(This was a period when India had still to earn the respect of the world’s hoteliers. When it gave up the Lexington and tried to go right up the other end of the market by acquiring the stately Carlyle hotel, its offer was rebuffed. The Taj, always keen to make a mark in New York, bought the three-star Lexington Hotel in 1981 and ran it successfully for nearly two decades without making any impact at all on the city’s hotel scene. The Oberois tried to run the Barbizon Plaza but retreated in the face of hostility from long-stay residents of the property. It can take weeks to get a table at Semma to eat Michelin-starred food that is based on Tamil village cuisine. Neither restaurant broke out of the ‘ethnic restaurant’ slot (or served interesting food) and eventually the Taj closed the loss-making Raga. Sant Chatwal opened Bombay Palace in 1979.
As far back as the 1970s, the Taj group ran the upmarket Raga restaurant. How, I wondered, would this impact food and hospitality? New York has not been short of Indian restaurants. But you also find Indians in top positions everywhere, from the media to local politics to major corporations. Some of it has to do with the financial community which now includes many prominent Indians. I got my answer last week when I went back to New York after six years or so. The Taj group took over the lease of The Pierre, one of New York’s grand hotels, and it now makes money for them - something it hasn’t done for any hotel group in decades.Īs I watched the Indian presence in the city grow, I used to wonder how long it would be before Indians achieved the sort of prominence that they have in say, London or Singapore. There is enough that is familiar and reassuring. No Indian arriving in the city will feel out of place or awkward. One reason why New York feels like the capital of the world is that no matter where you are from, there will be a place for you.
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