Colonel Saab's founder, Roop Partap Choudhary will personally take diners on a culinary journey across India, with a nine-course tasting menu of dishes and carefully paired and curated art collected by the award-winning entrepreneur and his family across the continent and lovingly brought to London.
And for this event, Roop and his team pair extraordinary art including 17th and 19th Century Tanjore paintings, the Maharaja of Patiala’s Asprey drinks bar, pure silver Gujarat temple doors and a canopy of ornate chandeliers from Firozabad with dishes that tell the stories of those regions and people.
In an exclusive interview with Asian Voice, Mr Choudhary explained the method behind this artistic and delicious madness.
How did you come up with this exquisite idea?
I am passionate about food, art and India so I wanted to create an event that combines all three and brings them to life, in a multi-sensory experience, which will take you across the vast continent and its diverse and beautiful sights, tastes and fragrances, showing the powerful roles food and art play in India. To create a feast for the eyes and stomach, we made a nine-course tasting menu of dishes and carefully paired and curated art collected by me and my family across the continent and lovingly brought to London.
I have paired extraordinary art including 17th and 19th Century Tanjore paintings, the Maharaja of Patiala’s Asprey drinks bar, pure silver Gujarat temple doors and a canopy of ornate chandeliers from Firozabad with dishes that tell the stories of those regions and people.
Colonel Saab was meticulously crafted as a love letter to my family and India, with a treasure trove of eclectic and museum-worthy Indian art and artefacts and this food and art pairing event captures the essence of it as well as India.
What did it take and how much reading and researching led to the creation of this menu?
My father, Colonel Manbeer was given the honorific name Colonel Saab - shared by my restaurant - and the menu is inspired by places he was stationed in the army, from local lunches in the tents of Rajasthan to stunning banquets hosted by Indian nobility and Maharajas. The eclectic art for the event was also collected on this journey and brought back to London under very challenging conditions.
And I spent a year retracing my father’s footsteps across India by train, bus and car with Indian food royalty, Karen Anand to curate contemporary twists on dishes passed down through the generations of people we met, which led to the menu for this event.
The multi-sensory experience of India will also incorporate drinks. So we have a Masala Dabba - or spice box - of artisanal gins, whiskies and rums based on Indian botanicals created with the Diageo mixology team, along with innovative cocktails by celebrated mixologist Antony Bertin, designed to complement the food.
Please help us with more details about the menu
The nine-course menu will cost £150 per person and includes progressive dishes, from Pulled Charcoal Lamb with Jeera Aloo and Biryani to Chicken Chettinad with Malabar Paratha and Chocolate Silk Cake, Thandai Crumble, Candy Floss and fresh berries. The vegetarian menu includes Gutti Vankaya, Andhra-style Eggplant Curry and Cauliflower 65, and South Indian curd rice with fruit sorbet.
Each mouthful will bring the continent and its rich history to life, with fascinating stories and insight about the carefully paired art and artefacts, from a stunning, carved temple door from South India, to handwoven Persian carpets and precious decanters and crockery from the palace of the Maharaja of Faridkot.
Where do you derive your penchant for food and art?
My parents were avid art collectors all their lives. I would see my mother picking up exquisite pieces of art from auctions and local markets throughout my childhood. That helped me develop a unique taste in art and aesthetics.
Because of my father’s work in the Indian Army, we travelled across the continent collecting art and recipes wherever we went.
My parents went on to channel their unique experiences into serving the community, starting with a modest hotel and continuing their journey with boutique and palace hotels, which are now managed by me. I began my work life in their hotel kitchens as a young man and continue the proud legacy of hospitality that spans more than three decades, with Colonel Saab.
How can our readers avail this opportunity?
You can book this experience by calling us on 020 8016 6800, emailing us on [email protected] or visiting www.colonelsaab.co.uk
