Page 72 - UpperCrust e-Magazine Third Quarter 2024

COME INTO MY KITCHEN | CHEF IRFAN PABANEY

is not, has just mushrooms and almonds and
The chef at work
works well with both groups, herbivores and
carnivores. And the Warm (prawn) Lemony
Couscous, you asked me to make!”
That’s true. I remember when I was at
Sassy Spoon during its opening week, years
ago, Irfan was trying to convince me to eat
couscous and I was like, no, no, no! He got the
dish to my table nonetheless and believe me, I
have been a convert since then. So I just had
to know how he creates that magic. Please
read the recipe carefully to know the soft
nuances, like rubbing olive oil on the couscous
grains before you get started.
So let’s talk about Irfan’s career graph,
from his first job, when he first worked with
Chef Rahul Akerkar, at Under The Over. Which
if you remember was a small restaurant, right
Penne Siciliana besides the Kemps Corner flyover. “It really
was a superb restaurant, I have fun memories
of it. Outside of 5-star restaurants, that was
the only establishment doing that kind of
food. I was there for four years, until it shut
down for some unfortunate issues!”
But that was not Irfan’s first job
really. After college, Irfan went to work
at Asian Flavours and Fragrances, a start-
up company then, creating exotic food
fragrances. Today it has established itself
well and they are now leading flavours
and perfumery compound manufacturers
and exporters in India. “That was really
something. When I went to meet friends in
those days, I would always smell of vanilla
or some other spices!” reminisces Irfan.
So did he always want to be a chef?
Irfan very honestly and candidly states, “No,
actually I don’t know how or why I got
Mushroom & Toasted Almond Pâté into it. When I joined Sophia Polytech, for
the two-year diploma, I did not know if I
was genuinely interested in food or was just
attracted to the scene because of the glamour
of working in a 5-star hotel. In my time,
working at the Taj or the Oberoi was a big
high, a big lure.”
Well, Sophia did Irfan a big favour apart
from teaching him cooking. It introduced
Yashodha Shitoley, who was also there at the
same time, doing the same course. “I didn’t
just pursue the diploma course, I also pursued
this woman I had fallen for! She snubbed me
for the longest time, but I was determined

70 | UPPERCRUST | JUL-SEP 2024