THE STAR THAT SEARCHES FOR US

For every restaurant in India that aces fusion, not confusion, there's half a dozen others where plates are vessels of profit, not palates. Our diverse gastronomic artistry needs no embellishment, yet draws questions on the elusive Michelin star. Chef and author Suvir Saran breaks down the myriad reasons it's needless

- Suvir Saran

Before the world knew me through columns and cookbooks, before the quarter-million copies of my recipes found homes kinder than the Manhattan kitchens where I burnt my fingers and tempered my dreams, there was one night that split my life into a before and an after. A midnight call. A French voice, elegant and echoing, soft as sabayon. “Chef Saran? Jean-Paul Neret... the Michelin Guide... Devi has won a star.”

In 2007, in a city that so often swallowed its immigrants whole, a small Indian restaurant was suddenly showered with celestial validation. For a moment, I believed the mirror had told the truth, I mistook applause for awakening.

But mirrors distort, and stars are fickle. And in 2025, as India still waits for Michelin, I find myself asking a question my younger self never dared: why should we care who crowns us, when we have yet to crown ourselves?

Nationalistic fervour often masquerades as culinary pride, but jingoism dulls the aina-e-haq — the mirror of truth we desperately need. Patriotism is not performance; it's self-correction. It's the quiet courage to taste our flaws with the same honesty with which we taste our triumphs.

And triumphs, to be clear, abound.

In Mumbai, Papa's in Bandra—helmed by the extraordinarily gifted Chef Hussain Shahzad — is delectable flavours elevated to theatre, thought, and thrill. Barely a minute from my home, it manages to be gourmand, gourmet, gastronomic, and gorgeously grounded all at once.

Then there's Soam at Babulnath, also in Mumbai, shepherded with love and luminous simplicity by Pinky Chandan Dixit, where vegetarian fare becomes a benediction. Khandvi unfurls like a silk scroll. Farsan flirts with finesse. Fermented rice batter feel reborn. Soam is what happens when tradition trusts itself.