09 Apr 2024
I have something in common with world famous BUKHARA restaurant, that celebrates it 45th birth anniversary, this week. Both of us found our place in Maurya, ITC Hotels in the year 1978.
Whereas Bukhara was the brain child of illustrious Mr. A.N. Haksar, then Chairman ITC, I was a
product of first batch of Oberoi Hotel’s prestigious management training program, titled Oberoi
school of Hotel Administration After being a chef for over 10 years in Europe, Middle East and India, I joined ITC Hotel as Food & Beverage manager, Maurya Sheraton.
The primary role of a F&B manager viz a viz BUKHARA was to ensure strict adherence to the original concept and no interreference in the working of Bukhara chef’s Madan Lal, who had crafted each dish to perfection. My real challenge to manage BUKHARA came when I was asked to move to New York and take over the task of leading BUKHARA International initiative of ITC Hotels in the year 1988. I received very clear instructions: “Stick to the concept. No changes what so ever and certainly NO CURRIES.
My first challenge was to ensure strict compliance to BUKHARA’S standards and specifications and protect BUKHARA identity and its unique and well-guarded recipes.
Every recipe saw standardized, specifying the spice and herbs to be used and the exact cooking style of each dish. The challenge was to give same customer experience to patrons in New York that they were used to, in the original BUKHARA in Maurya, New Delhi.
BUKHARA experienced it peak when, ON 4TH April 1986, the most respected and famous New Your Times restaurant critic, BRYAN MILLER wrote a review on BUKHARA – “serving Frontier cookery of Northwest India, “ BUKHARA is not your typical Indian Restaurant.........”
The restaurant was flooded with reservation requests and we never saw an empty seat for next 6
months.
BUKHARA had the honour of being the first Indian cuisine restaurant to do the banquet of nearly 600 pax for annual Macy's Thanks giving day dinner in New York."
Author: Virender Singh Datta
Founder & Chairman
International Institute of Culinary Arts