Customers seen as kings when it comes to fine dinning

A scene from a film comes to mind. Catherine Zeta-Jones, playing a chef in the film No Reservations, dumps a steak on a customer’s lap because he’d complained about it. Closer to home, in Cheeni Kum, Amitabh Bachchan, again playing a chef, does something similar, arguing with Tabu (his leading lady) who seems quite displeased with one of his creations. While as hilarious as it might appear, we often wonder if a similar situation would rise in a more realistic concept. What if a customer didn’t want anchovies in his Niçoise salad? While as preposterous as it might sound, the gastronomic scenery across the world is all about that one scary word — customisation. In fact, the Niçoise we eat in most places have scrumptious bits of boiled potatoes; incidentally, the original recipe (by the French), by mandate, is to have no cooked vegetables. Most chefs in Bangalore would agree to the fact that in many cases, customers do ask for some form of tweaking or customisation or the other. And while a chef might not want to make any changes in a signature dish, he would, more often than not, happily give in to a customer’s demands.

Chef Naren Thimmaiah, of the Gateway Hotel, says, “I have rarely had to do any ‘tweaking’ at Karavalli, but I guess that is because most of our customers come for that whole authentic flavour. So, except for perhaps adding an extra ladle of coconut milk or some sugar to tone down the spice level, I haven’t been asked to make changes to the dish at all.” However, the chef also adds that customisation is something that cannot be ignored. “At any of our other outlets, we let the customer do what he or she wants with the dish. In fact, for the last two years, we’ve got a corner called Chef’s Hat where the diner can cook whatever he wants, with one of our chefs, according to the ingredients made available that day. So yes, you could say that in a situation like that, the menu is almost like an indicator,” adds Naren.

Of course, customisation can only happen up to a certain level — availability of resources and the flexibility to make changes those changes are two of the most important aspects, which is also why, only a few restaurants in the city can actually work on customer needs. Talking to Amit Wadhawan, executive chef of The Oberoi, Bangalore, we discovered that there is a distinct line between the two kinds of customers who ask for these customisations. “The first kind is the one who wants minor tweaks like spice levels, use of prominent flavours like galangal and kafir lime or use of garlic, Szechwan chillies etc. A lot of times, a guest likes a particular dish on the menu but wants the same tempered a wee bit to suit their individual taste buds in terms of aromas or distinct flavours in that dish; the prime being spice levels. The other kind of customisation comes from guests who are very well travelled and erudite when it comes to food and know their individual palates well. This particular kind of guest gives us detailed suggestions on how they want their dish made. For example, whilst cooking fresh seafood or fish, the guest would say exactly how they would like it steamed or grilled and even lets us know the key ingredient they want in their seasoning and sauce… it’s almost like making a new dish!” he says.

In fact, even Naren agrees that most Indians nowadays are exposed to global cuisines and that too right at the source that they want something absolutely specific when eating out in their home country. “You can’t avoid that,” he says, “when a customer asks for changes because he knows how he wants his steak or baked dish and what sauce and curry he’d like with what in it.” Adds in Amit, “Sometimes, guests are allergic to certain ingredients in the recipe of the dish and thus makes a request to substitute the element they are allergic to thus tweaking the recipe a bit.”

A final question, whether the future of fine dining lies in customisation and if menu cards are on their way to becoming nothing but an indicator, Amit says, “As a personal mantra, I believe the true success of a chef lies in his happy, satiated and repeat customers. Thus, the key to good food are not only great and fresh ingredients and technique of fine cooking, but, also allowing the same dish to mould into different palates without compromising the dish’s essential integrity. The same is possible and we do the same for our guests. Food often is as subjective as appreciating a fine bottle of vintage or a good film.” Well said.