The Hindu Business Line : Blender's pride

He has travelled from never having tasted wine to becoming a wine connoisseur, invited to address culinary conferences. Meet restaurateur Ramesh Nedungadi, better known as `Ned' back home in Bergen, Norway.

"When I first got to Bergen in Norway, all I knew about wine was that it wasn't Coca Cola. In 1973, when we studied hotel management, all we knew was that there were red wines and white wines, there was a place in France called Bordeaux and one called Champagne," says Nedungadi.

But today one can sip from a bottle labelled cuvee `Ned' Nedungadi — a white wine from the cellars of Domaine Caillaubert, Cotes de Gascogne and a red from La Louviere Reserve, Costieres du Nimes. The two wines, blended in French vineyards to suit Nedungadi's taste, were what European Union diplomats were served when they were in the city in 2000, the year Bergen held the title of `Cultural City of Europe'.

Nedungadi runs `Kjottbasaren Mote og Selskapslokaler', a banqueting facility housed in the old Mayor's Office in the heart of the Norwegian city. He knew a year in advance that he would be playing host to some of Europe's important public figures. And, going the extra mile to blend a special wine for the occasion was just the kind of effort that, over the years, his friends and customers have come to expect of him.

That's why when he opened `Ned's — a dining experience at the fish market' it had to be the best. No hybrid, watered-down Indian curries. No zari-bordered curtains and turban-sporting waiters. "The Indian kitchen is extremely complicated and without doubt the best. But I can't cook Indian to save myself. Serving it to my clients who have come to expect quality from `Ned' would be wrong."

Ned's, located in the heart of the city, specialises in seafood. "With seating for 40 couples, the restaurant may be small but the philosophy behind it is huge," he says. One can choose lobsters, chards, or scallops from what is believed to be the oldest fish tank in the city and sit by the window overlooking the waterfront, while it is cooked by a chef from the Caribbean — and served by a smiling waiter.

If the cuisine doesn't, the thoughtfulness will win you over. "I always make sure to find out if my guest has a vehicle or if they'd like us to call a taxi. If the napkin is dropped when a guest stands up, it will be replaced before he returns to the table."

Small actions but large gestures make all the difference, says Nedungadi.

"You are the guest — up there," he says, holding one hand above his head, "and I am the waiter — down here," the other hand at waist-level. "I need you, there are no two ways about that. You as a guest can always find another restaurant."

It is a truth that Ned makes sure that all those stepping into the restaurant industry realise. As an examiner, and Chair (since 1998) of the Board supervising the final examinations for professional waiters in Norway, Nedungadi says he has failed otherwise talented and well-trained students, because they couldn't serve the food with a smile.

Having started as a waiter, Nedungadi worked his way up to restaurant manager at `Restaurant Villa Amorini' a well-loved gourmet restaurant of Bergen in the late 1970s.

He is happy he started at the bottom: "If you start at the top, good for you, but then, it's difficult to know what to do when the brakes fail." And, he says, starting at the bottom is a good way to learn some of the most important lessons.

Early in his career, a clogged drain was threatening to overflow and disrupt the kitchen bustling with activity late one evening. "I'd never cleaned drains at home and I wasn't going to put my hand into that mess," says Nedungadi. He stood staring at it with disgust and the head chef walked in. Nedungadi remembers being horrified at being asked to clean it up — and then completely taken aback when his boss, without a word of reprimand, rolled up his sleeves, reached down and unclogged it.

"Learning the virtue of your own labour is so important," he says. Ask him what is the most important lesson he has learnt and he will tell you it's the value of being true to oneself.

Picture by R. Shivaji Rao

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