Vishwesh Bhatt may be an unlikely Southern culinaryicon. Which is precisely why his story is so intriguingand his upcoming dinner and visit to Skyline Lodge onSeptember 6 so compelling.Since 2009, Bhatt has been bringing the flavors of his nativeIndia to the Oxford, Mississippi, restaurant Snackbar. OnSeptember 6, on the heels of the publication of his cookbookIAm From Here, he brings those flavors to Skyline Lodge andOak Steakhouse as part of the Under the Stars, On the Rocksdinner series.Bhatt’s been dubbed “a Southern cooking star” and is a recipi-ent of the James Beard Best Chef South Award – both despitethe fact that he’s born in India and because of it.He didn’t set out to be a chef. But, when in 1985, at age 17,his father took a position at the University of Texas, he foundfamiliarity in the foods he encountered at the local Austinsupermarket. As he told the Wall Street Journal in a recentstory, “Seeing things like okra, chiles, tomatoes, eggplants anda variety of beans, I thought, ‘I know this.’” It was through foodthat Bhatt was able to channel his Indian identity and reconcileit with his life in the South. He had spent his childhood helpinghis mother prepare extravagant family meals and accompanyinghis physicist father to the market, learning the art of selectingokra and identifying differences between guavas.In the US, Bhatt studied at the University of Kentucky, andlater at the University of Mississippi before realizing, “I had tofigure something else out.” To earn money, he started cooking,eventually finding his way into John Currence’s acclaimedkitchen at City Grocery. He went to culinary school in Miamiand returned to City Grocery.When Currence opened Snackbar in 2009, he anointed Bhattto lead the culinary team. If at first, Bhatt resisted the notionof cooking Indian food professionally, his mother’s deathencouraged him to validate his heritage and share the tastes ofhis youth.In his role as chef and author, Bhatt is affirming his rightfulplace at the Southern table.“I want the food of my childhood, the flavors I grew up with,to become a part of the Southern culinary repertoire – just liketamales, lasagna and kibbeh have become,” he writes. “I wantto tell you my Southern story the best way I know how: throughmy food.”Under the Stars, On the Rocks four-course dinners with bever-age offerings are $150 per person, exclusive of tax and gratuity.
by Marlene Osteen
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