'I've always followed my heart' - Rahul Akerkar

He can live on corn flakes and one's thrown off-kilter when he says that his comfort food is – chaat and sushi – the two opposite ends of the spectrum. He speaks his mind, comes across as fiercely unassuming and seems blithely unaware of the hallowed stature he's acquired over the decades of hard work and following his heart. When I enter his chic Colaba eatery – Indigo, I see him sitting on a Swiss ball enjoying a salad (still recuperating from a back injury) and replying to work emails on his Mac.

The founder and owner of deGustibus Hospitality Pvt. Ltd is clearly the first and the last word in the hospitality galaxy in India. With a litany of bastions of culinary hipness – be it Indigo, Indigo Deli, Tote on the Turf or Neel, he's achieved a larger-than-life stature even though he's never been driven by a need for notoriety or visibility. "I never take myself seriously. I take what I do seriously. It isn't a conscious thing. It is built that way," he says matter-of-factly.

Followed my heart

"I've always done what my heart has told me to do. I don't have any game plans that five years from now I'll be here. Things have just unfolded the way they have but I've always been following my heart. I don't feel anything about it at all. I come to work every day, I do what I do and that's what it is. It's not something I embrace or use to my advantage. I won't compromise my ethos and I'll continue to do what I'm doing," he shares.

Learning curve

"I wrestle with wanting to be a chef and wanting to be a restaurateur all the time. When I'm in the company of chefs, I want to be a chef. When I'm talking to partners, I'm doing business and to be honest, I don't enjoy that part at all. It's sort of trying to maintain that balance between what I do and what my business partners do. I've always believed if you do what your core is and if you do it with right practice and content in unwavering kind of way, I think many a times, the business takes care of itself. It's like when you start running on business based on business rather than the creation of what you're producing then you are driven by the wrong reasons. People come to eat because of food and hospitality and not because your balance sheet. If you start letting the balance sheet dictate the way you run your business, then you're doing it wrong. This is a constant debate with the business end of things. I don't say it's wrong. Of course, fiscal disciplines are important and so is your cuisine, hospitality and maintenance of space," he says.

"At the end of the day running a restaurant is also running a business. It's really a marriage of hospitality, cuisine and business. One thing I've learnt over the years that the three don't lend to each other sometimes," he adds.

Kitchen Confidential

"There's a lot of fun stuff happening in New York. There's something for everyone. I've worked in some of the restaurants there. Have you read Kitchen Confidential? I've lived that life – sex, drugs, rock and roll in 1980s along with food. One of the places I worked at was run by a Jewish mafia. I can tell you a hundred stories," he shares.

Evolution of the Indian palate

"There are a couple of things I'm excited about and concerned about – one is in the West, they went through two decades of evolution in the food and beverage industry. What's happening here is we are not growing in a structured way. It's total haphazard. People are travelling and seeing successful concepts overseas and they are like, 'hey this will be great to bring back.' So they make this deal with the owner there and lock, stock and barrel dump it here. It works for a few months because the well travelled who've been to those countries come and appreciate it but the problem is, six months down the road, the original restaurant concept has moved on. There are a lot of flash-in-the-pan situations happening – concepts opening and closing," he observes.

"The market is quite open. There's a caveat in this. We are embracing mediocrity. People are confusing it so they don't know any difference. People don't get it why one restaurant's burger is Rs 500 and other Rs 200. Today when they look at it they are like, 'it's only 200 bucks so it's a better place.' They don't look at the quality of ingredients. Today you are using one olive oil over another. But do they get it? That has to evolve. Mediocrity worries me," he laments.

Entertaining friends

"People should feel at home – whether it's a sophisticated event or a roll-up-your-sleeves-and-shorts kind of event. I think it's just about making guests feel comfortable. I love entertaining. I meet new people all the time but I'm very private in terms of my close friends. My personal life is very small and boring. I have thousands of acquaintance but a handful of friends," he shares.

"I like being a parent. I like to teach. I really enjoy teaching people food. There are many things that interest me like photography. I thought I was an amateur photographer before I got into all this. I have a sort of photo journalistic style."

I ask him if he'll do an exhibit in the future he laughs it off, "Oh God! You definitely don't want that!"

Malini and I

"We used to fight and argue a lot because we didn't have clear roles. But now it's better since we've defined the roles. She is involved with branding and positioning, the look and the feel, while I do the nuts and the bolts. I think both of us help each other. There's a rub off."

If it wasn't hospitality…

"I'll be a beach bum. I love the ocean; I dive so I'm an instructor. Maldives are great. For me every dive presents something new. I did a salvage dive in Bombay Harbour, which was insane. It wasn't a pretty one but sticks in my mind. It leaves you with something. There's always a learning experience with everything. I like the outdoors, experiencing and exploring, meeting new people."

My wines

"I like my wine. It's a very mood based thing. If it's with food, it should complement the food a little bit. It can't be jarring. Generally I like Pinot Noirs, Rieslings."

Future plans

"Indigo and Indigo Deli are opening in New Delhi. Everyone asks, 'Is Delhi taste profile different from Mumbai? Honestly, I don't know till I try it. Does one focus on food or does one play safe? Who knows? You talk to people and everyone's got their own point of view so until you go you won't really know. I think Delhi has got an evolved palate and they are very receptive to pushing the envelope a little bit. You can't do fluff and at the end of the day, the food has to taste and it has to be perceived as interesting and wholesome. I don't think there's room for fluff, be it Delhi or anywhere else. People need to eat at the end of the day."

Fave restaurants

"I like to try out new places and love street food. It's great on the pocket. I do a sort of haute cuisine for a few weeks at high-end restaurants and by the third day, I eat on the streets because you can't handle it. You find the similarities between all these restaurants and how much they are plagiarising each other in a way. For me that's a big revelation. You don't notice it because you go to these places once in a way. But if you are doing it every day then you easily notice the copy points. I like to find out what's current and what's trending," he quips.

Fave chefs

"I take a lot of inspiration from Michael Romano from Union Square, who in a way, was a bit of my mentor. I worked with him. He's now got into the business kind of role and is cooking less. As a human being and as a practitioner of his craft, he is truly inspiring," says he with a sparkle in his eyes.

Cooking is therapeutic

"I get into the Zen state when I cook. In fact, I don't like people around me when I'm cooking. Even when I was in the US, friends from Bombay would come and say hi and I would say, 'Guys. I'm at work right now. I need to focus and we can chat later.' Unless I'm cooking with my kids since I like to teach. One's 20 and other is 14. The younger one is a foodie and the older one is into burgers and pizzas. The younger one was eating Tuna Carpaccio at the age of two. She has an evolved palate and likes her wine too," he says with a smile.

Fatherhood

"It makes you a little more responsible. It makes you risk-averse perhaps. You can't be footloose as you were in college and single. One could do stupid things. Has it mellowed me? No, I don't think so!"

Work life balance

"Unfortunately, work is literally around the clock. Today I'm at a point when I don't have to work around the clock. I like to make time for myself and it's a private time. I'm not a big socialite. I don't party every day. Personally, I lead a simple life. I'm not into fashion and material things. I'd rather have a bottle of wine, cigar and bunch of friends around."

Luxury to me is …

"I don't think I understand luxe from that point of view. I understand quality. I understand perfection or trying to get there. I understand the involvement and passion that goes into something. Am I a brand hag? I couldn't care less. I live in jeans half the time. I like nice things, if I can afford them then why not? I'd rather buy once nice pair of shoes than 20 chaalu ones – something that's going to last me 15 years. I'd rather buy quality and a few things. It's like the difference between living to work and working to live. You are doing the same thing in both cases but your approach is different."