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How chef Vikram Shenoy is reviving his family's GSB legacy
Summary
With a menu inspired by family recipes and a mission to modernise traditional dishes of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community, the young chef has revamped his grandfather's restaurant
There’s a brand new restaurant located in the unassuming Municipal Industrial Estate in the heart of Worli, Mumbai. This place, named Shenoy’s, holds special meaning for 36-year-old chef Vikram Shenoy. It’s the very same spot where his grandfather Vyanktesh opened a modest eatery called Shenoy’s Canteen in 1967. Throngs of mill workers would visit for hearty servings of Udupi-style fare such as poha, upma, misal and dosa. After undergoing a change in avatar over several decades and even a temporary closure in 2008, Vikram decided it was time to revive his grandfather’s legacy. He is a graduate from the city’s prestigious hospitality college, Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition. He went on to polish his culinary chops with Taj Hotels in India and Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.
For Shenoy’s, he leaned into what he knew best—flavours from his childhood embodying his family’s Goud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) roots. Given that the community traces its roots to coastal India along the Konkan region, their food is a mix of seafood delicacies and other regional preparations, such as kolmbo or sambar, dalitoy or Konkani-style dal, kokum saar or a sour kokum soup, khoto idli steamed in jackfruit leaf and undi or steamed rice dumplings. The result is a menu featuring some GSB classics along with reimagined flavours with dishes like byadgi kairi paneer topped with pickled raw mango, gojjus or chutneys like coriander and batato (potato) integral to most GSB households, and Konkani staples which the restaurant has curated in a thali with dalitoy, rice, subzi suran kaap or yam fritters, and papads locally known as happolo, made with urad, red chilli and jackfruit, paired with and beverages like panak or panakam, a sweet drink of lemon, jaggery, cardamom and ginger. Unlike the South Indian version which is citrus-heavy, this one features a generous dose of dry ginger. In keeping with tradition, the restaurant churns its own white butter and ghee, and has homemade pickles like godda lonche and khola lonche, both of which are raw mango variants.
Mumbai has a long lineage of restaurants serving coastal cuisine, and over the last couple of years, some of them evolved from serving classic Malvani and Udupi fare, like prawn curry, crispy dosas, spicy sambar and pomfret fry to modernised plates like butter garlic crab and prawn khichdi to appeal to a wider audience.
Also read: The pickle platter of India
When I visit Shenoy’s, I’m first encouraged to try devasthana saar, also referred to as a temple soup. It is surprisingly cooling, featuring roasted coconut, jaggery, hing and tomato, and comes to the table in a French press. “This is not only lightly spiced but also lets you build up an appetite for the rest of your meal," says Vikram. Another dish that catches my eye and packs in plenty of flavour is gojju chicken with pickled jalapenos and fried curry leaves served atop crispy homemade puris. The fiery tamarind-coriander chutney is the perfect introduction to what you can expect from a GSB meal. The idea, he says, is to slowly introduce diners to GSB flavours and not intimidate them.
In an interview, Vikram talks about blending the familiar with the new, the rise of micro-regional cuisines and what it’s like redefining a legacy. Edited excerpts:
Your grandfather started this family venture with a modest canteen back in the day. How are you carrying this forward with the revamped Shenoy's?
My grandfather came to Mumbai from his hometown Mudbidri in coastal Karnataka as a 13-year-old in search of work during India’s pre-independence era. After several years working his way up at a small eatery called Shree Krishna Restaurant that served breakfast items like usal pav and sheera puri in Lower Parel, he wanted to open something of his own. It started off with a nondescript canteen that would cater to the mill workers in the area. Post that, the restaurant has seen several changes, and it even shut down temporarily as the city’s foodscape changed rapidly. Over time, I wanted to put my own culinary expertise to use and after launching a couple of delivery concepts such as Masala Kitchen serving Indian cuisine, I turned my attention towards reviving my grandfather’s restaurant—this time with flavours that are close to home.
What is the culinary focus of Shenoy's?
My philosophy with Shenoy’s was to revisit old-school hospitality, where the focus is on fresh food and quality ingredients for a wholesome dining experience. Back when I was toying with the idea of doing something of my own, I would often share pictures of homemade GSB dishes with my fellow chefs on WhatsApp. Their interest was piqued and they would ask me if there was a place where they could try this food, other than my home. It motivated me further.
I wanted to go beyond the typical ghassi or curry, ghee roast (the GSB version has less chilli compared to the Mangalorean one) and fish curry. You’ll find dishes such as sungat (prawns) fry in a red chilli marinade, Konkan thalis with dishes like tingalavre hooman or white beans in a spicy mixture and raja phanna upkari or spicy mackerel curry, dalitoy and kokum saar which pairs brilliantly with a native rice variety called matta sourced from Mudbidri. If we had to bring GSB flavours to a wider audience, few dishes had to be modernised to appeal to different palates. So we’ve tried doing our spin on a few specialities like gojju chicken served on a crispy puri. Gojju is typically eaten like a chutney, but we have used it in the spicy chicken marinade. Kela bhaji is another GSB dish which has got a makeover. Instead of serving the classic raw banana subzi, the fruit is batter fried and tossed in a peri peri spice mix.
What has inspired some of the dishes on this menu? Are there any family favourites?
There are a lot of recipes handed down by my grandmother and mother, and of course food I’ve grown up with. So, navy beans or tingalavre hooman is a family favourite as are the seafood recipes which are my mom’s. We had to narrow down our menu from some 350 recipes which was a task in itself. I’m very keen to introduce a traditional breakfast menu soon. For instance, misal pav has been a staple on our Sunday breakfast table for the last 36 years. I also want to do pan polo (GSB-style dosa) with chutneys, banana buns, surnali or Konkani rice pancakes, and more. These would be an ode to my grandfather.
There's a revival of micro-regional cuisines, and GSB is one of them. What are your thoughts and how do you see this shaping up going forward?
I’d say better late than never. While we have a handful of restaurants offering GSB cuisine, no one is really taking a risk. I think somewhere we need to expand the cuisine. If every time I have to tell you about GSB or Konkani food and you're only going to think of a ghassi, sukkha or ghee roast, then how are we taking the food forward? I can’t wait to introduce more people to GSB cuisine and also modernise it for new-age diners. For instance, there’s a dish called tendli bibbe upkari where the vegetable is slow cooked with bibbo or wet cashews. It is typically served at Konkani weddings and is made with minimal spices using only chillies, grated coconut, coconut oil, wet cashews and tendli or ivy gourd. Tender wet cashews are harvested before the drying process while they are still fresh and moist, lending a versatile texture to the dish. Not many people are even aware of it or that you can even use wet cashews. I hope to add more such dishes over time.
Arzoo Dina is a Mumbai-based food and travel writer.
