Ahmedabad’s Ritz Hotel was razed in 1989. Now, its cuisine is being revived

This article was originally published in Conde Nast Traveller (India). Cover photo: Owner Geraldo Pereira outside the hotel; an old menu from 1940. Photo courtesy: The Pereira family.

They say the drive to the Ritz Hotel, an erstwhile Ahmedabad landmark, involved passing its wrought-iron gates and winding through its brick-laid avenue, bordered by blooming bougainvillaea. A glorious canopy of trees (including banyan, neem and papaya), enveloped the property’s two-and-a-half-acre land that boasted of water fountains, manicured lawns and prized crotons. The hotel was established in August 1938 by a young, newly-married couple from Goa, Geraldo and Maria Edveges Pereira.

It was housed in a charming 400-year-old, two-storey building in the Khanpur (part of the old city), complete with towering arches, a zenana and stables. Apart from its striking architecture, the Ritz dazzled its guests with its exquisite food and drew a luminary list of admirers that included the former Netherlands Ambassador to India, international cricket teams, and even the Royal entourage.

Geraldo and Maria Edveges together. Photo courtesy: The Pereira family.

In 1989, however, the hotel was razed to the ground to make way for a bus terminus, which till date, has not been built. The city had lost a piece of its history. But now, thanks to the Pereiras’ grand-daughter, Nicole Pereira Khurana, those in Ahmedabad can get a taste of life at the Ritz Hotel.

Khurana is reviving the hotel’s memory by recreating the food that was once served there. Each dish at the Ritz was prepared under the careful supervision of Maria Edveges. Using her grandmother’s heirloom recipes documented in her hand-written cookbook, Khurana began No Borders by NPK, a local food service in Ahmedabad a few months ago.

No Borders by NPK serves quintessential Goan comfort food, steeped in nostalgia: beautifully crusted spinach soufflé; pork vindaloo with fiery curry served with vegetable foogath; prawn pulao teamed with thick-red coconut chutney and moong kachumbari; deep-fried pan rolls stuffed with succulent minced meat. Through No Borders by NPK, Khurana wishes to pay homage to her grandmother. “Grandma was the gentlest human being,” says Khurana. “She interacted with her guests [at the hotel], would suggest what to order from the menu and told them stories about her kitchen. I also remember the fragrances in the Ritz kitchen—the smell of baking bread took over everything else.”

Crab Curry by No Borders by NPK. Photo: Ashit Parikh.

Ahmedabad’s Ritz Hotel, the Pereiras’ Plan B

Ritz Hotel opened its doors in the wake of Prohibition in 1938. Geraldo, who migrated to Ahmedabad in 1921, had become a successful liquor businessman. However, once Prohibition was enforced, his business collapsed, compelling him to start another venture.

The Pereiras decided to rent the Khanpur property and soon transformed it into a premier establishment. Years later, one of Pereiras’ five children, Estelle Pereira Desai remembers the time her father would dress sharply in suits and visit the train station to pick up guests in his Ford. “This was a new hotel and the only way to get customers was by going there yourself and approaching people,” she says on the phone.

Shepherd’s pie spiced with Sabut garam masala

The building had 22 spacious rooms with high wooden-beam ceilings, brass lamps, mosaic-tile flooring and rosewood furniture. “It was a little paradise in Ahmedabad,” reminisces Desai. The Ritz soon came to entertain an extensive international clientele from England, Germany, Italy and Czechoslovakia and earned a reputation for its soulful Goan food with Portuguese and English influences. Delicacies like pork vindaloo, crab curry, sorpotel and prawn pilaf were served alongside shepherd’s pie, fish bordelaise, asparagus soup and roast suckling pig. White damask table linen, polished silverware engraved with the RH logo and hand-written menus added to the charm. A culinary magician herself, Maria Edveges was a bona fide innovator who experimented in the kitchen. “Shepherd’s pie, for instance, was a big favourite among the European guests, since she spiced it with Sabut garam masala,” recalls Desai.

Maria Edveges Pereira with her famed roast suckling pig; her cookbook with handwritten recipes. Photos: The Pereira family.

Special ingredients were sourced during the Pereiras’ annual pilgrimage to their ancestral Goan village. Maria Edveges would return with large tins brimming with home-grown chillies, local Sichuan pepper and red rice, while boxes were packed with dried fish and prawns. “My mother would come back with jars of olives and coconut vinegar that made all the difference to the food,” says Desai.

Today, to ensure the authenticity of taste, Khurana sends the No Borders by NPK dishes to her father and aunt who live nearby, both of whom fondly remember their mother’s cooking. “They are my biggest critics and my guinea pigs,” says Khurana. “I aspire to be as good as grandma. My memories of how to cook start from her.” Freshly baked breads like poee (a puffed Goan bread traditionally made using toddy) and kankna (or kankon) – crisp, golden bangles glazed with butter, are also made. Through her food service, Khurana wishes to revive a love for these artisanal Goan breads, which are a rare sight in a city known for its love of thepla and panki.

A royal stamp of approval

“The most fascinating thing about the hotel was when the Australian, English and West Indies cricket teams used to come and stay,” says Desai, who was a teenager then. In the Ritz’s carefully preserved guest archives, a note from West Indies cricket team manager, Berkeley Gaskin reads: “We have enjoyed being here and wish we could travel with its cuisine.”

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, became another admirer of the hotel’s culinary prowess. In 1959, on his visit to Ahmedabad with Queen Elizabeth II, he ate the food catered by the Ritz at the airport. In addition to the main course, the establishment had prepared a special nougat basket. Its star dessert was poached meringue served in sabayon sauce. Prince Philip later sang praises of the food, and the Royal Flight’s Captain Cane remarked that it was in his opinion, “the best meal they had since they left England.”

Through No Borders by NPK, Khurana is now piecing together her family legacy, which she had earlier taken for granted. “There are no borders in food and in one’s palate,” explains Khurana. “My grandma always told us, ‘Never mourn my death, celebrate it’, which is exactly what we are doing.”