What’s it like to cook for a Bollywood star?

Given their demanding schedules, hectic shoots and incessant travels, Bollywood celebrities are now hiring personal chefs to tailor-make meals that are not just healthy but innovate too

“Going to Europe for a holiday is one thing but visiting the farmer’s market, buying produce and cooking it while in Europe–that was a different kind of experience,” chef Harsh Dixit explains, when discussing being on location for 80 days in Bulgaria. He was accompanying Ranbir Kapoor as the actor shot for his film Brahmastra, which releases next month. It’s been quite a journey for Dixit, from being part of the pre-opening team at Yauatcha Mumbai to now working as Kapoor’s personal chef. Along the way, his journey has overlapped with some of the other names that are cooking for Bollywood’s biggest stars.

Catering to personal preferences

For instance, Dhruv Sharma, who is all of 23, cooks for the family of Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Sharma has worked with Dixit in the past as sous chef for one-off meals and assisting him in the kitchen. Sharma emphasises something that’s often unsaid: “It’s not just about the food, it’s also about how you connect with the client. That is more important in this job.” This is because private chefs cook in the homes of celebrities, day in and day out, interacting with them daily, while also travelling with them on shoots and holidays. Additionally, they’re tasked with coming up with recipes while taking into account the celebrities’ fitness goals as well as personal tastes and preferences. As a result, someone like Sharma has now learned about macros and nutrition. He explains, “I learned it over time by working with the clients. I’m learning, reading, taking online classes as well,” and in six months, he hopes to be a certified nutritionist.

In 2017, Dixit, along with four other partners, started a company called POD Supply, where ‘POD’ stood for ‘Personal Optimised Diet’. Though each decided to go their own way, there is some overlap with what each one does. Dixit says, “We all had different directions in which we wanted to see the business grow, and sadly, we decided to call it off.”

At the moment, two of the other three partners–Mohit Savargaonkar and Anmol Singhal–run Harmless, a meal subscription box used by celebrities such as Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Sanjay Dutt. Dixit, who is currently personal chef to Ranbir Kapoor, connected with actor Nagarjuna through the filming of Brahmastra, whom he works with as well. It was also on the set of the movie that Dixit started cooking for actor Alia Bhatt and director Ayan Mukherjee.

When Dixit realised that the hotel staff was overcooking the lamb chops for Nagarjuna, he offered to cook for the actor. Dixit made miso-glazed salmon, cooking it in the hotel tandoor instead of the oven, and that meal won the Telugu actor over. He now has Dixit’s team member cooking for the entire family in Hyderabad.

A glut of demanding requirements

As celebrity requirements have become more demanding–taking into account nutrition, macros and more–there’s a demand for on-set food that fulfils their criteria. That’s where companies like Neat Meals play a part. The subscription service is used by Bollywood celebrities Vicky Kaushal, Karan Johar, Bhumi Pednekar and Arjun Kapoor, to name a few, and delivers fresh, globally inspired meals home or sets up a catering table for those shooting on set.

On the flip side, there are restaurateurs like Vanika Choudhary who runs Sequel in Mumbai. Given the eatery’s focus on carefully sourced, organic ingredients and wholesome, healthy recipes, it’s become popular for celebrities like Jacqueline Fernandez, who has used it in the past. Choudhary says, “You tell us your dietary preferences—what you like to eat, what you don’t like to eat—and we make a meal plan accordingly. We are not focused on counting calories because it really is against my philosophy; it’s about the art of eating well and eating better.” Choudhary points out that any client, a celebrity or otherwise, is looking for diversity in their diet. She gives examples of breakfasts that include ragi dosa with charred mushrooms or an amaranth porridge.

Sharma notes that given a client’s dietary restrictions, innovation is key. About Anupama Chopra he says, “She is very particular about food. She is vegan, she can neither eat gluten nor soy. She can eat very few vegetables, and so every dish has to be carefully considered.” He notes that as a private chef, he enjoys the challenges that diet and nutrition requirements come with. He also notes that ingredient costs are covered, which make experiments in the kitchen much easier.

Speaking about what it’s like being a celebrity’s personal chef, Dixit weighs it against conventional work a chef does. “While the amount of energy and focus I would put in if I was running a restaurant or when I was operating a catering business to serve 100-200 people for two hours in a day, the amount of work I put in is much less.” There are challenges, of course, but Dixit seems to enjoy them. “As a chef, you get to explore,” citing that one has to be used to unfamiliar kitchens, especially when travelling, not to forget factors such as cooking time and the availability of ingredients.

Coming back to Kapoor, Dixit says, “Ranbir has a habit of leaving certain things on his plate; he’ll never finish his food completely unless it’s a beef steak or pork ribs or some such.” For Dixit, then, the challenge is to get a clean plate back from Kapoor and that means “tricking him to eat certain vegetables,” whether that be through pureeing or other such techniques. Dixit’s outfit is now growing and expanding–he has a team who travel to celebrity homes while he oversees the business.

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