Drawing The Modern Indian Map

Chef Himanshu Saini is loved and lauded for what he's done with Indian food on a global level, including winning the first Michelin star for an Indian restaurant in Dubai. But for him, the journey to popularise the country's culinary culture has just begun

- Samreen Tungekar

I remember my first time trying out Trèsind Mumbai's 10-course tasting menu - zero expectations of what's to come, and by the eighth course, I found myself sliding into chef Himanshu Saini's DMs to tell him how absolutely well thought out and personalised this menu is. Cut to eight months later, as I sit with the man himself in his restaurant, I tell him how he never responded to my long fan mail. He profusely apologises, I embarrass myself, and we're ready to roll.

Saini has worked with none other than one of the faces of modern Indian fine dining, Manish Mehrotra, at Indian Accent. He then went to Masala Library, and was involved with creating some of the most popular dishes of Farzi Café (that Parle G Cheesecake is genius), before moving to New York, and then, to Dubai. Trèsind was set up in 2014 in Dubai, followed by Carnival and then Trèsind Studio in Dubai, where he served a tasting menu of dishes to about 20 guests. Trèsind Mumbai opened around the same time too.

He says he started out not knowing what he was doing, but he sure as hell has figured it out while on his way, because in February, Trèsind and Trèsind Studio ranked 18 and 4 respectively in the inaugural edition of the World's 50 Best Restaurants list in the Middle East and North Africa and shortly after, Trèsind Studio became the only Indian restaurant to win a Michelin star in the first-ever list published by the restaurant guide for Dubai.