Go and eat at Papa’s because Hussain Shehzad… he’s THAT guy!!

May 12, 2024

Go and eat at Papa’s because Hussain Shehzad… he’s THAT guy!!

I remember ruffling feathers seven or eight years ago when I said Hussain Shehzad was by some distance the best young chef in India.

Then in 2019, when he was still at O’Pedro, I wrote..

“.. the meal I ate at O’Pedro this week was not a meal cooked by India’s most talented young chef but one of India’s greatest chefs, comparable to anyone at the vanguard of Indian cooking. Hussain Shehzad can no longer be looked at from the perspective of age and potential because his brilliance needs recognition in this very moment.

This week I ate what I felt was among the best meals I have ever had in this country.”

People said I was guilty of hyperbole. That O’Pedro was a good, not great restaurant. That I was being absurd and stupid to compare him to Manu Chandra and Prateek Sadhu and Manish Mehrotra and Thomas Zachariah.

Chennai poda and bebinca

But I’ve never really been one to follow the herd.

Hussain’s genius, his radiant brilliance were blindingly obvious to me, like a gale on the horizon that I knew would blow every one away the moment they encountered its full force.

The wellington before it’s carved

The work he has done at Bombay Canteen after he took over, along with the continued brilliance of O’Pedro and the staggering success of Veronica’s means that Hussain’s position as a modern culinary great is now undisputed.

Samosa

But just when you thought he could climb no higher, we have Papa’s.

The food in Papa’s is brilliant. Of course it is. But its real genius lies in how much fun it is. I love tasting menus. But I’m also the first to admit that they are often pretentious and over-intellectualised. I remember being completely underwhelmed by Blue Hill at Stone Barns because I really couldn’t bear to listen to a lecture about how the butter made from milk from one udder tasted saltier than the milk from another udder.

Rasam (before we pour in the liquid)

Food for me is simple.

Does it taste brilliant?

Does it give you joy?

Does it transport you emotionally to a special place?

Is the service and vibe amazing?

Is it creative and exciting?

Thayir sada

You do that and you have my heart and soul and stomach and my gushing words.

Papa’s does all that and more. I know it’s just one meal. But it’s probably my third favourite restaurant in India. Hussain takes all the places he has come from and the places he has lived in and the places that he has worked at and created some sort of magic potion that captures it all. Then he has drunk it down and having superpowered himself, he said let’s just go and break some shit and have some fun.

A beg take on the modak

Potato chips or blue cheese in a dessert? Check.

Charge people in Mumbai 5k to eat rabbits and red ants? Why not?

Drinks that taste of pizza and methi.

A chenna poda with caviar and made with comte.

A dry aged duck biryani crafted by a Vallecan paella master with a soccarat that takes years of stealing family secrets to learn.

A soup with Ladakhi Churpi and Thayir sada with beetroot, chèvre and Shisho.

A playlist that goes from Mumford and Sons to Daft Punk and everyone in the restaurant singing along to the Beatles.

Soup

I thought I would sit and write about the dishes and review them. But what’s the point? It changes every few months, and I don’t have the words or the expertise to explain the brilliance of the soup or the duck or the bebinca or pretty much every dish on the menu.