A Mise En Place that Knows its Place

A kitchen’s mise en place gives away what it thinks it’s doing. Peter Merriman, one of the founders of what’s called Hawaii Regional Cuisine, once told me about the ribbing he took from Mainland chefs over the ginger, garlic, chilis and lemongrass on his. These were the flavors that expressed Hawaii and all the cultures that had influenced its food. But the rubes from the Continental 48 just didn’t get it.
Ditto for the mise en place at India and Beyond, the new Mumbai outpost of my husband’s cousin, restaurateur Rahul Limaye. The restaurant’s ambition to merge Western and Indian cuisine couldn’t be told any more clearly than by the gulab jamun in the bain-marie or the mise en place stocked with chaat masala, turmeric, ground fenugreek and chili powder. So much fun to take this little tour — check it out.