Decades ago, Chef Manish Mehrotra made Indian fine dining aspirational. Now, with the launch of his new company, Manish Mehrotra Culinary Arts (MMCA), he is setting the stage for a new chapter that cuts across diverse restaurant concepts, catering, and mentorship.
His perspective is clear: Indian cuisine doesn’t need labels. It needs recognition for its breadth, its adaptability, and its ability to balance tradition with today’s palate. In a candid conversation with Robb Report India, Mehrotra reflects on the evolution of Indian dining, the challenges of the industry and the future of Indian cuisine.
Robb Report India: Tell us about MMCA.
Chef Manish Mehrotra: MMCA is an F&B company I formed to house several ideas I’ve had for a long time. I want to create different concepts—from casual to fine casual, Thai, and fine dining. Catering and mentoring will also be important arms, alongside restaurants.
RR India: Why is mentoring important to you?
MM: Young chefs come into this industry with misconceptions. When reality hits, it can be a shock. This is not an easy life. It’s physically strenuous and mentally demanding. Mentoring teaches teamwork. A chef can make a brilliant dish, but bad service can ruin it. Equally, a good server can save an average dish. Restaurants work only when every section delivers together. That’s why I like hiring freshers, training them, preparing them for the future.
RR India: What do you make of the ambitions of today’s young chefs?
MM: Every young chef wants to do something different, which is wonderful, but many forget that experience matters. Social media makes it all look easy, but real kitchens are not reels. They want to be the next Vikas Khanna or Himanshu Saini, but few understand the years of hard work behind those names. You can’t skip the process. Learn, work hard and then build. Even after years in the industry, I’m still learning and sharpening my craft.
RR India: Beyond individual talent, what kind of support does the industry need to grow?
MM: We need better support from the government and from within the ecosystem. Rentals are high, staffing is tough, and margins are thin. India has immense potential for destination dining, but it's difficult to make fine dining or destination restaurants viable.
In countries like Spain or South Korea, food is treated as cultural soft power. I hope one day India will do the same, because food can represent the country just as powerfully as art or cinema.
When Indian chefs achieve something significant on a global stage, we don’t celebrate it enough. It shouldn’t only be the chef or F&B community acknowledging it. Everyone should—actors, politicians, even the Prime Minister should be tweeting about it. That’s how you build a national sense of pride around food.
RR India: What is your take on the current dining landscape, where narratives are key, too?
MM: Storytelling is important, but only up to a point. Ultimately, the two pillars of any restaurant are food and service. Service accounts for 55 per cent while food is 45. Good service can elevate the entire experience, while poor service can sink it, no matter how good the food. In India, especially, service has always been part of our culture.
RR India: You took some time off recently. What did that phase mean to you?
MM: I spent time with family, and celebrated birthdays and anniversaries I always missed. I travelled with my daughter before she left for college, and spent three weeks in Japan. I’ve also been enjoying small things, like seeing the Parijat flower bloom during Dussehra and Diwali.
RR India: You’ve inspired an entire generation of chefs. How do you see your influence?
MM: I don’t hide anything. If I’ve learned something, I share it. For example, I recently told a chef that when you’re doing a pop-up, make sure you get enough porters in the kitchen. These practical details matter. I’ve seen too many chefs struggle with the logistics of pop-ups and catering. If I can ease that burden, I will.
RR India: Where do you see Indian dining headed in the next 10–20 years?
MM: Indian food has such a vast repertoire. We should stop calling it modern Indian, progressive Indian, inventive Indian. It is simply today’s Indian food. Indian food has already progressed, and we should be proud to call it that.