Chef, passionate cook, musician, traveller, biker, Pondicherry boy, glutton” — goes the Instagram bio of chef Balpreet Singh Chadha, who has recently taken over as the executive chef at The Park Kolkata. When you meet him, you get a warm vibe and notice a glint in his eyes when he speaks about food. With work experience in Andaz Hotels, ITC Park Sheraton and various international assignments including Michelin star restaurants in Spain, chef Balpreet is excited and raring to experiment and bring in new ideas at The Park. The Telegraph chatted with him about going sustainable to being the Pondicherry guy who loves art.
Is this the first time you are coming to Kolkata?
This is my fifth time in Kolkata but this is my first time in the city for a full-time job. I had come here earlier to do certain weddings for Hyatt (Regency) and then a food festival with ITC a while back and twice on personal trips, where I had gone to Mandarmani, Santiniketan. I am from Pondicherry… and I wanted to see some artistic work in Santiniketan. The place is high in art and culture and very serene.
What is it about Kolkata that you like?
I like the food and vibrancy of the city. There are a lot of people here who are actually very proud of the heritage, the culture and the education. The way they are proud of the cuisine and the knowledge that has been imparted across generations....
You being from Pondicherry, that also has a colonial influence, do you find any similarity between Kolkata and Pondicherry?
Not exactly. Pondicherry is not very vibrant. It is very clean and serene, colonial but the colony over there was French, which was very different from what the British brought to India. One thing that is common between both the places is their love for food. Also, Pondicherry is very artistic and people there like to talk about their heritage, just like Kolkata.
You joined just few days before Durga Puja. What was your experience like?
It was madness but it was very beautiful and pretty. We had a Puja inside the hotel. My mother is from Jammu so we have Vaishno Mata there. What I saw here though was a very different roop of Mata. That was amazing. I did not get time to step out of the hotel but it was a good experience.
What was your first impression of The Park when you walked in?
I drew similarities between a property in Pondicherry called The Promenade. It is a very vibrant and right there in the centre... the way the façades of both the properties look like, are very similar, especially the purple lights. Second impression was that the hotel is very artistic, especially the lights in the lobby drew my attention. Then I noticed that the team here is very young and vibrant and I felt very refreshed. The way the F&B outlets have been carved out in the hotel offers something for everyone. Then the clubs here are much talked about, even Aqua and The Bridge are very popular and I wouldn’t call The Bridge a coffee shop because the kitchen is right there. The usage of colour and metal inside the hotel right from the lobby are beautiful.
Talking about the outlets, which is your favourite spot in the hotel?
I like Someplace Else. That is one place I really connect to because of the music. I like the vibe at Someplace Else where I can unwind, relax, sip on a nice chilled glass of beer and listen to some nice, fresh music, request songs because the artistes are very pally. The team there is very good and the food is also very good although we are trying to do some changes soon.
What kind of changes are you looking at?
What I have realised here is that in pubs and places like Someplace Else and Roxy, people do not want to dine out of a plate, Since the club is really very dark, very vibrant and has loud music, I would rather have food on sticks. That is exactly what we are going to start. Everything is going to come to you on a stick where you are going to hold, bite into it and dispose it. In your other hand you could hold your drink. For this you don’t need to sit down. You can bite into your food, take a sip of your drink and you are good to go.
What are your other plans for the hotel?
The most important one that I have done is my take on sustainability where I had taken a very niche step in my earlier properties — the way Andaz Delhi came up, the way AnnaMaya came up. I would like to make a very ingredient- and technique-centric menu here, where people who are travelling today can relate to. The word ‘flashy’ is very dynamic. What is flashy to me may not be flashy to you. But a good ingredient and technique would always remain. For example, a good biryani is always a good biryani. Nothing and no one can change that. Globally, the world is focusing on ingredient and sustainable menu, so why not here? I really want the food to come out of the whole arena of cuisine-based. I see food as global. For me, a hummus is a hummus if only the chickpea comes from there. But I can also have my type of hummus with the chickpea I have here. I want to go local and sustainable because it is the way forward. Let’s start a revolution with at least 20 per cent of sustainable menu at weddings. Every revolution needs a start and this is what I would like to promote.
My second emphasis would be a lot on banqueting because The Park is known for it. The way Sharad (Dewan) had changed the entire banqueting experience is brilliant and I also want to innovate the menus of the existing brands of the property like the Zen. I feel the infrastructure has to change a bit and one needs to keep improvising. I would also like to focus on plating and how the food is being set up.
Are you someone who feels that presentation is the key to a dish, or the taste?
For me, the taste, the flavours always go above 60 per cent. Plating is important. I would rate it to the top 20 per cent. There are colours and textures involved with food and many other factors. I like eating, I like looking at it and I have recently learned to take pictures of it. I also try to understand what the chef has tried to do with the food. I don’t judge him or her based on how I have eaten the food or how I assume the dish should be. I can be the executive chef of this place but that doesn’t mean I know everything about food. If I am there to eat, I quietly eat the dish and if I have any comments, I quietly write it down and I ask the cook what they had tried to do and then I tell them what I feel. Constructive criticism is very important.
How do you unwind when you are not cooking?
I play the harmonium and tabla and then play with my kid. I have a toddler at home. Secondly, I actually unwind by cooking. It de-stresses me and there are times you actually need to keep your family happy. They expect a lot from me so I have to cook something for them also, na? (Laughs)
If you have to impress someone with one dish, what would it be?
My family is just not happy with one course. They want pehle kuch starters, fir thoda something snacky, fir thoda curry ho, fir main course lao and then we will have desserts. So, cooking at my home is a lot of things.
What is the one dish you would cook if the world is coming to and end and who would you like to feed?
I would like to cook for my late mother because she wasn’t there when I started cooking. I was basically a biochemist who started cooking. I am not a hotel management graduate. Coming to the dish, it would not be one particular item but a good five-six-course meal. Knowing my mum, she would not be happy with just one. She would be like ye lao, wo banao.
Cooking is a varied subject. What would you say your strength and forte lies in?
I am not a cuisine-oriented chef at all. I have started my basics in classic French. My forte is that I am a technique-oriented chef. I cook in a certain way and that is an idiot-proof method. I love innovating and I always ensure that the ingredients are seasonal and local. If I do not get the right avocado, I would not serve the dish. A lot of my cooking technique and style has come from travelling.
Did you get a chance to explore the food in the hotel? What was your favourite?
I would say it is the biryani. It is done really well. I have had biriyani from Aminia, Royal and all other outlets. But I told chef Haider also, my masterchef here, that his biryani is the best. I always rate my biryani based on the rice because the rice being good means the chef is good. If the meat is good, it means the quality of the meat is good. Second would be Zen’s sushi. Then it would be chef Ananchai Suttison’s soup. That’s really good. Then there is another dish which is my go-to. Jo mein ghar leke jata hoon... Chilli Chicken Croissant, it’s yummy.
Is there any particular food trend that you are loving at the moment?
The way regional cuisine is being appreciated in our country is what I am liking. Thank God people are now understanding what Punjabi, Bengali, Malabari and other regional cuisines are like.
Lastly, how excited are you to be here?
I am excited to be in this part of the world and I would like to give as much as I can to the cuisine and culture with what I have learned over the years and I would like to observe what I can.
Fast Five
Fave ingredient: Green cardamom
Hours spent in the kitchen every day: 14
A celebrity you would like to cook for: Frank Sinatra
Comfort food: Always a good dal makhni. My comfort dining is always at the langar in a gurudwara where the dal and aloo-gobi sabzi is my comfort food. I can eat it any time of the day
Favourite places to eat: Arzak in San Sebastián, Santceloni in Madrid, AnnaMaya in Delhi, Dakshin and Avartana in Chennai
