One of the top wedding caterers in New York City is Hemant Mathur Catering, a company helmed by a Michelin-starred chef Hemant Mathur and his partner, award-winning chef Surbhi Sahni. The duo’s innovation and presentation of their food has made them a leader in the Indian wedding catering market and they are known to have catered some of the city’s most luxurious weddings and high-profile events with cuisine that is both creative and thoughtful.
“We don’t just serve food, we try to tell a story through our food,” says Chef Surbhi. “Yes our food is delicious, but what makes our catered events so special is that we only take one event per weekend and then spend our time creating a story with food for that event.”
What has made Hemant Mathur Catering one of NYC’s top wedding caterers is the duo’s love of authentic Indian cuisine and that means the various regions and states that make up the vibrant country.
Chef Hemant explains, “We take the flavors that we grew up, the authentic tastes we know and create them with a new modern approach. We draw from all aspects on Indian food like the Portuguese influence of Goan cuisine or the sweets found in Calcutta.”
Both Chef Hemant and Chef Surbhi worked together at the very hip Devi restaurant in New York City where the caliber of their work earned the restaurant a Michelin Star in 2005 and they bought out their boss to run the restaurant on their own, winning many more Michelin Stars along the way. In 2014, they closed Devi and opened the elegant Tulsi where Chef Hemant refined his cuisine even further and also won that restaurant a Michelin star. Today, the duo run Saar restaurant, also in NYC.
Chef Surbhi, on the other hand, began honing her skills in the dessert and cake sector, and launched her brand Bittersweet NYC–recently rebranded as Tagmo– which quickly became a media favorite in New York City. She says, “Like Hemant, I use the flavors of my childhood as a reference for my cakes and desserts. I remember eating plum jam as a child, and today, I have created a saffron cake with plum jam filling.”
Although Chef Hemant always knew he wanted to be a chef, Chef Surbhi actually wanted to be an artist like her father. “That is until I found out I wasn’t talented,” she giggles, but when she first experienced the luxurious Maurya Sheraton as a child, she knew she wanted to surround herself with that luxury and being a chef would take her there.
Today, the duo are surrounded in luxury and are well regarded within the culinary world. They have been called on to cook for the James Beard Foundation, Williams Sonoma, Macy’s, etc and have been featured in TV shows like Chopped. They have also catered to many celebrity weddings and events including the weddings of Aasif Mandavi, Melanie Chandra, Meetu Chilana, Ami Sheth, amongst others.
When designing cuisine for a wedding, the duo has a unique approach. Chef Surbhi says, “We absolutely do not believe in a cookie cutter approach. In fact, we do not even have a set menu for our weddings. Instead, we sit down with the couple and try to understand their story. Maybe we base a dish off of their favorite childhood dish, or perhaps a dessert from their first vacation together.”
Both chefs also agree, that the days of the buffet are long gone! They believe in plated dinners or family style and passed hors d’oeuvres and food stations. “We even work with the decorator (of the wedding) to design our food stations so that everything works within the story,” adds Chef Surbhi.
Ever creating and ever evolving, Chef Hemant and Chef Surbhi are taking their cuisine to a whole new level where flavor, innovation and presentation come together in one memorable approach. It’s no wonder that their company is one of the top caterers in the Tri-State.
Chef Hemant and Chef Surbhi are taking part in The Style Salon Multicultural Bridal Event happening in New York City .
