MANISH MEHROTRA, Corporate Chef Luxury & dining, Old World Hospitality and the man behind Indian Accent, New Delhi and New York, was present at the BW Hotelier F&B Conclave and Expo which took place at The Grand New Delhi on JUly 27, 2016. 

Mehrotra, who has just returned after a six months stint in New York in charge of the big apple's newest sensation in Indian gastronomy spoke during a one on one session with Sourish Bhattacharyya, Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier. 

One of th first things that Mehrotra mentioned was, “There are many great Indian restaurants in New York but it needs more as there is a great demand for Indian food in the city.”

Mehrotra, whose restaurant Indian Accent New Delhi also features in the top 50 Restaurant list, said that in order to make Indian restaurants popular abroad, one should keep the real taste of Indian Khana intact. “There has to be a striking balance between the traditional and modern food to succeed in New York,” said Mehrotra.

The chef has a rather different idea to keep the flavor as original as possible. He says, “To keep the authenticity and real taste of food, all my chefs are from Delhi. We also use products like Tata salt and Amul butter to keep the taste as it is in India.”

Opened in February 2016, the restaurant received a two start rating from NY Times, a big achievement for a newly opened restaurant. Mehrotra says, “Initially I was not happy to receive just two star but when I came to know that 2 star is big thing there I was happy.

He said there is a psychological problem associated with Indian food in NY. He says, “Indian food for all the people in west means cheap food. A New Yorker spends $300 on Japanese food but hesitate to shed $50 on Indian food.” Slowly the mentality is changing, said the master chef.