Having an expat chef really titillates the Indian taste buds, according to Varun Chhibber.
A year ago, Chhibber, general manager of The Oberoi, Mumbai, brought in Adriano Baldassarre as chef in the hotel’s Vetro Italian restaurant. “Knowing Adriano Baldassarre came from Hotel Hassler in Rome is always an interesting talking point,” Chhibber said.
The arrangement came about because the hotelier’s ultimate boss, the legendary PRS (Biki) Oberoi, stayed at the Hassler just before the millennium and got to know its owner, Roberto Wirth. The Oberoi and Wirth families have since become close friends.
Adriano Baldassarre will be in Mumbai for at least two years, which allows him plenty of time to give substantial training to the 12-strong brigade in the 56-seat restaurant’s kitchen. He has training sessions every afternoon that sometimes last as long as an hour. The 38-year old, who is from Rome, fortunately spoke perfect English when he arrived, so language has been no problem.
“One challenge is that some ingredients — say, mozzarella — have to be imported,” Chhibber noted. “In addition, since a change of state government here in Maharashtra, all beef was strictly banned from this March, with fines of 10,000 rupees (US$156) and a potential five-year prison sentence for serving bistecca alla Fiorentina.”
All pasta is made in house, and egg-free frascatelli has recently been added to the range.
The result is a very satisfactory average cover base of 40 at dinner, with a growing figure — currently around 20 — at lunch. To get to Vetro it is necessary to go through the elaborate security that surrounds all top Mumbai hotels these days and then take an elevator up to the third floor, which all takes time. Repeat business is growing, as are requests for bespoke cooking lessons often accompanied by wine pairings from the restaurant’s 1,000-bottle enoteca.
“Now Adriano is looking forward to being asked to cook for weddings, as Italian cuisine is highly popular among the local Bollywood crowd,” Chhibber said. “But no, I have put in his contract that he is not allowed to go and cook in stars’ homes.”