The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

bitecuisine T he Grade II listed building that once housed Holborn Town Hall on High Holborn, designed by William Rushworth in French Renaissance style, started life as a public library in 1894. After an extension in 1908, it replaced the initial town hall located on the corner of Gray’s Inn Road and Clerkenwell Road. In 1965, it ceased to function as the local seat of government when the enlarged London Borough of Camden was formed and converted for alternative uses. With restaurants such as Shanghai Blues, Burger & Lobster and Gezellig previously occupying the space, the old Town Hall now houses modern Indian restau- rant Colonel Saab. Founded and operated by Roop Partap Choudhary, the restaurant offers an intelligent all-day dining experience inspired by his parents, Colonel Manbeer (nicknamed Colonel Saab in the army) and Binny Choudhary’s travel tales across India. Thus, Roop presents the sensory joys of Indian cuisine cast in a beautiful new light. During the ‘70s and ‘80s, Colonel Manbeer was posted throughout the Indian subcontinent. He and his wife had an eye for the finer things in life and drew from India’s vast heritage of paintings, sculptures, crafts, textiles, and food. They collected priceless art items such as hand-woven Persian carpets from the Silk Road route, Tanjore paintings from South India and magnificent temple doors fromGujarat on the western coast of India. Their extensive travels included driving around in their modest Fiat motor car, meeting fascinating peo- ple, acquiring more artworks (referenced at Colonel Saab), and tasting an array of delicious and varied regional food. These included traditional local lunch- es in the tents of Rajasthan, British-inspired Indian breakfasts in the Officer’s Mess and stunning banquets hosted by Indian nobility and Maharajas (great kings). When they returned home, the couple’s experiences influenced them to serve the community and venture into hospitality with a modest hotel that evolved into boutique and palace hotels, such as the award-winning Noor Mahal in Karnal, northern India. Today, these properties are managed by their son, Roop, who en- deavours to infuse a sense of humility, glamour and history with his parents’ best-loved home-style tradi- tions from across India. Roop studied hospitality in the United States, followed by an MBA in Finance in Singapore and a one-year management programme at Cornell University, where he focused on Asian Hospitality Patterns. Before join- ing the family business, he gained experience at some of India’s best-known hotels, including the ITC Mau- rya in Delhi. He was recognised as one of the youngest hoteliers to receive the under 30 Awards by Travel In- dia, and Noor Mahal won Best Upcoming 5 Star Re- sort at the Indian Hospitality Awards. Colonel Saab welcomes its diners with fascinating or- naments on the shelves, such as decorative clay pots, kinnara (a part-human, part-horse with wings), and golden containers. The restaurant is decorated with original paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries. It