Celebrity chef and actor Ranveer Brar, who was last seen opposite Prateek Gandhi in one of the 'Modern Love Stories: Mumbai' episodes directed by Hansal Mehta, has opened an ambitious restaurant in Dubai named Kashkan.
He has rolled out the restaurant in Dubai's Festival City Mall as he awaits the release of his film with Kareena Kapoor Khan, 'The Buckingham Murders', also directed by Mehta, at the 67th BFI London Festival next month.
Of course, for the restaurant, which will have a pan-Indian menu spanning the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari (as its name suggests), Brar said he shut himself away from the world for two month to get the food right.
In the bargain, he made discoveries such as the Naga black sesame chicken, which is light and bursting with flavours, and will be served just the way they do it in Nagaland.
Kash Kan, Brar noted, will be sticking with original recipes of the dishes on its menu and not engage in experimentation.
When asked whether was foraying into Modern/Progressive Indian Cuisine, Brar said he was "not in that zone yet", although he does not rule it out as a possibility for the future.
In a statement issued to the media, Brar said: "Kashkan is a conversation about the diversity and versatility of our cuisine. I wanted it to be a connecting thread between the innumerable flavours and stories that I have experienced and collected in my culinary journey. The menu I've curated brings together handpicked (or unique) dishes from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, which seamlessly blend nostalgia with innovation to create memories on your plate."
Next on Brar's agenda is the next edition of the food reality show, MasterChef India, where he is all set to appear as a celebrity judge (this time round with Vikas Khanna and Puja Dhingra). This will be his fourth season on the show and he's excited about it moving from television to the OTT platform, SonyLIV, which is now in the news for 'Scam 2003: The Telgi Story'.
"At this moment, the auditions are on across cities and when the local judges pare the number of hopefuls to 100, we take over," Brar explained.
Also very much on Brar's mind is his next book, whose working title is 'Lorem ipsum', after the placeholder text that is common in publishing and graphic design, which will trace the journey of his recipes from inspiration to conception. It should offer a world of insights into how a chef's mind works over a recipe.
Born and raised in Lucknow, Brar graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management in his home city and forayed into the world of television and OTT channels after a culinary career that saw him go from the Fort Aguada Beach Resort, Goa, to the Radisson Blu, Noida, and the Novotel, Juhu Beach, Mumbai, to Boston and Toronto, besides doing projects for MTV India, Royal Caribbean cruises, Thomas Cook and Mercedes-Benz.
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