He's back for seconds

Rohit Khattar set up Indian Accent, saw it rise to the top, and left to make art films. He's returned, he's got new ideas, and his restaurants are better than ever

- By VIR SANGHVI

Suppose you run a successful restaurant. Not only is it profitable, but it is regularly hailed as India's best. It wins every award that matters. Culinary Culture gives it the top rating of five stars. The chef is rated as India's best. The foreign media call it the leader of a new generation of Indian restaurants. What do you do next? Do you sit back and let the acclaim wash all over you?

Or do you try and open outposts of the restaurant in other cities? Or do you seek new challenges, perhaps outside the restaurant business?

These, I imagine, are the questions that Rohit Khattar has been asking himself over the last decade. As most foodies already know, Khattar is a born restaurateur. (Chor Bizarre; India Habitat Centre and its influential restaurants; Sitaray and Tamarai in London etc.) Two decades ago, he signed up to manage The Manor in Delhi and took a chance on a chef who had worked for him in Delhi and London. The chef was Manish Mehrotra. They opened Indian Accent, and after about a year of struggle, not only did it become famous and successful, but it also created a kind of modern Indian cuisine, which has been imitated around the world.

When Indian Accent took off, I wondered what Rohit would do next. I thought he would open an Indian Accent in London and eventually, I was proven right. But before that, he opened in New York to great acclaim.