Set the scene. What have you been eating or drinking today?
I’m in my apartment in East Harlem where I live with my girlfriend and our dog. I’m sipping a nice lemon-ginger tea that I made earlier. I used to make masala chai every morning because I absolutely love it, but I’m trying to cut back on the sugar and dairy, so it’s herbal tea right now. This morning, I made uttapam for breakfast with a fermented batter that I get locally in my old neighborhood, Jackson Heights, Queens. Breakfast is my main meal, and if I don’t eat something in the morning, I might not sit down again for a meal until late at night when I finish up work. The irony of being a chef!
Tell us a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in New Delhi and loved being in a big city among street vendors, spicewallas, little tea shops and massive vegetable markets. I lived there until I moved to New York City in the 1990s.
After studying hospitality management, I started working in the Sheraton Hotel’s continental kitchen in Delhi. That meant we cooked European and East Asian cuisine. The kitchen was staffed entirely with women, which inspired me to start my own space one day where I could be surrounded by other women and queer people without all of the hierarchical patriarchal power structures—and now I have that!
I moved to New York for graduate school at the Food Studies program at New York University. I had only studied the technical side of cooking and restaurant management, but didn’t know the historical context of foodways. I studied and worked full-time to pay for my rent and out-of-pocket tuition. Most days, I could barely keep my eyes open during class or afford to feed myself. People often think becoming a chef or going to graduate school is glamorous but it’s not. Not in this economy, anyway!
I started working in fine dining and was the creative force behind the first two Michelin-starred New York City Indian restaurants, Devi and Tulsi. I also helped open Saar Bistro in Midtown with my former husband, Hemant Mathur. I wore so many hats, designing menus, developing concepts, and directing events from corporate galas to destination weddings. Brick-and-mortar restaurants come and go, but I learned so much about building relationships with clients that last a lifetime.
