Suvir Saran: Inside Veda

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Photos and articles are just coming in from New Delhi, India, to celebrate the opening of super chef Suvir Saran's new restaurant, Veda. Click on the following links to see inside Veda (these are "large" images, so beware if you have a slow-loading, dial-up service): wide shot long shot tall shot lighting wall Reviews are pouring in as well. India's Hindustan Times ran an interview with Suvir entitled "From the Super Chef's Mouth" which followed up their "Peak into Veda." (These articles are currently unavailable online, but you may read large images of the articles here: "From the Super Chef's Mouth" and "Peak into Veda.") Yesterday's Delhi edition of the Indian Express reported: At Veda, the new 80-cover restaurant to open in Connaught Place, the mood is upbeat. Its owners, designer Rohit Bal and New York-based chef Suvir Saran, are patting themselves on their backs for all the work that has gone into their first venture together. Bal has designed the interiors, while Saran has lent his expertise in the culinary domain. ‘‘I have a mind that never stops working. So I’m always looking to do new things,’’ says Bal. Move over Indian brides. Fashion designers have found a new muse: designing menus and restaurants. Like Bal, other members of the fashion frat have also entered the food business... And it is not just designers who are cashing in on their celebrity status. Cricketers and Bollywood directors have joined the fray, too. It seems that celebrity chef-dom has hit India. "If you have a big name, people have an obvious curiosity. It helps to draw in the crowds initially," the Express quoted a catering company as saying. (Click here to read the full article -- or click here to see an image of the article, sent from India.) The Economic Times felt yanked out of "ennui" by Rohit Bal's design because it stays clear of the "wenge & steel, straight-lined chic" of India today and returns to "the renaissance and baroque" -- a new trend in a country where the next five years is expected to see "residential and commercial projects worth $25 billion, according to a recent Merrill Lynch report." (Click here to read the full article online, or click here to read an image of the article, with photograph.) Rohit and Saran may be a bit weary from giving birth to this new restaurant child, and all the hard child rearing days loom ahead of them, but clearly it has been a propitious birth and bodes well for the years ahead. News stories: Economic Times Newsweek Indian Express Economic Times of India New York Times Times of India super chef: Suvir Saran Previous articles: Suvir Saran: Behold Veda to the East CHEF PROFILE: Suvir Saran - Super Chef Suvir Saran Spins Indian Home Cooking Technorati Tags: superchefblog, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine --> back to superchefblog