Pawan Dutta

It’s lovely to be back here. It’s just as gleaming as it was when I came two years ago. So the cleaning regime in the restaurant must be really on point. There’s a lot of chrome.

We really pride ourselves in that area. We’re very particular about cleanliness. We have an excellent executive housekeeper who is on top of things. She’s amazing. She has been here with the company for a while, and she knows what to do. She has the freedom and it’s an empowering culture. She takes advantage of it because we all know that she’s so amazing.

It’s been almost two years since I spoke to you. What has stayed the same? What has changed in the kitchen or the restaurant? How have the last two years been?

It’s been surreal. It’s been quite a journey. In the beginning, it was always about knowing the team, looking at their strengths and weaknesses. There were a lot of expectations in the beginning as well. The hotel has definitely become busier. Now that the marketing team is on it, people are more aware of the hotel and of what we do at Showroom Bar. Events, we launched High Tea. A lot of things are happening. Very, very exciting times.

I was just looking at your menu. It’s amazing, so extensive.

It is. We want to show off what we do here. Like I said, it’s an empowering culture. I can play around with different flavours and different cooking techniques, and we want to compete with the hatted restaurants out there. We are all on the same page as management. We want everyone to know that we are just as good as the best out there. So, in order to compete, the menu and the ingredients have a bit of flair, and the ingredients are really top quality. We really pride ourselves on the menu.

From working around the world, do you bring some of that knowledge of working in other kitchens, in other countries, to your menu?

Absolutely. You’ve seen the menu already. There are different flavours, different cooking techniques. We just got a hibachi. We’re cooking things on that now. The menu will take you from France to Italy to South America, coming back to Southeast Asia. There is a little bit of everything, but in a very cohesive manner. It feels like a journey of the world, but it comes together very nicely.

And there is a steak with your name on it?

I think people are mistaken, but it works in my favour. The steak is from Parwan. There is an R, not Pawan. It’s from Bacchus Marsh. It’s locally sourced. But yes, many people have told me, “You’ve put a steak with your name on it.” I’m like, not really, but I’ll take that.

Oh, I fell into the trapI What would your recommendation be if people come in. I would find it hard to choose.

That’s like Sophie’s Choice. Like I said, I take pride in the menu. There is something for everyone, from bar bites to entrées, bigger plates, main courses, and dessert. It’s a whole journey. It really depends on what the guest prefers. We’re happy to make recommendations, but there is a lot of seafood on the menu, there are a lot of meats. We even have a separate vegan menu. If I want to show off to the guest, then probably I’ll pick one or two things like the croquette or the slogan-cured salmon from the bar bites, going to the cauliflower soup, which looks absolutely stunning.

How does that soup work?

In the kitchen, we pour both the soups together. Because of the consistency, it comes together with the pickled cauliflower and the prosciutto, the toasted almonds, and it stays there so you can see a yin and yang situation.

Do the people pouring the soup have to have a bit of training to get that right?

We do it in the kitchen. I trained the guys. We had some interesting looks in the beginning, but now everyone’s got it right.

I actually love cauliflower soup. I think it’s a really underestimated soup. It’s so savoury. It’s quite umami, isn’t it?

Absolutely. And when people look at it, some of the comments were like, “It looks like a dessert,” because it’s so pretty, with the colour combinations. That was not my aim, but when you eat it, the umami flavours come through with the pickled cauliflower, the crispy prosciutto, and the almonds. It’s a match made in heaven. It’s already classic combinations. But we try to put a little twist, like we serve it with the blue cheese brioche toast. The other combinations come up very well.

I think that’s one of my favourite combinations: blue cheese with cauliflower soup or a cauliflower purée. Those kinds of flavours with blue cheese are so good. 

I enjoy my time behind the scenes doing the creative stuff, in front of the computer and doing a bit of management work, but after a while I get bored. I want to be back in the kitchen and just cooking. It’s really great because I know how to prioritise and what needs to be done. But yes, I definitely miss it if I’m not cooking, so I’m always back in the kitchen.

Pawan Dutta, The Royce Hotel

How do you decide what goes on the menu? Do you think about food 24/7?

Well, I’d be lying if I said no. I try not to. When I go out somewhere, I try to switch off. Of course, we have to do some work in knowing what other restaurants are doing, what the competition is like, and what the trends are like. But I try to switch off as well. A lot of the influence is from my past. Through my travels, I see what is seasonally available and then work with flavours that come to mind. I start writing some gibberish on paper and try to make things work, then I look at it again, and I start experimenting a little bit. I’m very lucky, I have a great sous chef. My pastry chef is amazing, my breakfast chef too. They all contribute. We’re all on the same page, so we want to do something different. We try to push ourselves, push the boundaries, see what else we can do that other hotels or restaurants aren’t doing. You can see if a trend picks up, suddenly that item is everywhere. If someone tells me that something is happening, I think, okay, I don’t want to do it. If everyone else is doing it, then I don’t want to. It’s a lot of work, but I love it. I’m really enjoying it.

Are you still on the pans? Do you still cook?

Every day. I’m part of the roster. From breakfast to lunch service to dinner events, high tea, everything. I enjoy my time behind the scenes doing the creative stuff, in front of the computer and doing a bit of management work, but after a while I get bored. I want to be back in the kitchen and just cooking. It’s really great because I know how to prioritise and what needs to be done. But yes, I definitely miss it if I’m not cooking, so I’m always back in the kitchen.

I remember last time we spoke about how important it is to have trust amongst the team. Having a head chef or executive chef alongside them must foster a good feeling among the team.

Absolutely. They feel that, when you look at your supervisors and see they’re there with you all the time and supporting you, and they don’t shy away from hard work, it motivates everyone and lifts their spirits. Trust doesn’t come easy. You have to observe, you have to let them make mistakes, just like my chefs in the past let me make mistakes. That’s how I learned. It’s the same. But I’m always there, hovering and knowing exactly what’s happening in my kitchen and when to intervene. That’s a teaching moment. Like I said, I have an amazing team. All my heads know what to do and what I expect from them. We’re all on the same page with one mission, moving towards a common goal.

It must be a fine line, too, when you’ve created the dishes, not to want to micromanage too much.

I have bosses who don’t micromanage, and that is not my style at all. That’s why a lot of dishes are not just my ideas. The pastry chef or my sous chef will say, “Chef, everyone else is doing this, let’s do something different. I have an idea.” I say, okay, show me what you want. Most of the time, he’s great, I see it, and it goes on the menu. It lifts their spirits when they see their dishes on the menu, they know their work is recognised. I believe two heads are better than one. I give them direction about what I think we should do, throw a few ingredients at them, maybe duck, maybe carrots and then we see what we can come up with. Everyone gets together, throws in ideas, and we cook and do trials.

You were saying a lot of the things on this current menu are inspired by your travels. Is there a dish in particular that evokes a memory or has a story attached to it?

There are some South American ingredients and flavours in this menu. When I was in Peru, Peruvian food was great. I wanted to see how I could blend Mexican and Peruvian flavours with the produce and ingredients here. We have Morton Bay bug with purple potatoes and a black bean aioli, together with French-style cooked leeks. At the same time, there’s pickled turnips with a beurre blanc and with aioli oil. It’s a marriage of different flavours. That’s one instance, but even in previous menus there have been dishes like the pasta dish we had for $99. People thought, “$99 for a pasta? Who does he think he is?” But I wanted them to think that way. When the dish comes in front of them, they understand why, with the amount of seafood, premium ingredients like uni and Osetra caviar, lobster tartare, gold leaf. It’s not just flashy; there is substance in it. Even with the desserts, we try to incorporate caviar. We had baba au rhum with crème fraîche and caviar, and now we have a chocolate soufflé with caviar. These things make people question and say, “I haven’t thought of this before.” We don’t mind experimenting. It’s not one dish, it’s a culmination of everything.

How many people would have chosen the $99 pasta?

Quite a few. It’s good to see that people in Melbourne, a foodie city, want to try and experiment. Of course, the front of house plays a big role in it. They upsell and take pride in the dishes we’re doing. We got some really good comments.

You mentioned you want to compete with the hatted restaurants. It feels as though hotel restaurants are really on the rise. Do you think there’s more competition now amongst hotel restaurants, or that you can compete on an even playing field with other restaurants?

The scene has definitely evolved and is evolving. There are chefs in the past who paved the way for us. If a standalone restaurant opens in the city with a big name, it gets a lot of attention and is always busy. But lesser-known names can showcase what they can do starting from hotels—just like the Royce. It’s amazing to work in a boutique hotel where I can experiment with any flavours. Like I said about trust, the owners and management trust me to do a good job. In the past two years, we’ve constantly evolved and improved the guest experience. I’d say hotel restaurants are really coming up. Lesser-known chefs just need to keep doing what they’re doing. As long as we believe and stay focused, the other stuff is just noise. We will see everyone progressing, whether it’s a standalone restaurant or a restaurant in a hotel. The level should be the same.

You have been nominated for Chef of the Year. Are those accolades important to you?

I would be lying if I said no. This is the second year in a row I’m on the final list. It is definitely important from a guest perspective. People follow big names, so these accolades are important because we’re doing some interesting stuff here and I want people to know. It helps fill the restaurant. At the end of the day, the trust from management, the team, and the freedom to create is a reward in itself. I’m very lucky and honoured with the nominations. I hope I can win one to bring more people in.

Are they transparent about what they’re looking for? What does Chef of the Year really mean?

I guess it’s the contribution you’ve made to the place you work at. It’s also a bigger picture, not just at the hotel but for Victoria. They look at the menu, the ingredients, if they’re seasonal, carbon footprint, what we’re doing for the environment, for the team, diversity, the knowledge you bring. There are different criteria. The interview was amazing. It was such a great conversation.

Do you have to be nominated, or do they seek you out?

The hotel nominates the employees, and the hotel can also put names forward. Then they have about two months where mystery shoppers come and judge the restaurants or hotels. For individual nominations like Chef of the Year, or back-of-house employee, front-of-house employee, we have a rigorous 30-minute interview. They ask questions to see what we’ve contributed.

It’s a lot, isn’t it?

It definitely is. These awards mean a lot. It’s like a pat on the back, reassurance that we’re on the right path. Awards help bring in more customers, and when guests see and try the food and come back again and again, it is rewarding.

I feel like when you’re cooking for someone, you get an instant reward anyway. Although, can you see from the kitchen?

No, the kitchen is at the back. But I’m always in the restaurant. We check with the service staff to see if guests are happy or if there have been any issues. I’ll say hello to the guests as well. We have a lot of repeat customers, so it’s good to say hello and show who’s working behind the scenes.

I think especially these days, people love meeting the chef.

Absolutely. It does make an impact. When we do events or site inspections, I can tell from guests that they enjoy meeting the chef who made their meal.

I was thinking back to how rewarding it is to watch people enjoy your food. When I was doing my PhD and slogging away every day, I couldn’t see where I was going. I had come back from living in France, so I decided to do catering dinner parties with a French theme. I would go into people’s houses and do this French dinner party. I only did about five, but people really liked it. For me, it was great because I felt so lost in my research, but then I would cook something and people would be really happy and it felt like success.

There’s nothing like a clean plate. When you see an empty, clean plate, and if someone asks for a recipe, you know they want to emulate that. When we see the reservations list and the same names again and again, it’s really good; you know you’re doing something right. It’s just a matter of getting people in. We know it’s a beautiful restaurant with great service and amazing food. We just have to get them in once. When we do, we know they’re hooked.

I think it says a lot about the hotel and your team that you’re still here. Often an executive chef comes in, creates the menu, sets up the kitchen, and then moves on. You’ve moved around a lot in the past. Do you think of Melbourne as home now?

I think so. I’m lucky I’m still here, I don’t take that for granted. There’s a lot of hard work that’s gone into it. I treat it like I would treat my own business. This hotel is very important to me. I go back home, which is Delhi, but my mom now travels back and forth, which is great. I get to see her more often and spend time with her. And I just bought my first home, so yes, definitely. Melbourne is my home.

Putting down roots for sure. My final question is what would you say to the young boy that used to hang out in the kitchen with his mum, watching and taking part in making meals? What would your advice be to your younger self?

I would say don’t give up. Don’t listen to people too much. Everyone has an opinion, but keep working hard. Believe in yourself because you will achieve many things, much more than your heart desires. Everything happens for a reason, when it’s supposed to happen, and it happens for the best.

The Royce Hotel, 379 St Kilda Road, Melbourne