Atithi Devo Bhava – is what drives the Kiwi-Indian couple behind NZ’s best restaurant
Coming to our restaurants is like coming to our home: Sid and Chand Sahrawat
Chand and Sid Sahrawat
Together, Sid and Chand Sahrawat, are a formidable team. What else can describe their achievements in just under ten years. The recent one is of course, their restaurant Sidart, winning the Restaurant of the Year title at the Cuisine Good Food Awards announced last month. But this list is long.
Opened in 2009, Sidart was awarded Best New Restaurant of 2010 by the Metro Magazine. Then in 2018, Sidart, along with the second restaurant they opened in 2014, Cassia, won the supreme award and runner-up for Restaurant of the Year, at Metro Restaurant of the Year Awards. Sid was also awarded the Lewisham Foundation’s Outstanding Restaurateur for both Sidart and Cassia this year.
This week, Gaurav Sharma, our Associate Editor, had a conversation with them on what makes Indian cuisine so special, what is different in their restaurants, and what Indian restaurants they go to in Auckland.
Highlights of the conversation:
We believe in the ancient Indian philosophy of Atithi Devo Bhava, which translates to treating one’s guests as gods. So when you come to our restaurants, you will feel like you have come to our home.
Indian cuisine is so special because of its depth of flavours. It has layers after layers. People believe it’s spicy. We think a correct description would be to call Indian food more aromatic.
We focus on seasonal and New Zealand produce in our restaurants, where we offer modern, and progressive Indian cuisine. Sid at The French Cafe serves European cuisine.
We want to break the stereotypes around Indian food. As such we are continuously pushing boundaries.
Among Indian restaurants, we like 1947 Eatery at Federal Street in Auckland, who are doing something pretty special, and are elevating Indian cuisine, we believe.