A garage for Yezdi motorcycles soon became a hotspot for a small tea-and-snacks joint for Parsi food lovers. The traditional Parsi dishes quickly gained popularity among the community and it soon grabbed the attention of the Tata Group. Ever since the late Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons caught the taste of the food, he was impressed with the man behind it, and he is none other than Parvez Patel, now a renowned Parsi chef. He began cooking at the annual Tata Steel function in Jamshedpur, and that’s when he became Ratan Tata’s favourite. The businessman never missed a meal at the function.
Born and raised in Mumbai, Parvez Patel’s journey from a small garage-turned-restaurant to becoming a renowned Parsi chef is inspiring. His mastery of Parsi cuisine has made a lasting impact on the culinary world. He had a long association with Tata Industries, where he cooked food for employees and Ratan also used to relish it. Parvez‘s Ideal Corner was barely half a km away from the headquarters of the Tata Group, however, the late industrialist first met him in Jamshedpur.
Ratan never visited the restaurant himself, his driver used to pick up his favourite dishes like khatta-meetha masoor dal, berry pulao, and lagan-nu custard from his restaurant. Their association went on for 10 years like this. In an interview, Parvez clarified that he had met the late industrialist only on a few social occasions. They didn’t have any kind of personal relationship. He recalled his meeting saying that he was always struck by Ratan’s humility. “He had come for the function and we were handling the catering. When I saw him, I greeted him with ‘Sahebji,’ as we Parsis do. He responded, and I followed up with ‘Jamva Aavo Ji’ (a common Parsi/Gujarati invitation to eat). He smiled.” he told Indian Express.
Parvez was influenced by his hotel industry friends' glamorous life and hence joined the industry. He enrolled on a two-month course at The Oberoi Hotel and was finally absorbed by them. That’s when his incredible culinary career journey began. He joined proprietor Boman Irani’s wife, Mrs Gulcher B. Irani who decided to transform the garage into a snack bar, Ideal Corner. Since then he has been managing a restaurant along with Mr and Mrs Irani.
