76 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {food coloring} That same approach carries over to Aurum’s cocktail menu. While boasting inventive concoctions, it still evokes familiar flavors like cardamom, mango and chaat masala. “Every drink has that hint of Indianness in it,” Manish promises. Manish himself grew up in Dehradun, an Indian city in the Himalayan foothills. Assisting his mom with entertaining their home’s frequent guests, he became his mother’s sous chef, entranced as she “worked her ladle like a magic wand, spinning exquisite dishes in the kitchen.” While his brother acted as server and dishwasher, Manish helped turn the chapatis and plate the food before handing off to his brother. He also acted as taste tester. “I’d tell her whether the salt was perfect or if adjustments were needed. I developed those taste buds, you know? ‘This is the perfect level of spice or salt.’” In his 20s, Manish cooked at Rambagh Palace in Jaipur, before becoming an executive chef at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces. “You’re roaming where emperors used to entertain their guests,” he describes of this surreal time in his life. “My work gave me a chance and opportunity to roam around India and look at the cuisine—why they do it that way.” He adds, “Indian cuisine is very wide and vast. Different places have a different feel to the same ingredients.” In 2009, in what turned out to be a life-changing year, Manish’s cooking class gained recognition in National Geographic’s “10 Great Cooking Classes Around the World” and he also earned the coveted “Best Chef” designation by The Gallivanter’s Guide. Catching the attention of a highly successful restaurateur, Manish found himself whisked off to Washington, D.C. to become head chef at Rasika West End. He’s cooked his way across the States ever since. To taste a part of this chef’s culinary journey, order Manish’s award-winning I’m Not
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