Winner of two national awards, a Guinness World Record holder, often called ‘The Prince of Chocolates’ and ‘The Bombay Chef’, Varun Inamdar has come up with his new talk show titled Vibe with Varun. He’s all set to host renowned personalities from the culinary world, including master of wine, Sonal Holland, chef Rakhee Vaswani, archaeologist and culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal; Prateeksh Mehra, (founder of Spotted Cow Fromagerie) and food stylist Saba Gaziyani, among others over seven episodes in the first season. The episodes will release every Friday at 7pm on Godrej Vikhroli Cucina’s social media handles and their official website (www.vikhrolicucina.com).
The Telegraph had a hearty conversation with Chef Inamdar about his talk show, memorable moments and his journey as a chef.
What is Vibe with Varun all about?
It’s India’s first in a lot of ways because we haven’t had a chat show as such in the food industry. We’ve had a lot of conversations, podcasts and interviews, but a chat show where you bring somebody down to a conversation, where you ask them beyond their profession, that’s something which hasn’t happened. Asking them about their childhood and life before they became a celebrity. So, it’s dedicated to people from the culinary world and that’s the beauty of Vibe with Varun.
How do you feel about the collab with Godrej Vikhroli Cucina?
Godrej Vikhroli Cucina has always been a comforting platform where you can have conversations that are freewheeling. This is important because Godrej Vikhroli Cucina has always been a brand-agnostic platform where people can speak their hearts out, without the fear of any restrictions. All the guests who came to speak on our platform are just a phone call away and are my friends, to begin with. Godrej Vikhroli Cucina is a platform created for food lovers by Godrej Industries, where people can gather in one place and speak without hindrances. And that’s what makes it fun. (Smiles).
Could you share a little about your journey?
I was just eight years old when I told my father that I’ll be a chef and do nothing else. He got a bit scared and looked at me and asked: ‘Kaha se seekhte ho tum ye sab?’ It was actually a Hong Kong-based chef, Martin Yan, who used to feature in his award-winning PBS-TV cooking show called Yan Can Cook. He inspired me to do what I’m doing today. So, after completing my plus-two, I went to my father and reminded him of his promise, that once school is over, I can pursue a course in hotel management. It was organic and I’m happy that my parents agreed to let me pursue a career as a not-so-candy-flossed option of being a chef. While studying, I headed to a library once and came across a book called Larousse Gastronomique (one of the greatest culinary encyclopedias). I wanted to loan it out and read it in the comfort of my home, but they refused as it’s one of the rarest and most expensive books. It made me determined that I somehow have to buy this book, which back then cost Rs 7,000. We came from a humble background, so I thought yaar paise kamaate hain, family ko pressurise nahi karna. So that’s how I started working and I walked into this one restaurant in Bandra and started working there as a dishwasher, and I said, ‘Paisa dega toh kaam karega,’ and I got hired for Rs 500. Thus began my journey and eventually, I started working with The Oberoi (Grand) in Calcutta and learnt crème de la crème of skills and dishes there.
I started off with other successful ventures while someone suggested I should take to television shows. I met a friend/manager who took me to one very big channel but they insulted me on my appearance and language. I walked out and eventually met Sooraj Barjatya of Rajshri Productions, and there began my journey with Rajshri and I can proudly say, I’m just number three after Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay with followers on my YouTube channel. The struggles I had to go through seemed mad and deafening at times, but achieving over a million fans and followers, a Guinness Record for the world’s largest chocolate mudpie and two national awards seems like one hell of a kickass journey! (Smiles)
Which was your favourite episode from the talk show? Could you share some memorable moments from the making?
My favourite episode would be difficult to point out as they’re all friends and I loved chatting with them on the show. Conversations with chef Rakhee Vaswani about the culinary industry, her childhood, dreams and aspirations while embarking on the journey of becoming the name and fame she has become today and a host of other interesting stories about her grandfather who cooked for her, then she sang some food jingles for us. It was one super fun episode. Then having Master of Wine from India, Sonal Holland, on the show was a complete delight. We often say one in a billion or one in a million, but Sonal truly is one in a billion for being the only Master of Wine in India. There are experts, connoisseurs and opinions but we do not have a master in the beverage space and that’s where Sonal came into the picture.
We invited Kurush Dalal over. He’s a food anthropologist, historian and archaeologist. The episode with Kurush was truly engaging, in fact so much so that the camera kept rolling even after the episode ended as the entire team of Vibe with Varun got hooked to the conversation. From roots of food items, history, the story behind Bhendi Bazaar, idli, vada pav and typical Mumbai cuisine to conversations about the origin of different vegetables, spices, oil and so much more. Bhendi Bazaar comes from the word ‘bhendi’, which means ‘shoe flower’ (hibiscus) unlike what Google says about it being Behind the Bazaar as named by the British. The market located in South Mumbai is famous for its food delicacies but Kurush told us that years back it was a market of bhendi or shoe flowers. The entire team was spellbound at the amount of knowledge this man harboured and it’s one of the best chats I’ve hosted on the show. He broke some affirmative notions we had (bursts out laughing) and it was so cool!
What intrigued you to bring Kurush Dalal on the show?
Kurush came into my life very early, everyone calls him ‘sir’, he’s a professor and a huge name. He has tutored so many students over decades, so somebody like Kurush coming to my show means a lot. One day I called him up and said: “Kurush, I want to dedicate an episode to you, aayega kya?” he and I share a bond where I can just make one phone call and ask him to be somewhere and he will be. So, he said: “Yes, darling tu kar raha hain, of course aayega, kidhar aana hai and kitne baje?” That’s what I like about him the most. I was so happy that Kurush actually came and he was the first person on my mind to get to the show. When he was speaking to me on the show, even people who didn’t know who he was, came and wondered and said: “Kaun hai ye?” — it was the usual reaction as to how awestruck they were by someone so knowledgeable.
Master of Wine, Sonal Holland, with Varun on the show
Archaeologist and culinary anthropologist Kurush Dalal shares interesting anecdotes with Varun on the show