Chef Aditi Dugar – Masque, Mumbai

Cultivated by her weekends at her grandparents’ place in Bandra, Mumbai as a child, Chef Aditi’s passion for food took her across India in search of the country’s best seasonal produce. “My nana (grandmother) was so particular about making everything from scratch. We had a cowshed in our home in Mumbai, that’s how seriously we would take it, and that on some level filtered down to me, and I think influenced the core of Masque,” shared Chef Aditi.

After a brief hiatus from the kitchen when she attempted to dive into the world of finance, she quickly jumped back in at her first opportunity to return to her first love. As chance would have it, she crossed paths with restaurateur Flora Hilleary, with whom she opened her first restaurant Sage and Saffron. The pair then embarked on a “discovery trip” across India, meeting vendors, and farmers while learning about the nuances of each region’s cuisine. They eventually landed in Himachal where they struck gold. “It was when we stumbled upon the Himachali treasure trove of unexplored ingredients, the exciting flavours and cooking techniques of the region that it hit us – this was an idea for a full-fledged restaurant, waiting to be executed,” she said. “I began to realise that there were no fine dining restaurants in India that were cooking Indian food, with Indian produce, with the same kind of pride you’d find in San Sebastian or Scandinavia — and that was the idea that sparked off Masque. We wanted to put up a restaurant that spotlighted Indian produce and worked with local producers.”