The inspiration to cooking came to Chef Prabeen Prathapan of Taj Boston 10 years ago when he came home one day in Mumbai and found himself hungry with mom busy at work. Scouting out the ingredients available to him he made himself a pudding and lo behold found a new passion within himself. “My father owns a restaurant in Thane in Mumbai and is an extremely good chef,” he says” so I guess it was somewhere in my genes.”

 Taj Boston introduced Indian Cuisine in its menu a couple of months ago after Chef Prabeen Prathapan joined the kitchen as the Indian Cuisine Specialist. “Since his arrival we have been incredible lucky to taste some amazing dishes” said Caron Le Brun, Director of Public Relations.  Prathapan has been working along with the Chef Frank Steigerwald and it has been a wonderful partnership.”

 Chef Prathapan says that Taj offers the right atmosphere and creativity to explore Indian Cuisine. “I feel the time is right for authentic Indian cuisine. I want to remove the misconception that the food is always spicy and hot. We want visitors at Taj Boston to understand and appreciate the subtleties of this cuisine through the dishes we offer. Indian cuisine is adventurous in nature so one can be creative about it but what brings its uniqueness and its flavor is its authenticity.”

 To hone this authentic nature of Indian Cooking he has traveled within India and worked with master Chefs like Quereshi and Chimanlal at Masala Art, Taj Palace in New Delhi; Haveli, Taj Mahal in New Delhi and at Kebab-e-bahar at Taj Banjara in Hyderabad. Throughout those 18 months he worked in all aspects of the culinary department. His time at Taj Fisherman’s Cove in Chennai gave him the experience of overseeing a multi-cuisine kitchen that was responsible from all food and beverage from the coffee shop to banquets and In-Room Dining.

 Chef Prabeen is a native of Kerala, the traveler’s paradise. His creativity in dishes include fusion dishes like Wasabi Lobster and using watermelon seeds to marinate some of his signature dishes. He has more than 500 dishes in his recipe collection and uses 25 different fresh blends of spices in his cooking.

 He has already made significant additions to the menus at Taj Boston from special Indian dishes served in the Crown Café, the staff cafeteria, to Indian choices on the catering and wedding menus and a daily Indian Special dish in The Café. “There are plans to go big on Weddings and Catering to fundraising galas with some special interactive and live cooking displays.  I have all these ideas in my head “said Chef Prathapan,” “and I am excited to be here.  Just as Thomas Kellar and French Laundry are the icons of American restaurant scene, I would like Taj Boston to be the place to taste authentic Indian cuisine.”

The three signature dishes Chef is creating for fall are:

1 Lamb Chop Roganjosh – Lamb chops cooked with aromatic tomato & onion gravy, specialty from region of Kashmir.

2 Masala Grilled Lobster - Lobster marinated & grilled with Indian dry spices with pickled onions, mixed greens & lemon wrap

3. Gajjar Ka Halwa – Carrot pudding from northern India cooked with milk, pistachio, sugar & ghee garnished with cashew slivers.

++ Condé Nast Traveler’s Reader’s Choice Awards, the 2007 Top 100 Best U. S. Mainland Hotels
++ Travel + Leisure's 2008 World's 500 Best Hotels.
++ Institutional Investor's 2007 The World's 100 Best Hotels
++ Condé  Nast Traveler, USA 2008 Gold List 721 World's Best Places to Stay

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