The Way I Work: Rajyasree Sen

As told to Sunaina Sehgal

Imaging By Shigil N

Two years ago, no one in Delhi would have spoken about authentic Bengali cuisine and Anglo Indian delicacies in the same breath—leave alone try eating them under the same roof. Now, thanks to the efforts of 33-year-old Rajyasree Sen, Dilliwallas have tasted both! Her fine-dining restaurant Brown Sahib has been raising eyebrows—both for the food and the name. The Sahiba's menu details mouth-watering delights cooked using her family recipes by a chef who also belongs to her ancestral home. While the smoked hilsa and begun bhaja have foodies flocking to her restaurant, others simply use the visit as an excuse to throw some advice her way. When she's not grocery shopping at Chitto Park in Delhi, the quintessential Bengali locality, Sen is busy training her staff, and adding posts to her blog.

I try waking up early in the morning; but usually fail to do so. I drag myself out of bed at 6:30am to let my dogs out. The walk from my bedroom to the front door is all the exercise I can manage at that hour. Once my house help has taken the three dogs—two beagles, Goebbels and Mendels, and a mongrel called Schinddler—for a walk, I go back to sleep. Rather, I try and go back to sleep. Mostly, I just lie in bed and play dead. Sometimes, my mind is as empty as a shell, and at other times, it's busy planning the day ahead.

I show signs of life only around 8am. That's when I am really up. I shake off my laziness and head to the gym. I do that every morning without fail. I was a slim kid. But age, metabolism and food seem to have caught up with me. Now I have to spend at least an hour on fitness. If it was up to me, I'd only do weights but my gym instructor's hawk eye makes me grudgingly do some cardio training as well. "When will this ordeal end?"—is the only thing on my mind when I am exercising.

An hour later, I am home, gobbling up my favourite breakfast—sweet tea and grilled tomatoes and mushroom on toast. I have been eating these from the time I can remember eating food. It has been so many years and I have never gotten sick of them! I occasionally go for a swim at the Bristol hotel in Gurgaon, which is just a few minutes from my house.

After breakfast, I freshen up and get started for the day. I read the newspaper and check my mails. I am always on my BlackBerry and respond to e-mails immediately. I usually get updates from my employees, chartered accountant, and lawyer, and requests from media, and potential clients and vendors. I run a restaurant called Brown Sahib. Yes, the name is peculiar. In colonial India, the natives were referred to as "Brown" and the English, including the Parsis, were called "Sahibs". Since I serve traditional Bengali fare with Anglo Indian dishes, I wanted a name that represented both.

There is another reason, though. Beyond mishti doi, or curd sweetened with palm sugar, Kolkata is also famous for its club culture. The food served at places such as the Tollygunge Club is mainly Anglo Indian. I couldn't have claimed Brown Sahib to be an authentic Bengali restaurant had I not included Anglo Indian delights.

On most days, I visit the restaurant after breakfast. However, there's no fixed time for that visit. I just make sure I go everyday for a few hours. Sometimes, I am there in the afternoon; on other days, in early evening. If I reach the restaurant, say, at 1pm, I make sure that I am out by 5pm. Or, if I drop by in the evening, then I leave around 9pm.

It's only now—two years after starting the restaurant—that I can afford luxuries, such as reaching the restaurant in the afternoon, or taking Sundays off. Things are less chaotic these days; in fact, they are almost going according to plan. A few months ago, I broke even on my investment of Rs 1 crore. The restaurant is creating enough buzz. It has been voted the best Anglo-Indian and Bengali restaurant by burrp.com. It was also nominated as the most sensational debut restaurant by NDTV Good Times in 2010.

I had to work hard to achieve these laurels. Initially, when I was setting up, I would work every day of the week. I was at the restaurant 24x7. From conceptualising the interior of the restaurant to the menu—I was involved in everything. The upholstery, artefacts and paintings—I brought them all from my house in Kolkata. Even the recipes belong to my family.

I'm involved with all parts of our operation. I am directly in touch with all our vendors. I personally accept all orders for our recently-started catering services. We have tie-ups with business houses to entertain their guests at our restaurant; again, I personally take care of that. I also go grocery shopping to Chittaranjan Park for exclusive Bengali items. I have an assistant who accompanies me. Though I have a vendor who provides me with almost all the ingredients, I make sure that I buy fresh seasonal produce, such as kachha kela (raw bananas), and kochu (yam), among other vegetables.

My afternoons are pretty lean; both in terms of customer turnout and work, other than on Tuesdays. Contrary to the belief that many dilliwallas do not eat non-vegetarian food on that day, I have seen more customers in my restaurant on a Tuesday afternoon than any other day!

I use these not-so-hectic afternoons to train my staff. I have 34 employees, including a lawyer and a chartered accountant. I have sourced waiters, who are fluent in Bengali, and well-acquainted with Bengali traditions and cuisine. We hold these sessions at least once a week, discussing everything from customer interaction to food presentation, service standards and handling complaints. I even train and guide the chef.

If I am at the restaurant and I see a customer complaining, I make it a point to personally take inputs. At such times, I bless the fact that I was a public relations consultant. That taught me to handle criticism and clients better.

Sometimes, the feedback that I get is absolutely ludicrous, but most of the time, it has helped us. When we had just opened, our customers felt the portions we served were too small for the price we charged. Within a month or so, we tripled our portions. Such feedback is always encouraging. But I have heard some outlandish ones, too. I was once asked to adapt the recipe of sorshe hilsa—mustard fish—to paneer (Indian cottage cheese). The thought of shorshe paneer was absolutely diabolical. Such inputs always make me laugh.

However, the one thing that brings a smile to my face is the restaurant's speciality—stuffed fried crab. Not only is it my favourite dish, which I even order once in a while, I also have fond memories of cooking it with my grandmother.

In the beginning, I'd stand beside the chef in the kitchen, and guide him as he cooked. Of course, I did not have to do much as my head chef was our family cook in Kolkata. He knows all the tricks. "Guiding" him becomes an excuse for me to be in the kitchen. I make sure the food served is of the highest standard. That is the best part of my work.

Though I get bogged down by accounting and finances, the creative aspect of my restaurant—trying out new recipes, cooking with the chef and coming up with a different menu—is always rejuvenating.

Constantly adding innovations to the menu adds freshness to a restaurant. I make it a point to introduce something different every month. For instance, I have introduced a Sunday brunch this month, with dishes like keemar chop (fried spiced mince stuffed in mashed potatoes and crumb), akuri (Parsi spicy scrambled eggs, served with buttered pavs), nolen gurer kheer (jaggery-laced thickened milk), and other mouth watering dishes. In April, which marks the Bengali New Year, I plan to introduce traditional Bengali thalis. Come summer, and I will add a variety of cold soups and salads to the menu. I come from a household where dinners and lunches were treated like occasions, not just daily chores. I want to create a sense of occasion at my restaurant as well. Besides the restaurant, I devote a lot of time to my blog, Brown Sahib and I. It is a first person account of the struggles, challenges and the small, happy moments of my life at the restaurant. I also share recipes, and write reviews of new restaurants and eating joints in town. I have to pen down my thoughts—especially on anything to do with food. I like to keep my eyes and ears open to new competitors. As an excuse, I land up eating at every new restaurant, although, I must admit, I don't think of most new restaurants as competition. It's the ones with more than a decade of experience, such as Oh!Calcutta, that I look out for. Once, Anjan Chatterjee, the founder of Oh!Calcutta, and his entire management team ate at my 54-cover restaurant. They tried all the items that were unique to our menu. I was extremely flattered. It was the best day of my life.

There have been bad days as well; instances when customers did not like the food and demanded their money back, or, when people claimed that a particular dish was made differently in their households. In such cases, I gather my cool and talk to the customers. The one thing that I do at the end of every day, particularly a bad day, is to find humour in it.

By the time the day eases into the evening, I am ready to leave the restaurant. Either I run some personal errands—bank work, buying things for the house, and so on—or, I head straight home. It takes me about an hour to reach Gurgaon. I live alone, so my dogs are the first to greet me. Their wagging tails always wash away my tiredness. A cup of chai later, I am back on my laptop. I am very active on Facebook and Twitter, and try my best to market my brand through social media. My laptop remains switched on almost all the time. Thankfully, it has good battery backup!

On the days that I am home early, I cook my own dinner—nothing fancy, usually something routine like dal chawal. Once I've eaten, I change into my pyjamas and cuddle up in bed with my dogs and a book. I enjoy reading cookery and non-fiction books. The last book I read was The Room by Emma Donoghue. I also enjoy watching television. I make it a point to watch Two and a Half Men at 11pm on Star World. By the time the show's over, and my laptop is shut down, I look forward to dreaming about food and waking up the next day to live it!

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