Neha Hiranandani

Don’t go by her size! Neha Hiranandani loves food and travels across the world dining in style! Here, she sits down with UpperCrust in The Maldives and indulges on a few of her favourite things at Out of the Blue at Soneva Fushi for which she has a huge soft spot

Text & Photographs: Farzana Contractor    

Location: Soneva Fushi, The Maldives

You are quite the foodie, aren’t you?

Well, yes! Living in Dubai, you have no choice, but to become one. I mean, what can you not get over here? The restaurants are absolutely world-class. Then when COVID came along it made me a bigger foodie. In the sense that it began an interior journey for me. I got into the kitchen and started dabbling with food, fusion and flavours. I was actually cooking, experimenting, enjoying the experience, it was an enormous learning. I loved it.

How frequently do you go dining out?

About four times a week. Split into eating out and eating in. Meaning restaurants and peoples’ homes. I do like to understand my friends, get to know them better from the food they serve at home. You know like, ‘show me who you are through what you eat!’

What food do you like, what are your favourite places?

Well, until just a few years ago, Dubai was all about the big, famous restaurants, it was about the glamour, the celebrity chef, about the incomprehensible bill that came at the end of every meal. But now, I think, the food scene is maturing, Dubai is evolving. It’s not about brand name restaurants as much. It’s about the new, small food spaces, non-descript ones that are getting created...

Meaning…?

There are now eateries with especially curated menus, simple ones which offer more intimate experiences, where the food is crafted with love and care and passion. Places which started off in homes and grew organically into these little restaurants. I am such a fan of these supper club spaces. Where the chef really cooks with heart, where there are stories to narrate about the food he or she cooks, memories, nostalgia all woven, stirred into old and forgotten recipes.

Like major cultural influences?

Yeah, right, think about it, think about the true gastronomic cultures of the world that really value food. They don’t dump sauces and spices on their food. Often it is just a simple grill, where you actually taste the produce, the freshness of the vegetables, where you can almost taste the saltiness of the ocean, when you bite into a small morsel of that fresh fish.

Talking about sea and salt, your favourite destination is The Maldives and a special haunt, Soneva Fushi, how come?

Well, what’s not to like about The Maldives! It offers the most perfect holidays. Sun, sea, seafood! And yes, I searched and searched all of The Maldives and found nirvana at SonevaFushi. I love everything about it. It’s my kind of place. I can go there again and again and not get bored. My favourite restaurant at Soneva is Out of the Blue.

You may be a foodie but you look like a small eater.

Look, I am a Punjabi after all and love food generally. Don’t get fooled by my size. I enjoy my food. Meaning, I do eat really well.

Is there any food you don’t care much about?

I have to confess, I cannot eat at a buffet! I just don’t like the idea of food being cooked en masse, or served so. Endless rows of dishes, tray after tray, food being slathered on, is not my style. As in life, so also in food, it’s always quality over quantity for me.

So the one cuisine you focus on would be…

Japanese. Always. For that reason I love Zuma, you just can’t beat it! You know this restaurant has not changed its décor or menu, in years, it doesn’t even need to, for the food it serves consistently, is simply outstanding!

Which others, in Dubai?

I incline towards Asian cuisine, so Rohen at the Arts Club, jumps to mind, as also Kinoya, the little restaurant, which started at a supper club at home.

Apart from all these lovely places where and what else do you enjoy?

Oh, I love gharkakhana, anyone’s ghar. Meaning our very own Indian food.

Really?

Yes, absolutely. But you know Indian food can be bipolar, it’s a schizophrenic kind of food. Like say when you go eat at a Bukhara, enjoy the heavy-duty meal very much, but risk a heart attack even before you leave the place! But Indian home food is nourishment on a plate, a complete meal, with every flavour profile, simply cooked.

Soul food for us…

Not just us, even non-Indians when they eat at our homes, they are baffled, it is a revelation for them. The variety, the cooking styles… Also, we go way beyond the few basic ingredients they are used to; olive oil, garlic, lemon, sage! You walk into an Indian kitchen and what do you find? Something is sizzling, something is popping… it’s magic, it’s unbelievable.

Have you continued to cook post COVID?

Oh, yes! And let me tell you, our colourful spice and masala boxes fascinate me. The red of the chilli, the brown and beige shades of the zeera and dhaniya, the yellow of the turmeric and all the fragrant spices… cloves and cardamom, cinnamon, tejpatta… where can you find all this, in which cuisine!

What do you like to drink?

Tequila! It’s the spirit of choice right now, my current favourite, not that I am much of a drinker. Whether we like to admit it or not, none of us are immune to trends. And I go with the flow. The last fave was gin!

Now tell me a little about yourself…

Well, I was born in Bombay, grew up in Delhi, finished schooling and left for the US when I was 17, studied at Wellesley and Harvard, and lived there for many years. Majored in English Literature and Political Science.

You have written a book…

Two actually! First one was Girl Power! About 50 incredible Indian women who have broken rules and succeeded. The second, I Parent. It’s about living in a new digital age. We are right in the middle of a massive global experiment, right? It’s not a gloom-and-doom book, but one which will help us face a different era which will soon be upon us, if it isn’t already!

Scary, this whole artificial intelligence thing…

Yes, we can’t avoid it. It’s coming, it’s here and our children will grow up with it. We have to learn to live with it, embrace it. We just have to! As long as we are not enslaved by it and find ways to marry the human brain and the machine and yet not become machines ourselves!

What about love and marriage, where did you meet Darshan?

At a wedding in Bombay, actually. And that was it. Then a few months later he got in touch with me when he came to Delhi and things just progressed…

You mean marriage happened…

Yes! Quite quickly. It’s like one of those things… like you know when you know!

What was it that attracted you to Darshan, the mostest?

That he is so multi-faceted! Also his strong intellect. And that he is very large-hearted. It’s a combination that has to be celebrated.

What is your most favourite pastime?

I dive! Have been diving for 15 years. Both Darshan and I are certified divers. Saw a whale shark recently, can’t describe the experience. It’s the most sacred thing I do.

What about travel, holidays? You have two kids, right?

Yes, Zoya and Zahaan. As a family we like travelling to Europe, Geneva being a favourite, it has the big-city dynamism but still old-world.

So what is it for you Bombay, Delhi or Dubai?

Dubai! It’s home now. Delhi is my mother’s home and Bombay, home to many friends I love visiting.