Chef Rahul Akerkar’s book traces his journey through early influences and more

For over three decades chef Rahul Akerkar has been one of the defining forces behind Mumbairsquos modern dining culture best known for setting new benchmarks with Indigo Deli These days he operates at a quieter more distilled pace focusing on select projects and a more personal expression of food while reflecting on a career marked by both reinvention and risk In his book Biting Off More Than I Can Chew Harper Collins Rs 1199 he turns that lens inward charting a journey that moves from a culturally layered childhood to New York kitchens to recipes and back to a city he would go on to reshapeAkerkarrsquos greatgrandmother Babette Oppenheimer in front of their butcher shop in Schweinfurt They lived above the shopThe book pieces together formative influences bold decisions and the many setbacks along the way What emerges is not just the story of a chef but of someone constantly negotiating identity ambition and the realities of building something that lasts The formative phase still defines how he runs a kitchen or builds a menu todayAkerkar with his wife Malini and daughters Shaan and Amalia PicSheena SippySaying that Irsquom still directly influenced by all of that might be a stretch but itrsquos fair to say those early experiences shaped me Growing up in a home with mixed cultural influences mdash Indian food for lunch Western food for dinner sometimes even a mix on the same plate mdash that stayed with me People often say I either ldquoWesternised Indianrdquo or ldquoIndianised Westernrdquo food I donrsquot know which of those is true but Irsquom just comfortable across palates now My training was all on the job I learnt to cook Western food professionally not Indian But my taste is still very Indian So both come together on the plateAkerkar married Malini Vachani in 1992 right Young Akerkar with his paternal grandparents at NashikThe initial chapter written by his mother Jinx Akerkar a 93yearold Holocaust survivor laced with nostalgic anecdotes sets the tone for the book in which Akerkar is cleareyed about the risks he took ldquoIf I look at the business plan for Indigo today Irsquod throw it in the garbage We spent over R5 crore in 1999 when we opened That was unheard of for a standalone restaurant Itrsquos still pushing the edge even todayrdquo he saysAkerkar with his parents and sister home from college Bombay circa 1979ldquoWhatever I learnt about businessrdquo he adds ldquocame from working with former model and Odissi dancer Protima Bedirsquos Nrityagram a Gurukulstyle dance school near Hesaraghatta on the outskirts of Bengaluru I used to sit in on funding and review meetings and thatrsquos where I began to understand numbers At some point you realise theyrsquore just numbers on a page If yoursquore clear about what you want to do and are driven by passion things fall into place Not always but often enoughrdquoThat duality being both chef and restaurateur is something he has come to embrace over time He admits that for years it felt like a tension not knowing whether he was more of a creator or an operator until he began to see it as a strength When he is with chefs he is the creator the technician the craftsman On the business side he enjoys that role just as much It was a perspective reinforced by Michael Romano who pointed out that most chefs donrsquot understand business and most businesspeople donrsquot understand operations Being able to straddle both Akerkar says allows for a far more holistic view It has taken time but he is finally there likening it to being a general practitioner who sees the whole picture rather than a specialist focused on one partTo younger chefs drawn in by the industryrsquos sheen Akerkar says ldquoThe pretty plates the people the buzz around restaurants is just one side of it It can be a great business when things are going well but it can also be one of the toughest Itrsquos relentless often thankless and very real Yoursquore on your feet all the time dealing with constant pressure The sooner you understand that you have to work incredibly hard probably harder than in most professions the better Yoursquore only as good as your last meal you cooked It sounds like a clicheacute but itrsquos truerdquoAnd after everything he has built lost and rebuilt success has distilled into something far simpler ldquoHonestly if at the end of a meal someone says lsquoThanks Rahul that was a great mealrsquo thatrsquos it for me Thatrsquos what drives me I love seeing people happy because of something Irsquove createdrdquoRs 5 crwas spent in 1999 to build Indigo Delicatessen