THE CULINARY COUPLE - Chinu and Christophe

Shilarna Vaze, known as 'Chef Chinu,' & Christophe are the new faces of Indian and Swiss cuisine. They have combined their culinary experience to create a restaurant with the purpose to spread love through their culinary creations. Shilarna Vaze and Christophe Perrin, the well-known gourmet couple in India, in conversation with Surabhi Goel.

- Surabhi Goel

Chef Chinu developed an interest in food from the young age of four when she enjoyed eating crab curries in her hometown of Mumbai. Her partner Christophe Perrin, who grew up in the Swiss town of Leysin, learned to cook from his chef father, Roger Perrin, at the age of eight and is also trained as a horticulturist who grew up around gourmet food and foraging for mushrooms and quality produce in Switzerland. The chef duo who work together are known for their diverse range of cuisines, including Mexican, Maharashtrian, Japanese, Burmese, and French.

Chinu, a Mumbai girl is a political science graduate from Mumbai University who decided to pursue her dream of becoming a chef. She completed her postgraduation from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. "What better place to learn the basics of gastronomy than the world's food capital-Paris!" she says. She added, "I was completely in love with food, and it made me cook to feed myself primarily, and it was my dream to open a restaurant in Goa." With her diploma, she returned to her dream town Goa, where she worked as an assistant chef at high-end restaurants gaining valuable experience and learning the intricacies of running a restaurant as an assistant chef.

Christophe says, "We are foodies, travel buddies, and epicureans by passion. We love to cook together, eat out or hang out with friends over good food and wine! We grew up cooking together for more than 15 years, so we knew how each other worked best in the kitchen." This is where they decided to open their restaurant, Gaia, on Ashvem Beach in Goa in 2010. The name Gaia was inspired by James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis, which they believe represents their belief in connecting to the earth while cooking. They later moved to Mumbai and started Gaia Home Chef, now Gaia Gourmet, in 2011.