Chef Revelations – Cyrus Todiwala
Cyrus Todiwala, chef-patron at Cafe Spice Namaste, talks about DIY, Anton Mosimann, Ratatouille and parsee cuisine…
What was your first job?
Busboy
What do you do to relax?
Garden, potter around at home, give my wife Pervin grief, watch National Geographic or Discovery, DIY or simply go to the movies or eat a great meal
Which is your favourite restaurant?
London restaurants Min Jiang, Green Papaya, Peninsula for dim sum on the weekend
What's your favourite hotel?
The Taj Holiday Village, Goa, India
What is your favourite food/cuisine?
Parsee - there is no parallel
Are there any foods/ingredients that you refuse to cook with?
I would not work with endangered meats, badly produced meats or unethically sourced produce
Which person in catering have you most admired?
Anton Mosimann
Who gave you the greatest inspiration?
My dad and mum, and without any doubt, my wife
Which ingredient do you hate most?
I don't hate anything, but aubergine and brinjals don't like me!
Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?
A good knife
What daily newspaper/website do you read?
BBC News, the Express, the Metro and websites only when I log into Yahoo and catch up on other news sites
If not yourself, who would you rather have been?
My dad - he was a great person
If you had not gone into catering, what would be doing now?
Something to do with nature and conservation with a human angle
Who would play you in a film about your life?
Rowan Atkinson
What irritates you most about the industry?
That it is unable to represent itself as the greatest industry among them all and get governments to look at it very seriously
What is your favourite prepared food product?
Pizza
What's your favourite film?
I don't get to see that many, but on the way back from India I saw Ratatouille and loved it!
Who would be in your fantasy brigade?
Angela Collaco, my current head chef, great guy, great attitude; Sunderajan Sudarsan, executive chef; Oberoi Bangalore, for his enthusiasm; then to make a super dessert section a Claire Clark duplicate! However, I would love to do a restaurant with some of my friends - Paul Gayler, Andrew Bennett, Steve Munkley and a few others
If you had more time, what would you do?
Spend it with my most deserving wife, Pervin
