It is nearly lunchtime on a clear, sunny Monday and the kitchen at critically-acclaimed fine-dining restaurant Nadodi is a hive of activity. There are six hours to go before the restaurant even opens its doors to diners, but the team is already busy – darting seamlessly around each other as they do all the things that are required to hold together a fine-dining restaurant that typically serves between nine to eleven courses per person each night.
In the centre of this hubbub is head chef Sricharan Venkatesh, who is hunched over a plate, his face a rictus of focus and concentration. One hand is moulded around a large chef’s tweezer, which he uses to delicately position a tiny little edible flower, seemingly the final touch to the dish.