FRONTOFHOUSE
A masterchef’s
legacy continues
After masterchef Udit Sarkhel’s death last year, his backer Radhika
Verma took the hard decision to carry on. She speaks to Tandoori
T
here’s scarcely a name
in the elite of well-trained
Indian chefs who doesn’t
recall Udit Sarkhel. He was
one of the finest – arguably
the greatest – traditional Indian chefs that
this country has ever seen. Sadly, as everyone knows, he passed away just over a
year ago, on a trip to India.
At the time, with an impressive array
of credentials behind him, including
the likes of the Bombay Brasserie and
then launching his very own Sarkhel’s
restaurant, the famed chef was heading up the unassuming Mango & Silk, in
London’s East Sheen, with the owner of
the restaurant being Radhika Verma. But
with Sarkhel gone, Verma had to make
a tough decision about what to do with
the restaurant.
“I’d started Mango & Silk with Udit
in 2007,” she says, “and yet suddenly
without him, I felt a great sense of fear. I
almost didn’t want to continue with the
restaurant. We’d always said that this was
a restaurant for the two of us. His death
really knocked me back and I decided to
take a sabbatical to India for five months.
I needed to take time out to decide what
to do next and make some kind of a life
changing decision.”
Verma’s decision in the end was to
continue running the restaurant, particularly because she felt that this was
something that Sarkhel would have
wanted her to do.
“Mango & Silk has always had an
intimacy about it,” she notes, “making it
seem as if it’s an extension of my house.
The style of cooking is also very homely,
albeit with lots of regional touches. Udit
brought so much knowledge and skill to
the menu yet at the
same time, he gave
it an earthiness so
it didn’t seem too
much like you were
dining in a restaurant
but more someone’s dining room.
Besides, with Udit
no longer here, the
restaurant has so
many memories too.”
Though the restaurant remains a daunting challenge for Verma, particularly with
the economic conditions being what they
are currently, Verma admits to seeing the
business as very much a challenge she
has to deal with.
“I only returned from India in January
this year,” she states, “so what I want
to do is concentrate on the cooking and
how my chefs are performing in terms of
consistency and presentation. That’s paramount. Things don’t run by themselves
and as it is I’m a very passionate person
with an eye to detail. The only drawback
is that if you are overseeing the cooking
in the kitchen and your customers expect
you to be at the front of house, then that
can be a very tricky balance. I take great
pleasure in liaising with customers anyway and seeing them enjoy the food.”
Hoping to very much move things
forward, Verma is focusing on changing
the menu soon as well as expanding on
the specials she has with more emphasis
on seasonal produce.
“I already have various Hakka-style
Indo-Chinese dishes on the menu and
want to bring more healthier fare in
terms of grills, wraps and Indian-style
sandwiches.”
I’d started
Mango &
Silk with
Udit in 2007
and yet
suddenly
without
him, I felt a
great sense
of fear
sAMPLe MeNu
MANGo & siLK
sTArTers
onion pakora
Chilli garlic chicken
shrimp balchao
MAiNs
Bengali fish curry
hyderabadi chicken
korma
Lamb coconut bhoona
siDes
sai bhaji
Aloo bhindi do piaza
Baingan patiala
June / July 2013 T A N D O O R I
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31/07/2013 23:24