Can't Curry Love: An exclusive chat with Restaurateur Sarika Jhunjhunwala

The Interview 

Crave Magazine, December 2011

Restaurateur Sarika Jhunjhunwala explains how lessons learned in her first venture, Veda, helped make Cafe O a success. 

Text by P.Ramakrishnan 

Portrait by Leila Cranswick

Location: Cafe O, Central 

Elegant, enigmatic and a total foodie, despite her delicate frame, businesswoman Sarika Jhunjhunwala owns several eateries in Hong Kong, including five Café Os, Spice Box and the now-closed Indian restaurant, Veda - a favourite of any connoisseur of high-end Indian food. 

For Jhunjhunwala, restaurants should be a feast for all the senses, with the aesthetics and textures of the décor, the choice of music and the aromas wafting from the open kitchens as important as the flavour of the food itself. 

“Food is not just the art of eating, it’s an experience, a multi-sensory experience,” she says. “When I look back to my earliest, fondest memories, I think of food from my mum’s kitchen. It was simple vegetarian Indian food – my family was very orthodox Hindu – the vegetables were all grown organically using cow dung in our backyard. I still have those flavours in my soul, my mouth.” 

Raised in a palatial house in Hisar, in the northwestern Indian state of Haryana, Sarika made an arranged marriage to Girish Jhunjhunwala, a watchmaker turned Hong Kong property magnate who owns the Ovolo group of hotels and serviced apartments. She swapped Hisar for Pok Fu Lam, ramping up the luxury levels in the west Hong Kong Island suburb with glittering Diwali soirees, serving exquisite dishes on silver platters.

That combination of glamour and delicious food evokes the glory days of Veda, once one of the most fashionable and highly rated Indian restaurants in Hong Kong. 

“I have all the press clippings of every review of Veda,” she says, when we meet at Café O’s Central flagship. “And I’m still deeply touched by it. Veda was a dream project of mine and it was a hard decision to close it.” 

The shutters might have come down on Veda two years ago, but the memory, like the aroma of a succulent chicken makhani, lingers. “When I look back on it, I am still proud of it. We got great write-ups and had genuine fans. But I learned from the closure of Veda. Price point and location are key. And Indian food was seen as an indulgence; Western and local palates didn’t come for Indian cuisine on a daily or regular basis. “Perhaps the restaurant [on Arbuthnot Road] was a little too hidden away from the hustle and bustle of Central, and our prices a fraction higher than what’s expected for an Indian dish,” she says now, twirling the straw around her smoothie. “But the quality was vastly higher. We had fresh, organic vegetables; we had healthy options. Meals were freshly made – there was no storage of old items, even the spices and mixtures were freshly ground in the kitchen for the day, for that authentic feel. With our open kitchen, anyone could see the quality and effort on every plate.” 

As for the food – which included an intoxicating paneer and spinach curry that still makes the mouth water – for that, she credits someone else. “Chef Rajiv Gulshan is my favourite chef,” Jhunjhunwala declares. “His passion and knowledge I have yet to see in any other chef I have met or worked with.”

But there has been life after Veda. What started as a footnote has opened a whole new chapter. “The buildings my husband owned needed something at street level that was elegant, warm and welcoming. When we first opened Café O, it was a novel concept: a hybrid of a café and a restaurant that served healthy, quick dishes.

“There are no trans-fats; we have fresh ingredients, simple dishes like a quick thin-crust pizza or a take-away samosa. Now there are five more Café Os all around the city. Honestly, I didn’t think it would be such a big hit so quickly. But life is full of surprises.” It comes as no surprise, however, to learn that she enjoys cooking herself. “I love to cook if my time allows. I am not much of a recipe person, I like to just mix things from my pantry and create whatever comes out of it. It is relaxing and very satisfying,” she says. “I’m one of four brothers and five sisters and coming from a traditional family, all of us sisters learned to cook.” 

Any disasters? “This one time, my father bought a strange novelty gadget from a city and I got electrocuted when I tried to make a dish. Got the shock of my life. The entire thing, which must have been quite expensive, was thrown out. Cooking-wise, no major disasters. But electronically, yes!” 

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My Favourite Things with Sarika Jhunjhunwala 

Crave: What’s always in your fridge or pantry? 

Sarika: Lots of fruits and homemade chilli chutney, which I have with every meal – I carry it with me when I am travelling. There are very few dishes that go with everything, but this one does. 

Favourite Indian dish? 

Although I’m a vegetarian, I would recommend spicy lamb vindaloo or a mild chicken makhani [butter]. For vegetarian kaali daal (black lentil curry). 

Favourite drink? 

Lassi flavoured with ginger and honey. Or freshly squeezed lemonade with a touch of green chilli. Try it, just that little touch gives a simple drink a kick. 

Favourite savoury dish? 

Baked samosa or wholewheat pizza from Café O, of course. 

Top five restaurants in the world? 

Asia de Cuba in Los Angeles, Nobu New York, Otto in Hong Kong, Cinnamon Club in London, Bukhara in Delhi and La Lucciola in Bali. 

Favourite food destination? 

I have had the best time eating in Sydney. There are some very creative chefs Down Under who are challenging the way we make traditional dishes. And when I went to Bali recently, I had a great dining experience and found again that they were Aussie chefs.