The spice is right!

Bahrain’s dining out crowd will soon be able to enjoy the premium taste of India with the opening of a new world-class restaurant at Seef Mall on Friday.

It will be the first international branch of Indian chef Sanjeev Kapoor’s acclaimed eatery The Yellow Chilli – a speciality restaurant he has conceptualised and promoted.

The celebrity chef, regarded as India’s best known culinary expert, will be flying into the kingdom in the next couple of days for its grand opening ceremony.

The restaurant will be operated as a franchise of Bahrain-based SunCity Ventures, which already boasts Gloria Jean’s Coffees and the Zayt Zaytoon Lebanese restaurant under its umbrella. And, Vapiano, an Italian restaurant, is set to open in Bahrain City Centre next year.

Speaking exclusively to GulfWeekly from his office in Mumbai, India, Chef Kapoor, 47, said that starting a venture in Bahrain was always part of his plans to grow the brand. He said: “I always wanted to start a restaurant in this friendly country ... but somehow it did not work out until now.

“I believe that Bahrainis are very cultured and friendly people and I am certain that our experience of opening a restaurant there will only be fantastic. I can guarantee that we are committed to giving everyone a world-class experience, which they will always relish.

“When I read about issues there, I did not believe it to be the Bahrain I knew because my impressions have been very different. Whenever I have been there and whomever I have interacted with has been extremely friendly. It is a very comfortable place ... I think the problems will soon be past and there are only better times ahead for all of us.”

The Yellow Chilli (TYC), which currently has 14 outlets in various parts of India, offers a North Indian menu that has been put together by Chef Kapoor, a household name in India, who says that every dish has been created, tasted and named by him. Only chefs trained in his kitchens will be employed in Bahrain.

He said TYC offers authentic Indian food that suits today’s lifestyle. He explained: “The food is completely Indian but it is not very oily, creamy or very heavy. It is made with the best of ingredients and if you order something with spinach it will be a nice green and not a dull green. We also have an option for food cooked in olive oil.

“At TYC we like to bring in some local elements without compromising on the authentic Indian flavours and we are forever experimenting with new ingredients.

“When we opened in Dubai I was very excited by the local spices - za’atar and sumac and added them in some of our dishes. So we offer a za’atar naan and sumac and chickpeas pulao. I am very excited about the salad based items that are very popular in Bahrain, especially for the lunch menu.
 
“Food is only as good as its ingredients and we are very particular about the quality and standards maintained in our kitchens.”

Chef Kapoor has the longest-running daily food show on TV in India – Khana Khazana, meaning treasure trove of food. It attracts 500 million viewers in 120 countries and has been running for 17 years. This year he launched his own Hindi TV channel called FOODFOOD that has 40 shows on cooking.

 Easy going, approachable and ever smiling, one of the secrets of his popularity is his simple and straightforward presentation style.

Chef Kapoor lives in Mumbai with his wife Alyona and their daughter Kriti, 14 and Rachika, 17. He started working in the food business at the age of 17 and has won several awards, appeared on CNN alongside Heston Blumenthal, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver and Wolfgang Puck as one of the top five celebrity chefs in the world.

Kapoor’s website is said to get 25m hits a month, and his 150 titles, some of them in four languages have sold an estimated 10m copies. He manages 18 Indian and 4 international restaurants.