Aug 7, 2026 · 59 min · 15 segments
Hussain Shahzad is the Executive Chef of Hunger Inc. Hospitality in Mumbai, the group behind Papa's, The Bombay Canteen, O Pedro and Veronica's. He grew up in Chennai, and after training with The…
Hussain ShahzadGuestKenneth NarsHostHow would you, how, I mean, how would you separate? I mean, what's the, what's...
I think for me, uh, being a cook is about learning your craft, and, uh, and I, and I don't ever call it art.
I mean, of, of course, sometimes people do say that what you put on a plate is art, but I think it's craft because you practice it, and you practice it, and you just get better at it.
Um, yes, you add creativity to it eventually, but it's, it's, it's, it's craft.
Um, and to be a chef, of course, you have to be a good cook, but then you also need to have other skill sets where when you become a leader, you need to be able to nurture, you need to be able to mentor, you need to be able to, uh, grow the team under you.
You need to be able to kind of, uh, you know, be a people's person because then you kind of become the general of the army.
... you're not gonna be able to fight the battle without your soldiers, so you need to know how to run your soldiers really well, and I think that transition sometimes, um, the ability to lead is what defines a chef from a cook in my mind.
Uh, the f- the parent company that actually runs all of these brands, um, uh, was, um, launching, uh...
We were launching the Bombay Sweet Shop, which was another brand that we own.
Uh, and then, uh, in five days after the launch of the brand, COVID hit, and the world went into lockdown.
Um, he was one of the early deaths, uh, in COVID, and to me it meant that the restaurant shut down and I lost my mentor.
How would you, how, I mean, how would you separate? I mean, what's the, what's...
I think for me, uh, being a cook is about learning your craft, and, uh, and I, and I don't ever call it art.
I mean, of, of course, sometimes people do say that what you put on a plate is art, but I think it's craft because you practice it, and you practice it, and you just get better at it.
Um, yes, you add creativity to it eventually, but it's, it's, it's, it's craft.
Um, and to be a chef, of course, you have to be a good cook, but then you also need to have other skill sets where when you become a leader, you need to be able to nurture, you need to be able to mentor, you need to be able to, uh, grow the team under you.
You need to be able to kind of, uh, you know, be a people's person because then you kind of become the general of the army.
... you're not gonna be able to fight the battle without your soldiers, so you need to know how to run your soldiers really well, and I think that transition sometimes, um, the ability to lead is what defines a chef from a cook in my mind.
Uh, the f- the parent company that actually runs all of these brands, um, uh, was, um, launching, uh...
We were launching the Bombay Sweet Shop, which was another brand that we own.
Uh, and then, uh, in five days after the launch of the brand, COVID hit, and the world went into lockdown.
Um, he was one of the early deaths, uh, in COVID, and to me it meant that the restaurant shut down and I lost my mentor.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.