Past forward.. 25 years ago, 25 years on
If I have to reflect on the 25 years of UpperCrust and more importantly, 25 years of my working life, it amounts to more than half my adult life. If I take into account my Afternoon days, which started after college and three years of studying Law, that’s my entire life!
So how does it feel, going on for all these years and then obtaining this new milestone now? How does it feel to have applied myself to working with all my heart, passionately and with total sincerity? To have gained the love and respect of our readers, which I truly appreciate? In one word; great.
Honestly, it’s been a fantastic run. I feel truly blessed that God gave me the ability to work hard and the opportunity to do so. For without opportunities how does one work? How does one move forward? I am full of gratitude that these 25 years, a substantial period of my life, have been filled with wonderful experiences, immense growth and given me a meaningful existence.
UpperCrust, which requires content from three exciting categories; food, wine and travel are three universally popular subjects which have indeed opened many doors for me. They have allowed me the freedom to indulge in a delightful world which blends sensory experiences and also offered me the luxury of delving deeper into our culture, particularly food culture. I travelled all over India searching new destinations to write about, in turn savouring unique flavours, tasting new dishes, learning new styles of cooking, and witnessing unusual cooking methods. Not to forget the fantastic people I met all over.
Discovering local traditions and lifestyle of the people of the various states of India has been such a joy. The places that I wrote about under the banner of UpperCrust Destinations became my all-time favourite places, for what they offered in terms of sights, sounds, people and food; Lucknow, Benaras, Cochin, Bhubaneshwar, Amritsar, Jaipur, Calcutta, Calicut, Surat, Goa!
Truly, my personal life alongside the professional one has been so enhanced. The trio of food, wine and travel not only enriched my palate but also broadened my horizon. Travelling internationally, far and wide, gave me a deep sense of understanding the world and the way it lives.
I have had some unforgettable experiences, memories that will last me a lifetime; culinary tours, wine tastings, food festivals, all fantastic ways of exploring new destinations. Champagne tasting in Champagne, foraging seaweed in Ireland, enjoying unusual seafood in Atlantic Canada, eating juicy steaks in New Zealand, asado in Argentina, and sipping Malbec right in the vineyard, at the base of the Andes; oh for the thrill of drinking good wine, right where it is produced! Sampling aged Balsamic in Modena and the different pasta and their sauces in the country of their origin, Italy, as also eating for the very first time, a soufflé made from Burrata at Lake Como, and going totally mad!
I can’t wax eloquent enough about the wines that I have tasted, the vintners I have met, the vineyard owners I have interacted with. All in surreal settings. Wine regions around the world offer not just exquisite wines but also stunning landscapes and rich histories. Imagine sipping Chianti in Tuscany, exploring vineyards in Bordeaux, or enjoying an ice wine tour in Niagara! Every region has its own unique grape varieties and winemaking techniques, and so every visit of mine has been a new adventure.
Savouring delicacies in the finest of restaurants around the world, drinking the best of wines, travelling to unusual places, meeting the most interesting people, is one thing. But getting back to the office and applying your mind to putting all this together in a manner that the reader will find it worthwhile enough to read it all from cover to cover, is quite another! So, I have to admit it has not been easy. It’s been a mix of challenges and rewards.
I have done my best to make this a well-rounded journey. Challenges often shape us just as much as the rewards. Navigating both and coming through them successfully does make me feel good about myself. By the grace of the Almighty, UpperCrust is a well-respected magazine.
25 years ago, when we launched what was India’s first food and wine magazine, (and it continues to be the only one in its genre), on January 14, 2000, the scenario was rather different. The food world was just starting to stir… By some sort of luck, we were in the right place, at the right time. Busybee, who encouraged me to start a food magazine as opposed to a sports magazine, prophesied that India was on the cusp of a culinary recognition. Soon we would capture the world’s imagination with our diverse cuisine, he said. Locally, too, he was overjoyed while eating out at Bombay’s newest restaurants, Indigo and Olive. Just months before he passed away on April 9, 2001, he said the two boys who were active in the field (at the time) would make a huge difference to Bombay’s restaurant life. He was so right, the two boys, now men, Rahul Akerkar and AD Singh are continuing to make waves.
UpperCrust on its part also made a difference. It brought to readers a vast array of articles and stories, recipes and restaurant reviews, young chefs who went on to become rich and famous... and it created many new food writers.
The food scene in 2000, when UpperCrust came into the picture, was making a significant transformation. It was marking the beginning of a more globalised and diverse culinary landscape in India. But by 2005 there was certainly a big shift from local and regional cuisine-focused eateries to international cuisines. Interest in international food was raging on. I would like to believe the UpperCrust Food & Wine Show, which we launched in 2003, at the World Trade Center and which took off with a bang, helped contribute towards this cause. Food lovers, especially those who enjoyed cooking or even dabbling in the kitchen were thrilled to be able to buy foreign ingredients never available in India before. They used to bemoan the fact that something as mundane as even olive oil, was never there on the Indian shelves, before the UpperCrust Show made its debut. They celebrated the fact that once a year, they could now stock up not just olive oil but truffle oil and caviar, even wasabi!
Which brings us to 2010. This was when fine-dining became de rigueur. Restaurants with an international look-feel were now flourishing, offering a mix of traditional Indian and international dishes. Slowly by 2020, the scale of these went larger than life. Restaurants upward of 3000 sq. ft. were now the norm. Ambience was king. Never mind what came from the kitchen. There were diners waiting and willing to splurge. Money was flowing. Investors were a happy lot.
COVID did come in the way and dampen things a bit but we largely took it in our stride. Unfortunately though many restaurants, small and big, faded out, but the never-say-die Indian spirit came to the fore and soon after the dust settled, we were back with a bigger bang!
Today, with Indians raring to eat at high-end places, we have restaurants that have opened up in the last three years which are unimaginable in scale, size and operations. Big money continues to be pouring in; from industrialists to filmstars, famous chefs to entrepreneurs, all want their share of the pie. And why not. The diners are a happy lot, spoilt for choice as they are.
This issue has a theme of ‘old is gold and sometimes silver’. I am a traditionalist at heart. An old-world girl. Simple. Basic. Organic. And the articles within prove it.
Be it loving the Okinawa way of life, yet not feeling guilty about relishing food made in the most sinful of mother sauces. I still cook in iron pots and pans and love the sight of silver warq on my laddoos! I prefer to eat at time-tested restaurants like Gaylord and to cheer people who go on a 25 port-of-call cruise – the way I love to holiday best!
Thank you, dear reader, for these 25 glorious years!