Chef Akash Deshpande of Mumbai’s Luv brings curiosity, art and storytelling on a plate

It was a grudge that led Akash Deshpande to enter the world of culinary arts. He was all of 16 when he had his first heartbreak. “She wanted to become a chef. So, in anger, I was like, I am going to become an even bigger chef than you,” he laughs now at the silliness of it. He even enrolled in the same college as her — Niagara College, where he studied Culinary Management, Ontario, Canada. But somewhere along the way, he started enjoying cooking.

“I was selected to work in the college restaurant, Benchmark. It was a fine-dining restaurant from which Canada’s Culinary Olympic team was selected.” His colleagues went on to become members of the team, and he found himself soaking up their rigorous training. He couldn’t join the team because he wasn’t Canadian, but the experience left a lasting impression.

Today, Deshpande runs Luv, a restaurant he launched with his brother Luv in Lokhandwala, Andheri West, Mumbai, in 2024, serving European, Pan-Asian and coastal Indian food from an open kitchen.

Akash Deshpande at his residence in Bandra West. (Credit: Anurag Ahire)

Think kokum-infused coconut curry prawns, inspired by his mother’s Konkani recipe, topped with her prawn pickle and delicate prawn crackers; a generously stuffed pork bun served with a broth, his take on bun maska or an eight-hour braised lamb shoulder tucked into soft tortillas with house-made chimichurri. His tiny kitchen offers diners a front-row seat to the action, from the cooking to the plating.

But for our readers, he is making a family favourite that finds its way to their table during every festival, including Diwali — coconut wadi. “We keep going back to it,” says Deshpande, who has also prepared chapati, white vatanyachi usal and corn cutlets.

Unlike the elaborate desserts at his restaurant — where Deshpande recreates Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night as an edible artwork to be scooped up from a canvas, or fashions a veiled woman out of chocolate — this family favourite is decidedly humble. It needs just four ingredients: freshly grated coconut, ghee, cardamom and sugar.

We are sitting in his drawing room in a cosy, rented one-bedroom apartment in Khar. The house is filled with artworks, all of them his own. A painting of his cat, Kenji, rests on an easel, while his first painting — of a sailing ship — is framed above a cupboard in his bedroom.

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Painting has been a part of his life since childhood, thanks to his maternal aunt, Shaila Rane, a professional artist and JJ School alumna. “She used to teach me during the holidays. I must have been four or five. She would give us paper, sketch pens, crayons and, as we grew older, paints.” He has never considered turning it into a profession. “It’s a hobby, and let’s keep it a hobby. My work is chaotic, but when I paint, I get a very calm feeling. I feel life is great. Plus, I get ideas about food.”

After his stint in Canada, he returned to Mumbai and joined Khar Social, where he learnt what Indian diners enjoyed. He subsequently moved to Toast & Tonic under chef Manu Chandra. A stint in Doha followed, before he returned to India during the pandemic.

Deshapnde’s family favourite Coconut Wadi. (Credit: Anurag Ahire)

His biggest creative playground, however, was Nava, the Bandra restaurant he helmed for Anushka Pathak, which opened in 2021. It was his first opportunity to showcase his culinary style. The idea was to take local ingredients and familiar flavours and present them in newer ways. He developed the menu with his team, encouraging them to contribute ideas as well.

Nava shut after about a year, with the economics of sustaining an ambitious restaurant proving difficult. But its ideas found a more accessible expression at Luv, where he and some of his former team members retained the techniques and flavours while simplifying the presentation.

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The menu is deliberately difficult to pin down. Deshpande knows French cooking, his sous-chef knows Japanese, and the team brings its individual influences to the table. A lamb taco, for instance, brings together French-style lamb, an Indian roti and Mexican chimichurri. “Three things look brilliant together,” he says.

The Starry Night, which originated at Nava, began as something he made for fun and posted on Instagram. Today, he has a chocolate version with five layers. He hopes to explore more art-inspired desserts at his next restaurant and move Luv to Bandra by February next year. His creative pursuits extend beyond food and painting. His fashion posts on Instagram show his experiments with layering and skirts.

Recently, he spent 15 days in Amsterdam learning the art of croissants and laminated dough from French pastry chef Alexandre Scour, founder of Layers. “I was an intern. I was mopping the floor. I wanted to learn. I didn’t have that knowledge; he did. After a really long time, I got to say, ‘Yes, chef.’ It felt good.”

Although people have appreciated his food, he hasn’t been recognised by any award list. Does he crave it? “I do want more people to come and try my food because I know what I have is more than good. But I don’t necessarily crave an award. Right now, I get to do what I want. I go to work, I cook, I get to do my art. This is life.”