FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Vij dishes on life so far
When interviewing chef and restaurateur Vikram Vij on the phone, it’s possible to hear his dimples.
For all his celebrity, the Indian chef, television personality and co-owner of several Vancouver restaurants, including the fabled Vij’s, retains a deep love of people.
It shows — both over the phone, and when he’s in public signing cookbooks, or appearing at Edmonton’s Northern Lands food and wine festival (as he will be again in May, teaming up with chef Blair Lebsack for a special meal May 5 at RGE RD).
Now, those who have only glimpsed him at public events such as Christmas in November, or in his restaurants in Vancouver (where he greets guests by name), have the chance to learn more about what drives the ebullient, mischievous and profane chef.
He has released a new memoir, called Vij, that traces his journey from his childhood in Amritsar and Mumbai, through chef training in Austria, and then to the Banff Springs Hotel, where he landed his first job in Canada at the age of 25.
It’s a ride.
Vij married his first wife (politely referred to by a pseudonym) to stay in Canada when his work visa was threatened as a young man.
In 1994, with $23,000 that his father brought in a paper bag from India, Vij took over the lease in a dingy Middle Eastern takeout spot on Broadway and Granville, reopening it as Vij’s with only a single, four-burner electric stove to cook on.
Today, Vij and his former wife, Meeru Dhalwala, co-own five food businesses under the Vij’s banner, including a frustratingly perennial money-loser that makes frozen Indian dishes for home use. It’s not been a quiet journey. Refreshingly open, Vij shares details of his business struggles and the volatile nature of his relationship with Dhalwala, with whom he has two girls, Shanik and Nanaki.
Though Dhalwala and Vij are no longer married, they still thrive as a business and parenting partnership.
I spoke to Vij in advance of his visit to Edmonton on March 28. He’ll be signing copies of his book at the Centre Court at Southgate (5015 111 St.) at 7 p.m. This interview has been edited and condensed.
Q Growing up in India, what was the meaning of food in your family?
A I was the only son in the Vij family, and I was pampered like the village cow. And in India, you show your love through food. And food was a discussion. Everyone had a different palate. You put too much salt in there, you put too much ghee in there. My grandfather was saying, ‘There is no flavour in this dish; get me some pickles on the side.’
When I separated from Meeru, my kids were so upset at me because of what I had done. I didn’t argue with them. I just cooked them delicious, fancy meals, restaurant-style, and I won their hearts. They realized, ‘Our father loves us so much.’ And they always knew I loved them, but here was a point at which they felt I had abandoned them. I hadn’t. But the relationship had to be changed.
Q You trained as a chef in Austria, but you’ve worked as a waiter, and a restaurant manager. Your first big job in Canada was as the golf course house assistant manager at the Banff Springs Hotel. Do you think of yourself as a chef ? Or as a restaurateur?
A First and foremost I think of myself as a chef. Everything else I did, the front of the house, the restaurant manager, the sommelier manager, was to enhance the love of cooking from a different angle. From an early age, I realized nobody can sell your food the way you can sell your food. You can work with the kitchen and have the vision, but you can’t say, ‘I’ll stay in the kitchen and someone else can show my food.’ The passion doesn’t come out. So, I’m still in the restaurant (My Shanti) every night. I’m at the restaurant if I’m in Vancouver, even for two hours. I’m there all the time.
Q When you travel, what do you look for in a restaurant?
A One of the things I absolutely admire is what’s the vision and the love of the chef on the plate. Last night, for example, I ate at a delicious restaurant called Le Bremner in Montreal while on my book tour. It’s Chuck Hughes’ restaurant. I went with Nanaki, my daughter, who is at McGill. It would be easier to do takeout and stay in the hotel room, but I wanted to show her the restaurant, and we had a fabulous time.
But I was looking at ... how is the passion? This sounds egotistical, but how I like to present my food is how I want to eat it. I want finger-licking food and I want people to take their finger and lick up the last bit of the sauce. It’s like an artist. Somebody stands in front of a painting, admiring it and looking at it from different ways. That’s what the artist wants. That’s what I want, as a chef.
From an early age, I realized nobody can sell your food the way you can sell your food.