En route to being India's food capital

Remember the last time you visited a restaurant that guaranteed you some authentic Chinese food, only to be served stir fries overpowered with chilli powder, spicy gravy that tasted of curry powder, and curry leaves that you couldn’t stop picking out? While Indianising global cuisines has been a thing that our country hasn’t been able to refrain from, there are some bold steps that Chennai has been taking, towards presenting international cuisine the way it is meant to be. In fact, Chennai is en route to becoming a truly multi-cultural space with its mushrooming international eateries. As some experts say, the city is inching closer to becoming the country’s food capital.

Chef Willi Willson, one of the most reputed expats in the country who has been spending his time in Chennai with his restaurants for many years now, agrees completely.

“Chennai is opening up. When we talk about the future of the food industry, one can easily say that Chennai is the food capital of India, because there’s so much vibrancy and diversity in the food here. There are people of diverse nationalities that have started their own restaurants here, be it Korean, Malaysian,

Mediterranean, Asian or American. Other cities may have grander and flashier restaurants, but they lack the diversity that Chennai is creating for itself. There’s a huge percentage of Chennai that now wants food in its most authentic sense and are tired of Indianised cuisines,” says chef Willi.

At his restaurants, which have been presenting authentic Italian food, chef Willi says, ingredients like spices and meats could be sourced both locally or imported, but the flavours are never compromised. “There’s no way one can recreate the Italian prosciutto, or the parmesan. Such elements are usually sought from the home countries, while other vegetables and spices are kept local,” he explains.

Keeping the cuisines authentic is not just wooing the well-travelled Indian, but is also making expats feel more at home, says chef Ashish Kumar Singh, the senior sous chef at Pan Asian, ITC Grand Chola.  

“Since spices like star anise are commonly used across global cuisines, many tend to Indianise the food to please Indian palates. Only when we visit those countries do we discover that this food is nowhere close to what it is truly meant to be. Keeping it authentic helps expats feel closer to their homelands. And to achieve this means getting fish for the sushi all the way from Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo,” he says firmly.

The restaurants have also been going out of their way to create as authentic a meal as possible, and are not shying away from stepping outside their menu cards. Chef Ho Chun Kee, the masterchef at Golden Dragon in Taj Coromandel, one of the oldest Chinese restaurants in the city, through his new menu, has been bringing the experience as close to what it is in China, from faux meats, to enoki mushrooms.

As Prateek Kalra, the food and beverages director at the hotel, rightly points out, “It is good to see Chennai’s food lovers expanding their taste buds to something more authentic. People are willing to explore more here, and it’s a great sign. It’s exciting to see where the city’s food scene is headed to.”