Why Manu Chandra calls himself ‘Restless’ Chef?

Chef Manu Chandra, Founder Partner, Manu Chandra Ventures. (Photo Courtesy Nishant Ratnakar)

‘Restless’, that what the Instagram bio of Chef Manu Chandra says. The boy who graduated from  St Stephen's College, Delhi, and Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Hyde Park, New York, went on to work with Michelin-starred Chef Eyvind Hellstrom at Bagatelle and bag numerous awards and accolades. In his earlier stint as Chef Partner of the Olive Group of Restaurants, he started iconic brands like Toast & Tonic, Monkey Bar, The Fatty Bao, Olive Beach and Cantan. He is now Founder Partner at Manu Chandra Ventures Pvt. Ltd, a Bengaluru-based hospitality company in partnership with long-time colleague and hospitality professional Chetan Rampal. In an exclusive tête-à-tête, he talks about his journeys, ventures and which is the only other word that can replace 'restless' in his bio. Edited excerpts:

Chef Manu Chandra

Tell us what your earliest memories of food. What does food mean to you?

I grew up in a multicultural household where there was a little bit of Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Punjab and food was the centre of the home and how it operated. It was always more than sustenance and was always experiential in some way. And it was a very nuanced take on food and going around that was fascinating because there was always some process or the other and it was all over the house. My grandmother, for example, would sit in the veranda, or wherever the sun was coming in for her prep and the dining table would be full of stuff during that time. It becomes inherent to your character when you are around it all the time. It just became part and parcel of growing up, and I think it had a profound impact on the way one views it.

When did you first realise you wanted to be a chef?

I think that was probably a much later realisation as I did not necessarily silo myself into thinking that I need to pursue a certain profession. The desire to be a chef professionally was never at the top of anybody's mind as it was not really a career choice that was pursued actively, especially if you came from an academic sort of background and family. Over time, as things began to change, I set my mind that this was a career path that would not be a bad one because it was something I clearly enjoy doing. Then, there were limited choices for professional culinary degrees and nothing specific to what I was passionate about. I pursued an academic degree at St. Stephen's instead but continued to do what I was doing.

What was your experience at the 75th edition of Festival de Cannes 2022?

I did the dinner for the Indian and VIP contingent and given that India was the country of honour and it was a big deal, especially post pandemic. I think it was just being there at the right place and right time as this happened soon after launching Single Thread. It was a huge sort of coup for us as a startup and put us on the map instantly as we could showcase the type of business model and the type of offering that we programmed. That was a godsend for me and there has been no looking back since.

You had a long association with Olive. Was it hard to take the call to move on?

Absolutely, it was! It has not only been so many years, but it was literally the only life one knew. For that period, given the fact that one had equity in the company, to let go of it all and start afresh is not an easy decision. It is not a decision that one makes midway through your career, so it never gets easy but in hindsight even though it was a hard decision, it was probably the right one.

Desserts at Lupa, Bengaluru. (Photo Courtesy Assad Dadan)

Tell us about LUPA, how long was it in the making and what challenges you faced in the journey?

I still have challenges. The idea was to programme a space in a way that you kind of learn from past mistakes and essentially indemnifies itself against errors that you have learnt to overcome. But the issue is things do not change and it baffles me to think why they remain as difficult and that is a systemic problem. But the idea was to create something that would be seamless and make the path to operations, both for the staff and the customer a remarkable experience. I am still working towards making sure this gets done. The project was nine to 10 months in the making from concept to completion. It was a very challenging project, both from the physicality of the space and the detailing required. But in hindsight, we have been able to create the USP with the space. Being hands on is the only way to be as it takes a long time to be able to hone a level of skill and expertise in this industry. The more complex the operations, the more hands on you must be. Clarity of vision is very important and you cannot just do copy and paste spaces.

How has your own style of cooking evolved over time?

I think I'm a little more self-assured in the way I approach food. I don't work towards critical validation and that's been a turning point in my trajectory and growth as a chef. I understand that at the end of the day, I need to feed customers, keep them happy, bring them back and challenge them at some level. I need to cook for them and not for a tiny handful of critics and get my name on many lists which I have been on for enough years now. I am very happy to step out of that and it does not excite me anymore. It’s just a noisy echo chamber that seems defeatist in some way. I would rather build a legacy that is around the patrons and people who will continue to come across generations. Everyone should be happy with what we do and look forward to taking memories back with them, especially if the food is done with a certain level of competence, skill, and imagination. And I think that really is what hospitality is all about. It does not need to be about proving some intellectual point. I'm not a professor, I'm a chef.

There is something always happening in the food industry - what is your perception of these 'trends' or 'fads'?

From what I have seen in the last 18-20 years, I don't really see how any of that has gone into something which is sustainable in the long term. I have seen more chef’s burnout and throw their businesses down than people have been able to continue to remain on top. Those who did not have clarity of vision and were too busy, partaking in the noise rather than making sure that they were doing something right or wrong, fell off by the wayside and re just no one knows them anymore. Pity because it shouldn't be like that.

What do you do as curator for Diageo’s Craft Council?

Their vision is clear as they want to create boutique spirits with a high level of craftsmanship in India as opposed to imports that are cost prohibitive and ridiculously expensive. To navigate that problem, they have come up with a multi-pronged approach. One is to push the envelope as far as quality standards are concerned and establish the fact that India can be a mainstream player in the boutique spirits’ market. They needed people who have clarity of vision and help, guide, and mentor what these products can be and how they can be made better. And that really is my role in some way. It is not really a brand ambassador, but a slightly more overarching theme that I tackle. I have had the pulse of the market and palates and then basically work towards creating products which they do with tremendous experience, bandwidth, and expertise. And that's really where the synergies align.

Catering is a different kind of business. What lessons have you learnt through Single Thread?

We have underestimated the market as people are a lot more willing to experiment and partake in amazing experiences. There are two ends of the spectrum really. There is always going to be a burgeoning requirement for fantastic breakfast catering of idli and dosa in the morning. And there's going to be an experiential 15 course dinner being done at somebody's house, with silver service. It makes more sense for us to be able to play in the more experiential zones at the other end of the spectrum, where there are very few players because it is very labour and thought intensive. It requires a huge amount of curation that we enjoy doing and therefore it's something that works for us overall and for our customers. And lessons from that have been that creativity and imagination do not need to be curtailed. People want to experience something new and fresh. Logistics are hugely important, and this is an example of effective marketing and staying connected to the customer.

Tell us about Holy Duck and Duality Concepts.

Holy Duck was essentially a strategic investment and part acquisition. The idea was to be able to remove the pain points and bottlenecks that one often experiences in the establishment of brands, in the conceptualisation and the role out of the brand from a creative, full branding and sustained marketing angle. By internalising that process to some level, it is sped up what would have ordinarily taken a much longer time. Duality concepts are also in a similar space and as the ideation, execution, planning and design of spaces take a very long time. If you have an agency that you partnered with whose expertise lies in the space, the path from concept to execution is much faster. And we are in talks about launching a few things but it is not yet rolling.

You describe yourself as 'restless', so what are your next plans?

That word is not changing as there will only be two words on my Instagram - restless and, the next time I change it, it will be 'retired'. I am a creative person and I need to keep coming up with concepts that excite me. I know I can constantly create but more importantly, the ability to bring amazing people into the fold and then nurture and train them to become leaders of tomorrow is what I like. The pursuit of wealth is not the greatest driver and I think the excitement of doing something constantly keeps me going.