Dining desires of the rich and famous

Picture this: A couple of women walk into a restaurant, Berkin-toting, stilettoed and deliriously chatting away until they get seated. Now, even after they’ve settled in, there’s no sign of a menu offering.

Nobody notices that the chef de cuisine has passed by just acknowledging their presence with a smile and a signal to the kitchen chef.  Well, you’ve just witnessed how the ritual of the menu offering has been bypassed; these women know what they want and the chef knows better. Welcome to the ‘off-the-menu’ gourmet world where chefs can bet their life on what their customers will have.

Restaurateur Nelson Wang has a few dining secrets to share. “For the late Dhirubhai Ambani, it was a must to have Kung Pao Potato with okra (Chinese aloo bhindi). His sons, Anil and Mukesh, are vegetarians and like to have noodles and fried rice. Anil likes his food a little spicy, though,” hints Nelson. “When Abhishek Bachchan comes over it’s always fish and prawns for him,” he adds.

For chef Vicky Ratnani, the lure of making his modified dishes lies in the challenge to be able to create something last minute. When actor Shilpa Shetty walks in, what she’ll order is a given, he smiles. “It’s a special carpaccio of tuna fish,” he says.

Shilpa and her sister Shamita affirm that the restaurants they frequent understand their tastebuds well. “Whenever I have a tomato mozzarella salad, the chef lightly drizzles it with oil and puts the dressing on the side just the way I want it,” says Shilpa. Shamita craves for her pasta in arrabiatta sauce. “Loads of spices and chilli flakes on top  — blissful,” she says.

For Hrithik Roshan and his wife Sussanne, Ratnani gets improvising. “They love their chicken grilled with the right spice,” he says. “Also, when Hrithik has his red snapper chargrilled, he wants them with lots of vegetables. I serve it with a special light lemony sauce while Sussanne has her lamb chops well done, with lots of salad on the side,” he says. “When Rani (Mukerji) drops in, I know she’s going to have the grilled rosemary and lemon pepper spiked chicken with lots of vegetables. I kick that up with something Rani loves — dehydrated bird’s eye chillies and flat leaf parsley.”

So, what’s actor Ranbir Kapoor’s fix? “Lamb shanks; he just loves them,” says Ratnani.

What else do celeb folks like? Executive chef Hemant Oberoi recalls having once created a ‘John Major Lamb Curry’. “I had it made specially for John (Major). He liked it so much that he requested for it to be sent to London,” says Oberoi.

Chef Manu Chandra discloses chocolatier Zeba Kohli’s fetish. “A stuffed chicken to which I add a smoked apple and red wine sauce for an extra flavour,” he says. Restaurateur Nikhil Chib reveals Shobha and Dilip De love the kaukswe while for director Homi Adajania, it’s mostly a set choice. “He likes a stir-fried beef, with the right amount of bird chilies and some basil,” he says.