Torii’s Head Chef Says Fake Paneer Controversy Helped Gauri Khan’s Restaurant: 'Blessing In Disguise'

Gauri Khan’s upscale Mumbai restaurant, Torii, found itself caught in a social media storm earlier this year when a food influencer accused it of serving chemically-altered paneer.

Launched on Valentine’s Day in 2023, Torii quickly became a celebrity hotspot.

Source : Instagram/@gaurikhan

Gauri Khan’s upscale Mumbai restaurant, Torii, found itself caught in a social media storm earlier this year when a food influencer accused it of serving chemically-altered paneer. While the allegations were swiftly dismissed by the establishment, Torii’s head chef Stefan Gadit has now addressed the controversy in a new interview, sharing how the situation unexpectedly worked in the restaurant's favour.

What Torii's head chef said

Speaking to Screen, Chef Gadit reflected on the viral video that had questioned the authenticity of the paneer served at the eatery. “It makes an impact when we point fingers at something baseless. The quality, the ingredients, everything we provide is top-notch; we had nothing to worry about,” he said, defending the restaurant’s culinary standards.

Highlighting the science behind the food, he added, “There is a lot of stuff going on with food chemistry and food science, it takes four years, just pouring something on something was just…don’t get me wrong. He did that with his pure intentions, just wanted to check.”

The incident increased Torii's business

Far from hurting business, the chef revealed that the incident had an unexpected upside. “It increased our business and I got more than 20-30 followers on Instagram, so that was a blessing in disguise, I would say,” he quipped.

The video, posted by YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva, was eventually removed from social platforms. Torii had also issued a clarification in response to the post: “The iodine test reflects the presence of starch, not the authenticity of the paneer. As the dish contains soy-based ingredients, this reaction is expected. We stand by the purity of our paneer and the integrity of our ingredients at Torii.”

Launched on Valentine’s Day in 2023, Torii quickly became a celebrity hotspot. The launch event was graced by the likes of Sussanne Khan, Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Pandey, Neelam Kothari, and Seema Sajdeh.