Kalibre of Klass

There are more than a dozen ideas dancing in his mind. And while most are flavoured with memories of his growing years with his father the Czar of Indian restauranting, celebrity chef and writer Jiggs Kalra, Zorawar Kalra is a powerhouse of taste and how to pay it forward with his slew of restaurants. Now is probably the most heated of times in Zorawar’s cauldron of hospitality recipes — he is all set to open a jewel in the Massive Restaurants Pvt Limited’s crown in London, at a location and ambience even he takes a few deep awed breaths while revealing. He will be opening the famed and molecular Masala Library at a seven star property internationally, and is ebullient with Farzi Café’s 600-strong covers in Dubai, and the most recent cafe opening up in Bengaluru and Pune.

The diminutive thinker has indelibly learnt nuances of food from the best — his father Jiggs Kalra, and what he recalls are those yearly holidays that portioned out the most dreamy platefuls of gourmet that has imprinted onto his psyche, something he explores fully at his restaurants.

“Growing up with him (dad) was amazing. He was the perfect father, daant to bahut padti thi (we got scolded, of course), you can imagine, two brothers — very mischievous, beating each other up, it was a writ of passage. We would make annual trips revolving around food. In the 10th standard, we went for this bed and breakfast tour of Scotland and Wales, eight to 10 bed and breakfasts. My dad rented a car — as a journalist, some British authority asked him to write about bed and breakfasts. We travelled and ate only local cuisine, fresh haagis — fabulous though it’s just blood and guts! It was honest farm to fork. The taste was unmatched,” Zorawar recalls.

In the early days when his father was in the thick of action, the sons would get an omelete with oregano, cheese on a Sunday. “That was the only thing he cooked and it was perfection, smooth as a pebble, a little runny on the inside. He is wheelchair-bound now and it’s hard to believe that he was India’s highest frequent traveller at one time, and so full of life,” he says nostalgically.

Needless to say, his childhood helped him develop his strong palette. Not interested in cooking, it was about the taste and experience which saw him unleash his business acumen with many properties three years ago — Farzi Café, Masala Library, PaPaYa, Punjab Grill and Masala Bar and Made in Punjab. Then came what he loved, tasting, research and innovation.

Ask him about Farzi Café, which translates to illusion in Urdu, and he says, “It’s Indian food with a global twist. We conceptualised it two years ago when we found that Indian food was not a cool cuisine just something for a celebration with grandparents or parents. That affected me. If we cannot sell our own food to the youth, how the hell are we going to put it on a global palette We were the very first modern Indian café, Masala Library was the first molecular Indian restaurant (I think). Of course, there is this gold rush scenario where everybody now only wants to open a modern Indian café. I guess people will recognise the first guys who did it.” So what about the many cafes that are riding this modern desi twist “If you just do something as a gimmick, it’s evident in the food and does not add any value. We use molecular sparingly (50 to 60 percent) — for eg, we make a raj kachauri where instead of saunth ki chutney, we use a foam using gastronomical science to enhance a 200-year-old recipe,” explains the man who has tried to incorporate organic into all his menus, to bring healthier eating to India though sourcing he admits is a big issue.

“You need three years of proven zero use of pesticide, genetically modified soil and fertiliser to be organic, which is a big commitment for anybody. I have a lot of respect for these guys and I want to support them," he chips in. The MBA graduate from Bentley Business University, Boston who worked in the US and then returned to create his own as founder of Massive Restaurants is himself a die-hard foodie. Infact, when he honeymooned in Barcelona with his wife Dildeep in 2006, he had an El Bulli experience that is the reason he is adamant upon the best ingredients even though that costs immeasurably,

“We buy 100 per cent organic ingredients from Spain and from the original Ferran Adria’s company Texturas,” he says, remembering the meal gleefully at El Bulli, “I ate at his restaurant and it was extraordinary and is still the most memorable experience. They gave me an olive that came in a jar and was made with olive oil! We had a 29-course menu, chicken feet that he gave with a foam — an algae he had collected from 2,000 feet below the sea that day,” says the father of two — a girl, Aaliyah, who is two and a boy, Fateh, who is four. The restauranteur loves his sports cars and they are his most passionate inclinations, after his children. He corrects us, “I love my children. I love sports cars. This is my true passion. I go to the track at Budd. I have a Porshe 911 Carrera S which is my current car, when I get back, I am getting my new baby, a new AMG GTS. I am so exited. Delhi is the only place in India where one can drive a sports car, infact, the Delhi-Faridabad Road is hilly and perfect for a nice drive,” he enthuses. He is also a golfer with a handicap between 10 and 12 though he does not get enough time.

Superstitious, Kalra believes in Vaastu and numerology, but at heart, he takes chances, dwells on new ideas, with his wife Dildeep beside him. The Chandigarh-born girl, who he met at a party, is director in the company and handles food safety and hygiene. They also have a food lab.

Being a total foodie, Zorawar swears by the Bolognaise paste she makes and his younger brother’s burgers. Call it a quirk of fate, but his brother is married to his wife’s sister which makes them one huge big “tabbarr” of a Punjabi family

For now, Kalra is focusing on his new space opening in the heart of Delhi's Janpath which boasts a garden, his Bengaluru foray and of course those international waters with his own desi illusion — Farzi to make Indian relevant again.