Despite the new crop of work-from-home chefs and bespoke catering services, hosting people at home can still feel like a chore. And an expensive one at that. The pandemic had supercharged the trend of commercial cooking at home. Why then, does feeding a few close friends still feel like a task?
Price and quality are key factors, feels Kolkata-based entrepreneur Akshat Jalan. “You can pay upwards of Rs 2,500 per person to serve sushi at your house party and the food still won’t meet your standards — because there are a lot of other factors that come into play,” says Jalan.
Itamae offers pre-curated menus across Thai, Tibetan, Indian, Japanese and Chinese cuisines
Earlier this year, Akshat, along with his foodie friend Devank, set up a personal chef service in Kolkata and named it Itamae. The brand aims to save you the time, money and energy that usually goes behind feeding people at home. Their premise is quite simple. Call 24 hours in advance to book a team of three-four culinary experts (including elite chefs and Michelin-calibre talents) to prepare you a multi-course meal in your home.
“Whenever we hosted people, we just couldn’t find any reasonably-priced services that offered world-class cuisine and service. At Itamae, once you schedule a personal chef experience and choose your cuisine, you don’t really have to do much else. Our team comes in and prepares the food fresh in your kitchen (the price you pay per head includes the raw materials, of course). Let’s say you are planning to serve starters at 7pm, we’ll drop in an hour early and sort you out,” says Devank.
My Kolkata sat down with the duo behind Itamae to learn more about this Kolkata brand and whether or not it can truly change the way we host. Excerpts from the conversation…
My Kolkata: Tell us what influenced you to explore this avenue
Devank: Akshat and I are foodies and we often host small groups of people. There are so many classic party items which get soggy or lose their shape if they’re being transported or if they’re not served fresh. This issue has often made us consider if we can hire a chef who can come over and cook for our guests. But, we never really found any convenient options in the city.
Our minimum cover is 15, so even if you have two families catching up or friends coming over, you can order a chef to come in and cook for you. Instead of hiring caterers days in advance or calling a restaurant, you can just call us 24 hours prior to the party. The best part is we have our own kitchen set up in the city where we assemble or prep the food. So, even though it’s cooked in customers’ homes, the turnaround time is much lower. Our chefs don’t need to use your kitchen for a whole day.
When did you realise this model could work?
Akshat: I have been associated with an auto-detailing company for more than three years, and every two weeks, we have events or product launches or small meet-ups with 20 or 25 people. But when it comes to the food services for smaller events, the options are quite limited. If you’re placing an order with a restaurant for specific cuisines like Italian or Mexican, it could cost you something around Rs 4,000 - Rs 5,000 per person!
This is quite unaffordable for most people. Since Devank and I are both foodies, we’re always on the lookout for new outings and trends. We realised there was a gap in the market where up-and-coming middle-class customers had aspirations of experiencing fine-dining and offering it to their guests, but the rates were too inflated.
Uramaki by Itamae
The timing is also quite key here….
Akshat: Yes, some foods don’t hold their consistency for too long. If we’re considering ordering sushi from a restaurant, for instance, it would cost around Rs 2,500 per person, but the quality would still suffer because within 30-45 minutes the aroma and freshness of sushi dissipate and it becomes soggy. You’re hardly getting your money’s worth.
This made us consider working with a network of chefs so we can offer something at a comfortable price point. Our Japanese menu, which has seven courses, will cost you something around Rs 1,500 per person. Not only do you get world-class culinary skills at your doorstep, but you also get fresh food with all the flavours intact. I think it’s a steal!
An Itamae chef putting finishing touches to a maki roll
You offer quite a few cuisines. Can customers swap options from the pre-curated menus?
Devank: Yes, they can. In fact, they can even swap courses between two menus. So, for instance, if a customer wants sushi appetisers and Indian mains, they can opt for it.
Tell us about the culinary talent you’re working with
Devank: We were keen on offering a fine-dining experience in world cuisine, all our chefs have experience working at five-star properties. One of our chefs, for instance, has worked in China for seven years and is headed to Qatar to work at a Michelin-star restaurant.
Tell us about the research…
Devank: It took us around three-four months to plan and curate everything. We could see that a service like this would be in demand in Kolkata. We travelled across the country during this time and we could see that most cities have the same demand when it comes to food services
Akshat: We went to places like Delhi and Bengaluru to understand the food cultures across the country and to experience different menus. In Delhi, for instance, we went to Manish Mehrotra’s restaurant Indian Accent, which entered the list of top restaurants in the Michelin Dining Category. We interacted with chefs there and talked at length with chefs who thought this was a great idea and we have stayed in touch with them. Making connections with talents and pioneers across the industry was quite important to us. I can say the service our customers are getting is at par with a five-star restaurant at least and a Michelin-calibre restaurant at most.
Itamae’s prices start from Rs 999 (per person). More details here.
