Before, I didn’t even know what a ‘chef’ did: Sanjeev Kapoor

Around 27 years in Maximum City, celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor says it’s the one place where he has spent most of his life. “There’s no other city I can relate to this much. It is my hometown. It was my father’s hometown too, though we used to visit Mumbai during the summer, when I was a kid,” he says.

However, even with his successful show and popular culinary brand, Sanjeev admits he came to Mumbai for love. “My wife to be was living here, and so I moved for her,” he says, adding, “I was working in New Zealand and had just come back to India. Alyona’s father was retiring from the Indian Navy. Their hometown was Bombay, not Mumbai (laughs).” He later reveals he was offered a job at Centaur hotel on Juhu beach in July, 1992. “It was one of the largest and most happening hotels at the time and Alyona’s house was walking distance from this hotel,” he says with a smile.

Further, the 55-year-old adds, “At that time, discussions of a new TV channel to be launched were on — India’s first cable and satellite channel — as before that there was only Doordarshan. They started with shooting one episode of a cooking show, where chefs from different hotels would feature on each episode, and they would show how to make a couple of recipes. The producer and director at the time, Hansal Mehta, used to work at a radio station. He came and met me and that’s how I ended up becoming the only chef on Khana Khazana.” The show would go on to be aired at different times over the years, but Sanjeev remembers the glory days when it would be aired only on Sunday afternoons.

When asked about his career choice, he says, “Before, I didn’t even know what a ‘chef’ did. I just wanted to do something different.” The celebrity chef reminisces, “When we started the show, sack full of letters used to be sent in. Every week, there would be four or five lakh letters. I’ve seen it all, letters written in blood to proposals from women who wanted to get married to me, and even those who said that I’ve saved their marriage by teaching them how to cook.”

Speaking about the heavy rains Mumbai was subjected to this year, he says, “I have always enjoyed the rains as a child. I’ve never complained even if there was a torrential downpour.” His “go-to” monsoon snack, he says, has always been “hot and crispy batata vadas with a cup of chai”.

Asked if he ever plans to move out of the city and he answers with a firm, “Why?” He adds, “People hate Mumbai’s traffic, but I use that time to make calls. Finding something to hate in this city is absolutely difficult. At times, when the air is polluted, I think of going away for some time, but I’d never leave.”