‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’ has maintained its stature as an authentic sizzler restaurant. (Express Photo by Pavan Khengre) In 1963, a Zoroastrian man named Firoz Erani pioneered the sizzler — a dish with a medley of ingredients cooked and served on a hot metal plate with a wooden holder — in Mumbai.
A restaurateur, Erani dabbled with the novel idea of the sizzler in his restaurants till he opened ‘The Sizzler’, a garden restaurant in Excelsior Cinemas, Fort, and introduced India to the concept of sizzler.
Now, with all its pomp and show, the sizzler finds itself on the menus of many restaurants across the country.
Started by Erani’s son Shahrookh Erani, ‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’ on Moledina Road, Camp, has been serving traditional sizzlers for an illustrious five decades. The restaurant has witnessed it all through the times — from being frequented by the foreign clientele in the 1970s-80s and as the hip hangout place for students to the visit by NDA and AFMC cadets till the late 90s and becoming a weekend choice amid families. Farida Vachha, general manager of ‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’ said, “Firoz Erani came up with the sizzler as an attempt to keep the food on the table piping hot till the last morsel.
After the dish was well received in his existing restaurants in Mumbai, he opened ‘The Sizzler’ and another branch in the Isle of Man, UK. Both the restaurants ran till Erani died.”
Under his father’s disciplined tutelage, Shahrookh Erani learned to perfect the sizzler and in 1967, opened Touché on Breach Candy Road in Mumbai. Four years later, he moved to Pune and started ‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’ on September 1. The menu boasted eclectic sizzler options in poultry, seafood, pork and vegetables.
The sizzlers’ hot metal plate still retains the shape and design conceptualised by Firoz Erani and a special dye is used to maintain it which is changed after it wears down, said Vachha. “When The Place started, it garnered a lot of attention, especially among the foreigners residing in the city. The Osho Ashram had started around the same time and the followers frequented in search of continental flavours. The restaurant was also a popular hangout place for youngsters — both local and international. I remember groups of Palestinians, Iranians, Iraqis, and African Americans spending their time here. Even cadets from the NDA and AFMC hold fond memories of having spent their days here and often come back as officers to relive the bygone days,” said Vachha.
In 1986, the area was bought by Clover Builders and the once one-storeyed restaurant was revamped into the present-day two-storeyed structure. “Earlier, the restaurant was in an old bungalow-like structure but after the plot was bought, we relocated temporarily, and the new structure came about in 1988. Two young interior designers worked with Shahrookh to have his vision come to a realisation,” she said.
The interior of the restaurant is predominantly wooden. The cleverly installed soft lights and sober-coloured windowpanes complement the overall dining experience at any hour of the day. Equipped with staff and servers with an experience of two decades, ‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’ has maintained its stature as an authentic sizzler restaurant.
As times changed, so did people’s eating habits and the menu, said Vachha. “One of the things we observed over the years is the number of sizzlers ordered at a table. Earlier it used to be a sizzler per person but now a sizzler is shared among two or three people. People have become more conscious of their dietary habits.
Vachha said the Indian palette required more flavours and gravy-based dishes. She added that dishes that were once a part of the menu included the Sali Chicken, a Parsi gravy dish topped with potato.