Dining in the lap of luxury

Last August when Manu Chandra hung his chefrsquos coat at Olive Bar amp Kitchen everyone was curious about what hersquod do next He had been with veteran restaurateur AD Singhrsquos iconic establishment for close to 18 years It was hard to imagine him doing anything other than food What would it be then A new restaurant Delivery kitchen Joining another brandWhatever it was everyone knew and hoped that it was going to be big A few days ago in quintessential Chandra style he quietly launched his new catering venture Single Thread in partnership with longtime business associate Chetan RampalPicGetty ImagesThe next thing we hear hersquos on a flight heading to Cannes on an invite from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Chandra was called to weave Rajasthan with France in a confluence of food and culture at the India Pavilion on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival 2022 A first for the government a first for an Indian chefmdashcatering at Cannes where India is Country of HonourChandra is going places but is nonchalant about it During a quick break he got on a call with Sunday midday to say ldquoYou have to understand that all this is backed with 18 years of credibility People who trust me implicitly know what I am capable of Now that we have a setup only for this the path becomes easierrdquoSo was any of this premediated ldquoI had zero plans before I quitrdquo he tells us ldquoI knew I wanted to start afresh I was committed to what I was doing and when I finished I took some downtime to fix my houserdquo he addsA guest at the inaugural dinner hosted by Anurag Thakur at CannesGuests at the inaugural dinner held at the luxurious Le Gray drsquoAlbion included AR Rahman Shekhar Kapur R Madhavan Pooja Hegde and Nawazuddin Siddiqui On the menu was pyaz ki kachori en croute with tamarind chutney fresh mint chutney and creme fraiche lal maas and khichdi with lal maas jus on a wheat berry grain and dal risotto ker and sangri ki subzi aloo matar tikki wheat berry grain and dal risotto achari jumbo asparagus panseared saint pierreon papad ki sabzi noodles seasonal vegetables kadhi sauce gatte and morel pulao All of it a hitExcited Humbled And the last few days of a busy blur From pulling a few strings to do it at one of the 5star hotels on the main stretch to figuring out lastminute sourcing of ingredients to working without his trusted teammdashdelayed by visa complicationsmdashto dealing with scepticism from French chefs he had his hands full and eyes on the prize ldquoThey must have thought some Indian chef will come with a big degh and make greasy curriesrdquo he laughs ldquoThey had grudgingly agreed because they had no idea what was going on I sent them pictures of the food I do and that sort of relaxed them a bit When I came in they saw that I work like a French chef would I am Frenchtrained And the ice was brokenrdquo he adds Although he doesnrsquot look his age Chandra was senior to them They watched as he used Indian techniques and then theirs like sous videPaniyaram madelines served as pass arround with coconut chutney at the India PavilionThis charm extended to the guests too The first day was insane he says Everyone came to Chandra to say they hadnrsquot seen guests eat that wholeheartedly in long The platter of pass arounds filled with paniyaram madeleines accompanied by podi and coconut chutney vada pav in brioche buns French duck confit galoutis served on little blinis mutton biryani arancini balls served with burani raita Champaran style raw jackfruit samosa with chutneys would wipe out in minutes Everything else on the menumdashlike the French canapesmdashwas cold not very inspiring and just functional What Chandra got to the table was full of flavours and something the guests hadnrsquot tastedChandra thinks Cannes was an incredible experience because he was able to express Indian cuisine in a very different way to the entire confluence of French and India ldquoIt has been challenging and I donrsquot remember the last time I worked 16 hours a dayrdquo he says Single Thread is the catering arm of his company Manu Chandra Ventures and the first of many other verticals he hopes to launch ldquoI was keen on custom catering I enjoy tailoring events rather than following a staged format Thatrsquos not bespokerdquo he explainsManu Chandra started Single Thread in MayFrom theme styling to decor Single Thread will offer a complete solution for all aspects of catering Itrsquos something that Chandra and team have been practising and experimenting with for some time now ldquoItrsquos a very involved process We have to do RampD sit down and plan from start to finish Itrsquos a lot more gratifying to create a menu like that because you are rarely repeating a dish unless of course something is really popular and the client wants it Otherwise you are doing something fresh and the consumer engagement is highrdquoPostCOVID a lot of entertaining happens at home but is India ready for precision cateringldquoThose with a nice home with a garden want to be able to leverage that A sitdown dinner with multiple courses great cutlery and perfect setupsmdashwe want to be able to provide them that service That was the genesis of the idea Single Thread means that we provide that endtoend solution from conceptualising to creating to executing and cleaning up the spacemdashlike nothing ever happened thererdquoChettinad crab cakeSo does that mean that we wonrsquot see Chandra in a restaurant again ldquoRestaurants are my first love and I will work towards that There are a lot of ideasmdashbut all on paper I need to figure out when and how I will do that and ready a team for it There is a certain handholding period after which the network that I have built over the years is passed on to the next in line A certain comfort has to develop for this coordination to happen seamlessly Thatrsquos the process I am working on right nowrdquo he signs off