This Michelin-star chef just opened a new restaurant in Delhi

The House of Celeste is chef Suvir Saran’s brand new baby!
House of Celeste a casual Indian cuisine restaurant in Gurugram Delhi
L-R: Anna naar, the masala pebble

In early 2018, when chef Suvir Saran had a stroke, he was told by the doctors that he had roughly three weeks to live. Cut to November 2019. Saran is back on his feet thanks to a recovery aided by a ‘superb doctor' and is prepping for the launch of House of Celeste, a casual Indian cuisine restaurant in Gurugram. Having moved from New York to New Delhi due to several health complications last year, the chef who ran Devi in NYC—the first Indian restaurant in the US to get a Michelin-star—is now diving into India's crazy restaurant scene.

"I have these brilliant kids in the kitchen from Gaggan, Gaa, goo, what have you—they're so talented and knowledgeable about their craft. I have so much to learn from them!" A self-taught chef with a formal education in design, Saran hosted dinner parties in New York which got him catering gigs and eventually led him down the chef path. Three cookbooks and a few restaurants under his belt, Saran tells me that The House of Celeste is not trying to be the next cutting-edge gastronomical experiment, but a relaxed Indian restaurant, with a modern twist on familiar tastes and recipes. The blue walls and jungle motifs across the interiors of the restaurant give off a vibe that's chic but laid back, a place that doesn't take itself too seriously. Much like Saran himself. Apart from being a critically-acclaimed chef (who lost his eyesight temporarily due to his ill health), Saran is also an educator, farmer and board advisor to Brigham & Women's Hospital at Harvard Medical School. "India got me back on my feet. The energy here is infectious," Saran says, as I scan quick through the menu. I spot familiar-enough sounding Indian dishes, but when they arrive at the table, they're all dressed up.

Delhi 6 Taters

There's the fruit and stem galouti, a delicate, slightly smoky kebab of jackfruit, lotus steam and kacha kela that's served with a mint raita. The gilafi apricot mutton seekh comes studded with bell peppers and a pillowy-sheermal paratha, baked in-house. The presentation is minimal, devoid of unnecessary embellishments, allowing for you to focus on the flavours. "The Indian diner is smart and savvy. I want to give them something they recognise as authentic in taste but not necessarily in appearance," says Saran. The Gaggan-esque take on pani-puri, the masala pebble may not exactly thrill urban diners who've seen it on multiple menus, but the kitchen's mandate to tinker has resulted in a fair share of successful experiments.

I tuck into the roast onion-garlic sourdough flatbread next, and am pleasantly surprised by a familiar taste. It's the onion jam in the sourdough, confirms Saran, that's inspired by the Kerala motta (egg) roast. Paired with buffalo mozzarella and garlic aioli, the onion jam sourdough is simply delicious. It's easily something that will become a best-seller, along with the garlic confit and spinach sourdough flatbread, with cottage cheese, feta and bocconcini. One bite and you know the spinach pizza is a take on the saag paneer. It's comfortingly familiar, yet wholly different.

House of Celeste bakes all its sourdough in house.

While reinventing classics may seem like a priority, Saran says his focus is now on creating a new Indian classic. "Yes of course we love our butter chicken and dal makhani [both of which are on the menu in modern avatars], but it's time for us Indians to start being obsessed with a new dish." So while House of Celeste's offerings include Noshi's Lahori Chilli-Mince, a "Pakistani recipe for haleem" with steel-cut oats and saffron pao alongside Chicken 69 and mutton ghee roast, Saran and team are testing and poking around in the kitchen to create something new. "We've been so obsessed with the past. We have to start looking to the future," exclaims Saran, with such seriousness that for a minute, I wonder if he's talking about the country's food scene, or the country at large. It's a fine line we have to tread. If you go too far with Indian food, you can offend people. But then again, how can you be creative and exercise restraint?"

From our conversation, it's clear that Saran is not a chef who is resting on his laurels, but one who is excited to jump in to India's burgeoning, crowded and messy restaurant scene. Sure, the critically-acclaimed chef earned the first Michelin star for an Indian restaurant in the US, and is the Chairman of Asian Culinary Studies for the Culinary Institute of America. But will Saran's fried chicken makhani and Celeste dal makhani please Delhi's diners?

House of Celeste, 32nd Avenue, NH 8, Sector 15 Part 2, Sector 15, Gurugram. Meal for two: Rs3,000+ taxes (without alcohol)