Latest news with #Veeraswamy
Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi: A tour of the kingdom
There are, wrote F Scott Fitzgerald, no second acts in American lives. I was reminded of this and about how it clearly did not apply to Indian lives when I had lunch recently with Ranjit Mathrani at Amaya, one of the many successful restaurants he runs in London. Amaya, by Ranjit Mathrani, and Namita and Camellia Panjabi, is London's chicest Indian restaurant. Mathrani has had many acts in his distinguished career. After he got his degree in Physics and Mechanical Engineering at Cambridge, he decided not to come back to India, joined the British civil service and then moved to the City of London, where he became the first person of Indian origin to become a director of a merchant bank. That's a distinguished resume to begin with. But everything changed when he met Namita Panjabi on a visit to Mumbai. They married and Namita moved to London, a city she already knew well. Namita was in fashion when they married (her background is also Cambridge, followed by management consulting before she went into international fashion) and continued with that in London until Ranjit had an idea. They were both interested in food and Camellia, Namita's sister, was already a legend at the Taj group in India. So, why not start a high-end Indian restaurant? A British friend who was in the restaurant business advised them on how to begin. Other friends chipped in with suggestions. Namita wanted to call the restaurant Indian Summer, but the author Gita Mehta suggested Chutney Mary and the Mathranis liked the name. For all that, says Ranjit now, they made many mistakes. One of them was choosing a site on the wrong side of the King's Road. ('We heard King's Road and thought that was it! We really knew nothing!' Ranjit laughs now.) Namita and Camellia Panjabi have shaped the way Indian food is served in the UK. When Chutney Mary, with a menu that included Anglo-Indian dishes, opened, Namita was at the restaurant every day. But, with that location, and the British prejudice against paying relatively high prices for Indian food in the 1990s, the customers never came. The Mathranis kept at it until, to their great surprise, Pat Chapman of the then extremely influential Curry Club, gave it an award for being the best Indian restaurant in London. After that, the critics arrived and the rave reviews came pouring in. Chutney Mary was enough of a success for the Mathranis to take a chance on Veeraswamy. Despite being the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the West, Veeraswamy had fallen on hard days. But the Mathranis sensed it could be revived and took it over. Ranjit, with his engineering background, oversaw a complete renovation, installing a state-of-the-art exhaust system that ensured that food smells did not drift to the other floors of the historic building where it is located. It was a gamble, especially as the lease had only seven years to run, but the Mathranis decided that it was all or nothing. And it was really Veeraswamy's last chance. Had the Mathranis failed, the restaurant would probably have closed and been forgotten. As we know now, Veeraswamy was successfully revived and went on to win a Michelin star. The Crown Estate, which owns the building, gratefully extended the lease when it ran out after seven years. Chutney Mary, with a menu that included Anglo-Indian dishes, has received rave reviews. With two successful restaurants within the family, Camellia finally chucked up her job with the Taj, joined the business, and began dividing her time between London and Mumbai. 'I thought I had retired,' she recalls, 'and this was a nice retirement option.' But none of the three has ever really retired. Their next project was the precedent-shattering Masala Zone. They had an unpromising location once again (it used to be a health-food restaurant called Cranks in an awkward zone between Regent Street and Soho) but the concept was brilliant. They served a mix of Indian home cooking and chaat at moderate prices. It was such a success that queues snaked around the block and it sparked a boom in fun-filled casual Indian dining. (Without Masala Zone there would never have been a Dishoom.) The success of Masala Zone turned the trio into full-fledged restaurateurs; among the most successful in London. People forgot that they were essentially outsiders who had come to the restaurant business relatively late in life and in London, Camellia's long career as one of India's most influential hoteliers has been largely overshadowed by the success of the restaurants. More Masala Zone restaurants followed, but what many see as their crowning achievement was still to come. Ranjit found a site in the upmarket Motcomb Street and gave Camellia and Namita only a few weeks to come up with a new concept. Masala Zone sparked a boom in fun casual Indian dining. Without it, there would be no Dishoom. They settled on innovative modern Indian food, with an emphasis on kababs, in a glamorous setting with a sleek open kitchen. When it opened two decades ago, Amaya was London's chicest Indian restaurant (it probably still is) and when the inevitable Michelin star came, it was matched only by the glamorous nature of Amaya's clientele. It is still my favourite of the trio's restaurants, but I suspect they are prouder of the new Chutney Mary. They finally moved the restaurant away from Chelsea to a historic spot in St. James's, which was once the legendary Prunier fish restaurant. Since Prunier closed in 1976, however, every restaurant that opened on that site went belly up. Even Marco Pierre White failed here. The Mathrani-Panjabis, on the other hand, have flourished. The new Chutney Mary must have among the highest revenues of any upmarket Indian restaurant in London. It has junked the old Anglo Indian concept and now serves some of the best Indian food in London. The trio's fascination with historic London continues. They took over The Criterion, which opened in 1873 and has one of London's most beautiful rooms. This site also had a troubled reputation. Newer restaurants at the location had all failed - yes, Marco Pierre White flopped here too - but the Mathrani-Panjabis took a risk and turned it into a Masala Zone. Now, the team is trying to save the historic site where Veeraswamy, the UK's oldest restaurant, is located. I had mixed feelings about an Indian restaurant taking over that historic site, but I guess there is no better symbol of the new world order than a plate of delicious bhelpuri served in the one time centre of the one time Empire. And sure enough, Masala Zone has broken the jinx on the site and is a huge success. As you are probably already aware, the group is now trying to save Veeraswamy. The Crown Estate is refusing to renew the lease because it wants to create more offices in the building. There has been a massive uproar in the UK about this act of historical vandalism conducted in the name of the Crown and feelings run high in India too. Indian food in the UK wouldn't be the same without Ranjit Mathrani. Ranjit doesn't really need the site. They own the Veeraswamy name and could open at a new location and make lots of money. But for him, it's a matter of preserving history. Veeraswamy was opened on this site in 1926 by Edward Palmer as a way of bridging the gap between the UK and India. For it to close would be to forget that historic milestone and all that it symbolises. It would be ironic if the group, which has revived so many London sites including Prunier and The Criterion, loses the one location that marks the gastronomic connection between Britain and India. And so despite all their success, Michelin stars, profits and fame, the Mathrani-Panjabis are fighting to save Veeraswamy. It's not about the restaurant as much as it is about heritage. Having built a restaurant empire on the popularity of Indian food among the British people, they will fight to save the restaurant where it all began a century ago. From HT Brunch, July 26, 2025 Follow us on
Hindustan Times
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Saving Veeraswamy, a British institution
Next year Veeraswamy, the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in Britain — actually, its owners claim it could be the oldest surviving Indian restaurant in the world — will be a 100 years old. Alas, that could also be the precise moment it ceases to exist. So, what is intended as a celebration could end up a wake. It's not just Veeraswamy's place in history that should be protected and preserved. It's also a rather good restaurant. (Alex Muller/Wikimedia Commons) Veeraswamy is perhaps one of the best-known landmarks on London's Regent Street. Not so long ago it had Austin Reed on its left and Aquascutum in front. Both of those legendary clothiers have disappeared. They have passed into history. Is that what might happen to Veeraswamy? If it does, its owners, Ranjit Mathrani and Namita Panjabi, believe it would be 'cultural philistinism'. Not many would disagree. It was way back in 1926 that Veeraswamy was founded by Edward Palmer, the great-grandson of General William Palmer and the Moghul Princess Faisan Nissa Begum. The restaurant is named after his grandmother Veera. In 1937 it became the first establishment outside India to install a tandoor oven. In the 1940s, it survived the blitz, its diners allegedly undeterred by German bombs. The truth is Veeraswamy has always been one of the favourite eating spots for some of the most famous residents of London. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) dined there so frequently that his coat of arms used to adorn the entrance. In fact, in the early 1930s, the Crown Prince of Denmark couldn't resist the place. He was not just a regular. It was one of his favourite haunts. The Goan-style duck vindaloo was his preferred dish. In gratitude, he took to sending a cask of Carlsberg to the restaurant every Christmas. Perhaps this is the origin of the British passion for beer and Indian food, which today is the mainstay of people who roll out of pubs hungry and tipsy around 11 pm every night. Veeraswamy has also been very popular with Indians. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and VK Krishna Menon were frequent visitors. So too Winston Churchill, the Kings of Sweden and Jordan, Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier, Pierce Brosnan, Princess Anne, and David Cameron. In 1948, it catered to the Indian Olympic team. In 2017, Queen Elizabeth asked Veeraswamy to cater for the visiting President of India. The problem threatening Veeraswamy is that the building where it's housed on Regent Street is part of the Crown Estate, the institution that runs King Charles's properties. They've decided not to renew the lease when it expires in April next year. Instead, they want to take over the 11 square metre ground floor entrance to the restaurant so they can extend the reception for the offices on the building's upper floors. 'I think they have come to the view that it's too tiresome having a restaurant there. They want it to be all offices,' Mathrani recently told The Times. Veeraswamy has, of course, gone to court but the case is still to be heard. They have also organised a petition that tens of thousands have signed and which will, in due course, be presented to the King. But if none of that works then, as Mathrani bluntly puts it, 'We'll have to close down and then seek to revive in a new site after whatever period of time with all the implications for loss of business (and) potential redundancies'. And then, he ruefully adds, this might 'effectively destroy a major London institution'. That would be truly tragic. It's not just Veeraswamy's place in history that should be protected and preserved. It's also a rather good restaurant. In 2016, it was awarded a Michelin star, which it holds to this day. There aren't many other Indian restaurants that can make a similar boast. So, will King Charles intercede and prevent Veeraswamy's closure? It's the only hope left. But just in case he doesn't, I shall, on my next visit to London, make a point of dining there if only, sadly, to bid a fond adieu. Why don't you consider doing the same? Karan Thapar is the author of Devil's Advocate: The Untold Story. The views expressed are personal.
Scottish Sun
29-04-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
UK's oldest Indian restaurant with Michelin star at threat of closure pleas with King Charles to keep it open
The venue has served the late Queen at Buckingham Palace twice LAST DITCH UK's oldest Indian restaurant with Michelin star at threat of closure pleas with King Charles to keep it open Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE UK's oldest Indian restaurant has started a petition to King Charles to save it from closure after 99 years. The King's property company has refused to extend the restaurant's lease just before its 100th birthday. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Restaurant owners, Ranjit Mathrani and Namita Panjabi are pleading to keep their venue open Credit: Rex 4 Indian restaurant Veeraswamy might be closing after a lease disagreement Credit: Handout 4 They have catered to the Princess Royal, Lord Cameron, overseas monarchs, and the late queen Credit: Instagram @ Owners of the iconic Indian Veeraswamy, London, have started a petition pleading with to His Majesty King Charles III to save their beloved restaurant. On the petition reads: "Veeraswamy has operated at the same premises from the time it opened its doors on 16 March 1926 the month before the birth date of the late Queen Elizabeth II (We have owned the premises since 1997). "In April next year, Veeraswamy will have achieved the very rare milestone of 100 years as a rent-paying tenant to the Crown in the same premises. "Unfortunately, the Crown Estate, our landlord, has unreasonably refused to extend Veeraswamy's lease. "This is ostensibly because they require the tiny 11 sq metres of the restaurant entrance to extend their own entrance for the offices on the upper floors, and because planned refurbishment works in the upper floors would render the restaurant unable to operate." Co-owners Ranjit Mathrani and Namita Panjabi said the explanation does not add up, calling their Crowne Estate's reasoning to scrap the lease as "flimsy." They continued: "These arguments are flimsy. "There are alternative reception areas and the work can be carried out elsewhere in the building whilst we are operating, as happened frequently." So far the petition has racked up nearly 10,000 signatures. They have applied to the Courts to extend the lease but a decision is not expected until summer 2026, which still puts them at risk of closure before the result. Farewell to a Community Icon: Visocchi's and More (1) The owners explained that despite offering The Crown Estate compensation for a loss of income the landlord has denied their requests. They concluded: "Our distinguished recent clientele has included the Princess Royal, Lord Cameron and overseas monarchs. "We have twice catered for functions for the late Queen at Buckingham Palace, the only restaurant to have done so. "In 2016, we became the oldest restaurant to achieve a Michelin Star which we continue to hold." Veeraswamy on Regent Street has been serving Indian dishes since 1926 but its lease is expiring in June and The Crown Estate has demanded the space in order to finish a 12-month renovation. After 99 years of service in London, the iconic restaurant will be turned into offices. A blindsided Ranjit Mathrani, 81, co-owner of MW Eat, said the news "came out of the blue." He told The Times: "I think they've come to the view that it's too tiresome having a restaurant there, they want it to be all offices. 'They don't care a bugger for history - had they wanted to, they could've easily …put the [office] reception on the first floor. If they'd have asked us to match the [office] rent, I would have. "The effect of what they're doing would be to effectively destroy a major London institution.' Due to the ongoing conflict between the owners and the Crown Estate, Mathrani hasn't had the time to find a new site before Veeraswamy's lease runs out. Now Mathrani faces loss of business and potential redundancies - he said if the landlords were being responsible the restaurant would have been given two years to relocate A spokeswoman for the Crown Estate said: "We need to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of Victory House. "This includes a major upgrade to the offices and improving the entrance to make it more accessible. "Due to the limited options available in this listed building, we need to remove the entrance to the restaurant, which means we will not be able to offer Veeraswamy an extension when their lease expires.' What is happening to the hospitality industry? By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter MANY Food and drink chains have been struggling in recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out. Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation. Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny's closing branches. Some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs. Pizza giant, Papa Johns is shutting down 43 of its stores soon. Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans.
The Sun
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Sun
UK's oldest Indian restaurant with Michelin star at threat of closure pleas with King Charles to keep it open
THE UK's oldest Indian restaurant has started a petition to King Charles to save it from closure after 99 years. The King's property company has refused to extend the restaurant's lease just before its 100th birthday. 4 4 4 Owners of the iconic Indian Veeraswamy, London, have started a petition pleading with to His Majesty King Charles III to save their beloved restaurant. On the petition read s: "Veeraswamy has operated at the same premises from the time it opened its doors on 16 March 1926 the month before the birth date of the late Queen Elizabeth II (We have owned the premises since 1997). "In April next year, Veeraswamy will have achieved the very rare milestone of 100 years as a rent-paying tenant to the Crown in the same premises. "Unfortunately, the Crown Estate, our landlord, has unreasonably refused to extend Veeraswamy's lease. "This is ostensibly because they require the tiny 11 sq metres of the restaurant entrance to extend their own entrance for the offices on the upper floors, and because planned refurbishment works in the upper floors would render the restaurant unable to operate." Co-owners Ranjit Mathrani and Namita Panjabi said the explanation does not add up, calling their Crowne Estate's reasoning to scrap the lease as "flimsy." They continued: "These arguments are flimsy. "There are alternative reception areas and the work can be carried out elsewhere in the building whilst we are operating, as happened frequently." So far the petition has racked up nearly 10,000 signatures. They have applied to the Courts to extend the lease but a decision is not expected until summer 2026, which still puts them at risk of closure before the result. The owners explained that despite offering The Crown Estate compensation for a loss of income the landlord has denied their requests. They concluded: "Our distinguished recent clientele has included the Princess Royal, Lord Cameron and overseas monarchs. "We have twice catered for functions for the late Queen at Buckingham Palace, the only restaurant to have done so. "In 2016, we became the oldest restaurant to achieve a Michelin Star which we continue to hold." Veeraswamy on Regent Street has been serving Indian dishes since 1926 but its lease is expiring in June and The Crown Estate has demanded the space in order to finish a 12-month renovation. After 99 years of service in London, the iconic restaurant will be turned into offices. A blindsided Ranjit Mathrani, 81, co-owner of MW Eat, said the news"came out of the blue." He told The Times: "I think they've come to the view that it's too tiresome having a restaurant there, they want it to be all offices. 'They don't care a bugger for history - had they wanted to, they could've easily …put the [office] reception on the first floor. If they'd have asked us to match the [office] rent, I would have. "The effect of what they're doing would be to effectively destroy a major London institution.' Due to the ongoing conflict between the owners and the Crown Estate, Mathrani hasn't had the time to find a new site before Veeraswamy's lease runs out. Now Mathrani faces loss of business and potential redundancies - he said if the landlords were being responsible the restaurant would have been given two years to relocate A spokeswoman for the Crown Estate said: "We need to carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of Victory House. "This includes a major upgrade to the offices and improving the entrance to make it more accessible. "Due to the limited options available in this listed building, we need to remove the entrance to the restaurant, which means we will not be able to offer Veeraswamy an extension when their lease expires.' What is happening to the hospitality industry? By Laura McGuire, consumer reporter MANY Food and drink chains have been struggling in recently as the cost of living has led to fewer people spending on eating out. Businesses had been struggling to bounce back after the pandemic, only to be hit with soaring energy bills and inflation. Multiple chains have been affected, resulting in big-name brands like Wetherspoons and Frankie & Benny's closing branches. Some chains have not survived, Byron Burger fell into administration last year, with owners saying it would result in the loss of over 200 jobs. Pizza giant, Papa Johns is shutting down 43 of its stores soon. Tasty, the owner of Wildwood, said it will shut sites as part of major restructuring plans. 4
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Rude Food by Vir Sanghvi: London's oldest Indian restaurant, Veeraswamy, is battling eviction, fighting for its legacy
In the minds of most Indians who travel to London, there are two kinds of Indian restaurants in the city. The first kind has nothing much to do with India or even with Indian food for that matter. These restaurants are run by Bangladeshis, most of them from the Sylhet region, and serve a made-up cuisine that no Indian would willingly eat. (I imagine that any self-respecting Bangladeshi would also pass out if he had to eat the 'Madras curry.' ) But they have catered to Brits for decades and no matter how much damage they have done to the image of authentic Indian food, the curry house is a much-loved British institution. Then there is a second category of Indian restaurants most of which opened towards the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. These are usually run by restaurateurs from India or by second generation immigrants. These are the excellent restaurants that get the Michelin stars and are associated with famous chefs: Gymkhana, Amaya, Kanishka, Jamavar, etc. Indians go to the second category and wouldn't be seen dead in the first category of restaurants. But there is one restaurant that defies this categorisation and combines history with Michelin starred cuisine. It's not a curry house. And it's not one of the smart new trendy restaurants. It is a true original; one of a kind. And now it may well be evicted by the British crown from its home of nearly a century. Veeraswamy is London's oldest surviving Indian restaurant. It was established in 1926 when the only Indian restaurants were much more modest enterprises. For instance, a man called Dean Mahomed had opened the Hindustane Curry House in the 19th century, but it did not last very long, and Mahomed may be better known as the man who introduced shampoo (the word is a corruption of our 'champi') to the British. There were small Indian restaurants appealing mostly to Indian sailors (many, prophetically enough, from the Sylhet region of East Bengal) but there was nothing that could be classed with the great restaurants of London. Edward Palmer was an old India hand (it has been suggested that among his ancestors was a Mughal princess) who wanted to serve real (well, Raj-type 'real') Indian food to London society. So, he opened an upmarket restaurant on Regent Street in London. It's not clear why he called the restaurant Veeraswamy (there were various spellings in the early years) but perhaps he worked out that 'Palmer's' did not exactly reek of authenticity for an Indian restaurant. In those days, Raj ladies used to refer to their Indian cooks as 'Ramaswamy' regardless of what the poor fellow's real name was. So it could be that the name was meant to echo that unfortunate tradition. For whatever reason, Palmer kept up the pretence that there was a real Mr Veeraswamy and the restaurant's recipes were often credited to this mythical person. Palmer sold Veeraswamy to a family called the Shepherds and the restaurant flourished hosting such guests as Queen Elizabeth, Winston Churchill and Jawaharlal Nehru. Then, over 40 years after it had opened, Veeraswamy passed into Indian hands. The owners of Mumbai's Ritz Hotel had a stake; they sold out to other Indians and on it went (mostly downhill) till it became increasingly clear that Veeraswamy was only of historical interest. As proper Indian restaurants run by good chefs from India opened, Veeraswamy's food began to seem second rate. Its evocation of the Raj era should have helped it in the 1980s when the Raj suddenly became fashionable again with such films as A Passage to India and hit TV shows like The Jewel In The Crown and The Far Pavilions. But by then, it was too late. The Taj group opened the Bombay Brasserie which cornered that market. In the mid 1990s, the owners of Veeraswamy at the time were on the verge of selling it to a group from Kerala when they received a counter-offer from Ranjit and Namita Mathrani. The Mathranis were relative newcomers to the restaurant business. He was a former British civil servant and merchant banker, and she was a businessperson whose experience went all the way from banking to fashion. They had opened one restaurant — Chutney Mary on the wrong side of the King's Road — and, inspired by its unexpected success, were now willing to bet that they could revive Veeraswamy. Their offer was accepted, and they pumped money into the venture renovating the kitchens and using modern technology to ensure that the smell of Indian masalas would never travel to the offices of Victory House where the restaurant is located. Against the odds Veeraswamy became a huge success again, the food improved dramatically, and it even won a Michelin star (which it still retains). Namita's sister, the legendary hotelier Camellia Punjabi, joined the business and the group now has many restaurants including the Michelin starred Amaya. The Crown Estate, which owns Victory House was pleased with the revival of Veeraswamy and extended its lease. All went well till recently when Mathrani was told that when the current lease ran out in June it would not be renewed. The decision had nothing to do with Veeraswamy, the Crown Estate said. But it wanted to increase Victory House's reception area and that meant cutting into the space now occupied by Veeraswamy. What about the history, the heritage and the fact that the restaurant symbolises one of the few happy outcomes of the Raj: An Indian restaurant started by a Brit at the height of the empire and restored to glory by Mathrani, a Brit of Indian origin who had shown that India and Britain could celebrate a shared heritage? The Crown Estate had no comment on that but said that Veeraswamy could find a new location somewhere which is a little like saying 'we will pull down Mumbai's grand Taj Mahal Hotel but don't worry, it can reopen in a multi-storey building in Khar.' Nobody I have spoken to believes that this is about extending the reception area at Victory House. One view is that the Crown Estate will redevelop Victory House as a swish office block and wants to further monetise the Veeraswamy space. The Mathranis have gone to court, so Veeraswamy is safe for another year at least. But it's impossible to know how vigorously the Crown Estate will contest the case. Though King Charles gets only a small percentage of the Estate's vast profits, the company — which is self-governing — acts in the name of the sovereign. And yet it is hard to see how the King who so values history, the Commonwealth and the contributions of Indians to the UK's multicultural society can be pleased about what is, in the end, an act of historical and cultural vandalism in the pursuit of profit, carried out in his name. My guess is that wiser counsel will prevail, especially after the uproar in India and the UK. But we will just have to wait and see.
