Talent Spotlight: Priyam Chatterjee

Priyam Chatterjee is the enfant terrible of Indian food. When he left India four years ago for France, he had built a reputation for brilliance, for raw talent that sometimes broke free from its harness and bucked around like a wild stallion, all untamed passion and untapped potential.

He has returned to India with Bougie after working in France gaining some serious experience, including as head chef of Akrame, the much spoken about Michelin starred restaurant started by El Bulli alumnus Akrame Benallal. He even ended up being awarded the Le chevalier l’ordre du merit agricole by the Government of France. 

Clearly, the last few years have turned him into a thoroughbred racehorse. Because his cooking at bougie has no frills. No need to prove anything through conceptual overreach. No performative drama. But technical mastery, bordering on perfection.

Team Bougie with Rocky, Mayur, Ajit Saldhana and me

Let me say straight up that I hated the vibe of Bougie. I know it’s going to be very successful but I can’t stand places that are this flashy and loud and over the top, whether it’s Zuma or Coya. It’s just not my scene. But I know that it works, that there is a need for rich people in flashy designer clothes to go to a place where the decor and vibe is as ostentatious as the labels on their clothes or the wads of cash (not cards) in their wallets. 

The one slightly “modern” dish.. avocado tartare 

But this flash was especially dissonant for me because it takes away from the classicism of the food. This is technique driven French brasserie food, with clarity of thought and purity of expression. This is French food at a level India has never had before, not even at Zodiac Grill or Orient Express or Le Cirque. This food feels incongruous in a place so blingy because this is food that would sell every single day even if it was served in a little home with wooden benches, food that could be found in a little village in Provence. 

I know that French food is not fashionable after the rise of the Spanish and Nordic waves but I can guarantee that decades from now it will still be seen as one of the world’s great cuisines because the French have mastered the art and science of flavour. Priyam has come back having immersed himself in every aspect of French cuisine. But he has also learnt the power of restraint, how you don’t need to pack in a million things to make the food shine but focus on cooking the hero element perfectly, and complementing it with things that accentuate its flavours and textures. 

Beetroot carpaccio 

Along the way he continues to showcase his inventiveness and creativity in each dish. The chicken liver pate is cooked with goat brain to give it a creaminess that is closer to foie gras than pate. The beetroot carpaccio came with a citron ganache where he blended mascarpone with a fresh lemon curd and folded it so that the mascarpone almost felt like a ganache. 

The most perfectly cooked duck

The duck was cooked not just classically but perfectly, skin down for 10 minutes, and meat down for 3 minutes and then resting the meat for 8 minutes before serving it with flakes of Malden salt. Clean, classic, technically perfect, unpretentious and utterly brilliant.

Confit leg with country macaroni 

The Confit leg dish is a true bistro dish and Priyam cooked it in the best bistro style. Cured, confited, fried and then butter seared till golden, he served it with a rustic country-stir macaroni with garlic jus and sage butter. This dish was transportive, and we could have been in any home in any village in France where this food has been cooked for generations. 

Stroganoff 

The stroganoff was another star dish, hearty and lovely, where he made a sauce with sour cream and jus and served it with the classic Russian onion rice which I don’t know if anyone else in India does. 

Smoked salmon on toast 

There were also dishes that showcased Priyam’s exposure to Scandinavian cuisine like his interpretation of the traditional Swedish smorgasbord with Smoked salmon on toast, lump roe, dill & lemon mousseline and two flavoured mustard mayo (Basil and Dijon). 

French toast 

And to end the meal, we had a spectacular French toast for dessert that took two years of work before it was ready to be served on a plate. Made with a Country sourdough, the bread was soaked in a infused milk of vanilla and tonka. They then made a sea salt caramel with toasted yeast and reduced maple syrup, and finished the dish with roasted hazelnuts, creating a layered, textured, flavourful plate of pure happiness. 

Every single dish was a hit. Everything was cooked perfectly. Every dish was a flawless manifestation of the vision and thought behind it. Priyam has reached a stage when I can no longer call him one of India’s most talented chefs. Because now he is simply one the best chefs in India. No caveats. No debates. Simple truth. 

We ate: 

• Avocado tartare
• Prawn tartare
• Chicken liver paté
• Barcelona shrimps and garlic
• Beetroot carpaccio
• Smoked salmon on toast
• Chevré chaud
• Mushroom crepe
• Cauliflower with sesame cream
• Confit chicken leg with macaroni. 
• Ratatouille
• Chicken stroganoff
• Wild mushroom ravioli
• Brasserie style Duck 
• French Duck
• French Toast