinds of new restaurants. He landed the contract to run the hospitality/hotel part of the soon-to-be-opened India Habitat Centre in Delhi and planned various then-novel concepts. Then, he was diddled out of the contract, he went to court and finally the Habitat Centre was forced to keep its commitment. Chef Manish Mehrotra’s pulled kathal tacos.

But it was the third one that really shook Delhi up. At that stage, we had lots of Chinese restaurants and a few Thai restaurants. But hardly anyone had attempted a pan-Asian restaurant before. Rohit opened Oriental Octopus and changed the rules. Now, India can’t get enough of pan-Asian places. The saffron cheesecake at Indian Accent.

That’s when I first met Manish and ate his food. I knew right away that he was an exceptional talent but at that stage he was still an Oriental chef. A few months after it opened, Indian Accent was a hit. Manish was clearly the star.

When the Indian Accent story is told, everyone acts as though it was an overnight success. In fact, it did really badly in the early months. The Manor is tucked away in a residential colony, so you really have to want to go to any restaurant located there. That may have been why the early restaurants failed. The Mumbai Indian Accent serves classics such as Daulat-ki-Chaat.

Manish’s forte was Thai food. And he was appealing to a largely Indian audience. So not only was his food different from what had come before, it was an uphill struggle to convince Delhi diners that something new and exciting was happening. The smoked eggplant with maple papdi, churan ka karela, papdi chaat and chole bhature are among the new additions at the Mumbai branch.

The rest, as the cliche goes, is history. Indian Accent went on to become the most influential modern Indian restaurant in recent memory. Chefs who trained there now run great Indian restaurants all over the world. Manish is a legend. The saag tart at Indian Accent.

Rohit has chosen an Art Deco look for the space, harking back to Mumbai’s jazz-age buildings. He says there was a time when Art Deco was a dominant theme in the city’s architecture and Mumbai had more Art Deco buildings than most cities. That said, he has integrated the Art Deco elements with a sleek modern look.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vir Sanghvi Why hide the papers? Why keep the conspiracy theories related to Netaji Subhas Bose’s death alive? And why deny India the truth about the death of one of its great freedom fighters? ...view detail