Nisaba will be the hottest opening of the year

Put yourself in Manish Mehrotra’s shoes.

You are, by common consent, India’s greatest chef. At a time when modern Indian food was mostly about the Frenchified presentation preferred by chefs at expensive Indian restaurants abroad you (along with one other chef Gaggan Anand in Bangkok) changed the paradigm and transformed the way chefs think.

 

   But now, after so many years at the top and many other successful restaurants (Comorin, for example) you think you have reached a crossroads in your life. Indian Accent is still the best restaurant in the country. Your fame has spread globally even though you have refused to play the influencer/ paid PR game. You are very well paid. Younger, more hustling, publicity conscious chefs with huge marketing budgets have emerged but not one of them has half your talent. (Except perhaps for Himanshu Saini but he is part of your family.)

 

   So why are you at a crossroads?

 

   Why do feel that you need to do something different? The reasons are not entirely clear, even to you. But the feeling is too strong to resist. So one fine day, you chuck up your job. You walk away. You have nothing waiting for you. You have accepted no other job. At some level, you are insecure. You wonder if you are throwing it all away unnecessarily. Will you ever recapture that success? Is it too late at 50 to start all over again?

 

   I saw Manish go through all of these emotions in 2024. That summer he told me he was giving up his job and walking into the great unknown. He has always been clear about his debt to his boss Rohit Khattar so he wanted to give Rohit enough notice. He was not worried about Indian Accent where his accomplished Deputy Shantanu Mehrotra (no relation) already ran the kitchen. But after years of working together he wanted to leave Rohit’s empire on good terms.

 

   I knew that Manish was going. And I knew that Rohit was reconciled to his departure. What I didn’t know was that they were still agonising over the exact timing of the announcement of Manish’s departure.

 

  On July 28, 2024, HT City was celebrating its 50th anniversary with a big function at the Taj Palace. They were giving awards to the city’s legends and I was asked to present Manish’s award. Neither of us realised we would need to have a conversation on stage. As it turned out, Rajiv Makhni, the anchor of the event, gave us mikes and asked us to chat.

 

   Perhaps because we were unprepared I asked Manish how he felt now that he was entering a new phase of his life. Manish answered honestly about he felt about leaving Indian Accent.

 

 It was only when we were walking off the stage that we noticed the gasps and the hum of urgent audience chatter. Without intending to, we had publicly announced Manish’s exit. Rohit, who was out of town, responded quickly issuing a statement wishing Manish all the best and Manish paid his own tribute.

 

"I don’t like making predictions but I have already made one: even though the ever-modest Manish says he is nervous, he has no reason to worry."

   Within the food world it turned into a Jagdeep Dhankar moment. Why was Manish really leaving? Had there been a falling out? And so on.

 

  When it became clear that Rohit and Manish were still on good terms, the conversation shifted. Where was Manish going? Which restaurant group would he head?

 

  Every busybody and his dog claimed to have the inside story. The Ambanis were setting up a new company for Manish. No, it was the Birlas. Actually he was going into business with a barbecue baron. And so on.

 

  All of this was nonsense. Manish had always been approached by potential backers. And being Manish, he had always been polite. But he had never said yes to any of the offers.

 

   Now, as the food world buzzed with speculation and he fielded various idiotic offers from restaurateurs who wanted to try their luck, he told me that he needed to take a few months off -possibly a year- for a well needed break.

 

   He kept his word. When the year was over Manish told me he was returning to the kitchen and had tied up with partners who believed in him: Binny Bansal, formerly of Flipkart, and Amit Khanna one of Indian Accent’s early fans who is in private equity.

 

   The new venture opens on January 17. It is called Nisaba and is located in a modern development in one of Delhi’s most historic areas: between Sundar Nursery and Humayun’s Tomb. The development is already buzzing with customers at various identikit coffee shops on the ground floor.

 

   On the first floor is Nisaba, a large 130 cover restaurant that is sophisticated while remaining determinedly casual. I went for a preview one day at lunch and the room was gloriously sun-drenched. I went back for dinner and the ambiance was coolly classy. Though we think of Manish in terms of Indian Accent he also ran the large Comorin in Gurgaon so he has experience of vast spaces which he has put to good use.

 

   Out of respect for Rohit he did not poach anyone from Indian Accent though three Nisaba staff members had worked with Manish earlier before leaving to find other jobs.
 

 

   The food consciously avoids too many Indian Accent references (though Manish has been told that this is a little like Paul McCartney deciding not to play any Beatles songs in his shows; McCartney abandoned that approach soon enough.) On the other hand, this decision has pushed Manish into creating many new dishes. There are many instant classics here: a crab ghotala, jammy eggs with saag, raan cooked on a Sigri, motihari mutton, Kashmiri haaq and a Zaveri Bazaar dal that is my favourite dish on the menu.

 

   He has refused to put Daulat Ki Chaat on the dessert menu but that gives us an opportunity to enjoy what might be the year’s craziest dessert: homemade potato chips (crisps) with vanilla ice cream drizzled with a miso caramel sauce. It sounds completely bonkers but it really works.

 

   I don’t like making predictions but I have already made one: even though the ever-modest Manish says he is nervous, he has no reason to worry. Nisaba will be the hottest opening of the year. It has a great location, is stylishly decorated and has dishes invented by India’s greatest chef. It’s around 20 per cent cheaper than Indian Accent and is large enough for everyone to get a table.

 

   Now, all we have to do is to wait for Manish’s latest reinvention of Daulat Ki Chaat, Nisaba-style!