Gauri Khan-owned restaurant's head chef says fake paneer controversy helped business: Everything we provide is top-notch

Gauri Khan's restaurant Torii had faced backlash after a content creator posted a video claiming that they were using fake paneer in their dishes.

Earlier this year, in April, Gauri Khan's Mumbai restaurant Torii landed in soup after a content creator claimed that the place served iodine-stained, dark paneer (cottage cheese) in their dishes. The restaurant had shut down the rumours, then. Now, in an interview with Screen, the restaurant's head chef Stefan Gadit has shared that the controversy had a reverse impact on the business, as it brought in more ‘impact’ to the place. (Also read: Gauri Khan's posh restaurant Torii reacts to 'fake paneer' found in their dish by YouTuber)

Gauri Khan's restaurant Torii had previously responded to claims of using fake paneer in their dishes.

What the head chef said

During the interaction, the head chef said, "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. We issued the statement so that people could know what is happening and how things are done. 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.”

‘I got more than 20-30 followers’

He went on to address whether the controversy affected the restaurant at all, and said, "It increased our business and I got more than 20-30 followers on Instagram, so that was a blessing in disguise, I would say.”

YouTuber Sarthak Sachdeva later took down the video where he claimed ‘fake paneer’ was used in the restaurant. Torii had also responded to the now-deleted video in the comments. “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,” read the comment.

Gauri Khan's restaurant, Torii, opened last year on Valentine's Day. Sussanne Khan, Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Pandey, Neelam Kothari and Seema Sajdeh had attended the launch.