As a child, growing up with his grandparents in Delhi’s lush Asian Games Village Complex, Chef Manu Chandra recalls a game he used to play with their pahadi cook.
Every day, when he came home from school, he would try to guess what had been prepared for lunch – hours earlier – by smelling the aromas in the air. Much to the cook’s, and often his own surprise, he would always get it right. “This uncanny ability has been a handy asset in my career,” says Manu, the name behind popular brands such as Toast & Tonic (Bengaluru) and Monkey Bar (Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru), who, last year, stepped away from the Olive Group of Restaurants as its co-partner, after 17 years.
His nose continues to guide him as he explores other passions outside the kitchen, one of which has seen him join the team of Godawan, Diageo India’s new artisanal single malt whisky, made in Rajasthan. As a consultant, on board “to steer this new craft movement in a more meaningful way”, Manu’s excitement comes through in how he describes the notes of this desert distilled spirit — a warm sunshine feel on the nose, dried candied Seville oranges, the butteriness of a freshly-baked baklava.
