He is an MD in Psychiatry, but he never practised medicine for a day; she was a Customs superintendent, on the verge of being made a collector, when she chucked up her job to take up the family business.

DR. SUHAS and Deepa Awchat are among Bombay�s five best-loved restaurateurs. They are a friendly and handsome couple, recognised for their contribution to the hospitality and catering industry.

He is an MD in Psychiatry, but he never practised medicine for a day; she was a Customs superintendent, on the verge of being made a collector, when she chucked up her job to take up the family business. And the family business is the Awchats�s two hugely successful and popular restaurants, Goa Portuguesa and Culture Curry. One specialising in authentic Goan food; and, the other, in unusual South Indian cuisines from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The story of how the Doctor-Customs officer duo became restaurateurs, is quite romantic. Deepa is a Saraswat Goan and Dr. Suhas a Koknastha Chitpawan Brahmin. She came from Goa, and she was used to eating fiery Pork Vindaloos and tangy Fish Curries. He was a vegetarian at home, his mother warned Deepa that there would be no fish and meat in her kitchen after they got married. �But Deepa would yearn for her kind of cuisine when she returned home late after raids and other duties, and we would go in search of Goan food to small eateries and five-stars,� says Dr. Suhas.

Fortunately, Bombay had nothing of the kind. So, gallantly, Dr. Suhas decided to scrap the polyclinic that was being set up for his medical practise and open a Goan restaurant there for Deepa instead. That was the beginning. They sourced (�smuggled�, he says) cooks from Goa. �I got them from Taj Holiday Village, Hotel Mandovi, St. Martin�s, Anthony�s Bar, O�Coqueiro�s. And I copied the architecture of Deepa�s house in Goa, took inspiration from some churches, a little help from Mario Miranda. On December 3, 1988, which is St. Francis Xavier�s day, an auspicious day for Goans, I opened my restaurant.�

Very simply, the Awchats named their restaurant Goa Portuguesa. Located on the road coming into the city from the airport, the restaurant drew people out of sheer curiosity. �They used to think it was the Portugal consulate or an art gallery,� says Deepa. Then Behram Contractor, in his Busybee�s Guide To Eating Out, changed all that by reviewing Goa Portuguesa for the Afternoon Despatch & Courier. �Overnight, the fortunes of the restaurant changed,� the Awchats say. Today, the restaurant is their life. They have nurtured it and watched it grow into Bombay�s only speciality restaurant for Goan food.

Perhaps, the Awchats�s success can be measured by the fact that all of Bombay�s Goans who are fastidious about their Prawn Balchao and Chicken Xacuti, dine at Goa Portuguesa. �We get the seafood from a fisherwoman whose trawlers dock at Khar-Danda,� says Dr. Suhas. �But the Tiger Prawns and Lobster come from an exporter. The Mussels, Oysters, sausages, and other ingredients like palm vinegar, chillies, Cashew Feni, red par-boiled rice, and masalas come from Goa. I tell people that the food stuffs, the wife and the cooks are all 100 per cent Goan!�

Then, three years ago, the couple toyed with the idea of opening another restaurant by the side of Goa Portuguesa. �We thought South Indian, because most people believed that Indian food meant Mughlai or Punjabi,� says Dr. Suhas. �Friends told us, �Arre doctor, after Goa Portuguesa you want to open an Udipi joint!� But we had something else in mind. We travelled all over the South. We did extensive research, sourced out recipes, invited regional cooks over to Bombay and started off Culture Curry as a place that only did food festivals.�

Deepa adds, �For one year, people did not take us seriously. So we started serving Goa Portuguesa diners a complimentary dish from Culture Curry�s menu. They were amazed! And that�s how we started out with the second restaurant. We had by then done hundreds of dishes from all over the South, and we selected the best and most popular ones to create a menu for Culture Curry. Today, it represents the best of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. We have done the states and the regional and religious foods as well. Our regular diners cannot believe the kind of food we are producing here.�

Neither of them miss their original callings. Dr. Suhas, naturally, because he never practised any medicine. �But I read a lot about medicine, I am in touch with new things that keep happening, I follow medical research,� says Dr. Suhas. Deepa, who has been fascinated by food and cooking since she was nine, did not hesitate to leave the Customs to become a full-time restaurateur. �I enjoyed the adventure of the job, going on raids, holding an important position, but all the while I felt I ought to be working full-time in Goa Portuguesa. Then ten years later, when Suhas suggested Culture Curry, I knew it had to be this or that. Either be a Customs officer of a Chef!�

She is not really the chef of either restaurant, because both, Goa Portuguesa and Culture Curry have expert chefs in their respective kitchens. But Deepa has standardised the recipes, she has set the menus to suit Bombay�s palate, and she works on changes and introductions all the time. �I have done television shows with all the chefs and cookery experts just to show people that I can really cook,� she admits. �There are times when I am standing at the range in the kitchen.� Now they are working on expanding both restaurants in Bombay and opening franchises in other cities. �After that, we will go into the packaged foods business with Culture Curry�s masalas. Heat and eat,� says Dr. Suhas.