The Bombay Canteen

TBC as they call it in-house, is a space for all seasons. Quiet nooks and crannies for confabs and cuddles, “see and be seen” centre tables, a bustling bar scene. At a recent private event, Jamal and Dodo (IYKYK) got onto a platform, and led the crowd in a nice rowdy version of Y-M-C-A. Anything goes.

The Bombay Canteen is now 11 years old, and you better call ahead for a reservation, if you want a table. The reason – you go there primarily for the food – the vibe, crowd, buzz is all icing on the cake.

Sameer Seth and Yash Bhanage – two young lads studying Hotel Management at Cornell, bonded over dreams to change the restaurant scene in India. Yash went to work in Singapore, Sameer worked for legendary Chef Floyd Cardoz in the US. Sameer used to share his dreams with ‘Papaji’ Floyd, who “jokingly” said he would help them, when they were ready.

They pitched him their idea. Papaji did join as Culinary Director, and partner. Voila, TBC, then O Pedro, Veronica’s and Papa’s.

"We wanted to reimagine Indian cuisine for today. In those days, restaurants served either French or Butter Chicken (and other usual suspects). The North Indian food space was crowded, we didn’t want to compete with the Udupi restaurants, with their incredible price advantage, we weren’t excited by Chinese, Pan-Asian, or European cuisine. We could see a major gap in Indian cuisine. We wanted to cover all the regions of the country, with a contemporary twist."

Papaji liked the idea. He said, it fits, there is no confusion. No one is celebrating the whole of India, under one roof. It’s either North, or South, or one or two regions like Mangalore Shetty cuisine."

"Indian Accent laid the foundations from 2008. Yes, it was North Indian, and it was authentic. Tresind pays homage to its Indian lineage. With The Bombay Canteen, we reimagine all Indian food."

I asked for some examples. "Our Ghee Roast Chicken Seekh, is inspired by the street food found in Kundapur, Karnataka. We take chicken mince, coat it with masala from red chillies and tamarind, cook it in ghee, and offer it with a Pear and Radish Coleslaw. We put butter on the kebab. The ghee roast paste can be used across all proteins." One of their star dishes.

"The sev puri is Bombay street food at its best. We reimagined it as a ceviche, with cured sea bass. When we cure the sea bass, the fish is muted, and not centrestage. The base is a crispy fried chappati served like puris, topped with the sea bass, raw mango, nimboo chunda chutney, pickled Bhavnagari chillies (not too spicy) and crispy sev." Sev puri, with a twist.

"We say that you take the guest from the familiar to the new. You change the ingredients, or you change the flavours, but not both at the same time." Hunger Inc. has many such koans. These are part of the language used by everyone I have met in their restaurants – from the uber chefs, to the front staff. They’ve all drunk the Kool Aid. It speaks to the culture, that the team owns the words, they don’t parrot them.

Executive Chef Hussain Shahzad grew up in Chennai eating buff curry with dosa, as a staple breakfast. So, TBC has Buff Tartare, with a tamarind dressing, enriched with smoked egg yolk. The crunchy dosa bite comes from crisps made with dosa batter, steamed, dehydrated and then fried. Not amma’s dosa, but it rocks.

I had Smoked Pumpkin Launji, presented like a creamy hummus, with charred ponkh, Kashmiri chilli crisp, and a flaxseed khakra. A straight line between a favourite in Punjab and Rajasthan, and a staple in the Middle East.

Charred Winter Carrots, marinated in flavours that capture the essence of a tikka, then charred over coal, and served with other goodies. The veggie glistens, the wedges are sliced thin, the tikka aroma rises, and you want to ask – is this a carrot?

All their talk of hero-ing humble local ingredients like pumpkin and carrot, is reminiscent of Noma alum like Niyati Rao talking about Redzepi’s philosophy.

I sat down with Nihar Kotak, the savvy Head of Comms and Chef Gaurav Yadav, as they fed and talked me through the highlights of their menu. They change their menu with the seasons. A sourcing manager is on board, whose job is to identify the ingredients, and make sure they are available for the entire duration of the season.

"We work very closely with all our vendors. We get our morels from Kashmir, they have to be picked in February/ March, but we tend to use them from October onwards. They store it there, and ship it to us, just in time for our menu."

"We carefully select, and respect our vendors. Over time, they have come to understand our standards. We have earned their trust, by being honest and fair. Our established vendors know that we pay on time, so they offer us credit terms. For new vendors, we give the option of being paid on delivery, until they build the same bonds with us."

"Our menu has about 8 to 10 of the classic TBC dishes that are perennial. They are never out of fashion, and do not change with the seasons. The rest of the menu changes – the dish may be reimagined with new ingredients for the season, so there is the familiar/new experience."

I ask Sameer – what are your non-negotiables?

"We are clear. We won’t be everything to everyone. What we do springs from intent. Our growth will not come from trying to replicate The Bombay Canteen, or O Pedro in multiple locations. However, Bombay Sweet Shop (packaged mithai and namkeen) from its very inception, has been created for scaling up to a national footprint."

Bombay Sweet Shop just got Rs. 200 crore funding for a national rollout. The packaged market is alone estimated at over Rs. 50,000 cr; the total market is many times more. It’s one of the audacious power plays in the food sector.

Sameer winds up telling me, "The secret of our success is that people today don’t want the common place. We identify and then occupy niches, where we provide a unique experience."

Watch out for the Bombay Sweet Shop IPO one day. And in the meantime, feast at the The Bombay Canteen.