Empire (Empire) builder: Harneet Baweja on his new Notting Hill venture

What was the idea behind Empire Empire?

It came into our heads during lockdown, when we launched [delivery-only brand] Empire Biryani​​. When people compare Gunpowder to other Indian restaurants they are always like ‘why don’t you have curry?, or ‘why don’t you have bread?’ This is my way of saying ‘OK, we’re going to have curry and bread’. The food we’re serving is the kind of food I would mostly eat after a night out when I went clubbing or dancing - tasty and affordable. It’s reminiscent of that.

So good you named it twice...

I go to India reasonably often and my parents still live there most of the time. I’ve found that when I visit the food that I really want to eat is that which has been around for hundreds of years. It’s either been part of this empire or that empire, whether it be the Mughal Empire or Rajasthani Empire or when the British were there, and they did something different to a kebab recipe that had been unchanged for many years. So, it just became Empire Empire as that was the nickname we gave it when we were compiling recipes.

Are you worried about the negative connotations with the word?

I know there is a negative connotation with using the word empire and some people will tell me that. But trolls will troll you for whatever you do. When we named our restaurant Gunpowder, people asked me how I could call a restaurant after such a violent word. But it’s not; it’s a spice mix that’s been around for ages and used across south India.

Tell us about the 1970s disco theme

It’s going to have a relaxed vibe.​​ We wanted to talk about music and art with food because the three go together. Those musicians and artists were traditionally the ones who indulged in those two-hour carefree lunches leaving the rest of us to go to work and make money. We have a very lovely jukebox that we’ve restored and we’re filling it up with LPs from not only India but Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. It’s the disco music that was there in the early 60s, 70s, and 80s. It’ll make your foot tap. Restaurateurs and chefs are romantics, we live in the past or in another universe.

And you want people to dance?

It’s not a massive restaurant, it’s only 40 covers, but there is space for you to go up to jukebox and play your song and do a jig - or propose to your girlfriend or your boyfriend if you want.

It’s in Notting Hill, which is becoming a culinary hot spot

Notting Hill is a wonderful neighbourhood. It’s residential, but it has a lovely high street, actually a couple of high streets, and then the market itself that is kind of iconic. I think because of that it makes for an ideal restaurant location; you have people who live there and who want to eat there.

You recently opened a Gunpowder in Lisbon. How did that come about?

I’ve been going to Portugal for nearly a decade and to be honest that was the reason. My wife and I had a conversation that if I want to keep coming there, I’ve got to be part of the city and open something.

It’s predominantly a fish restaurant...

It wasn’t supposed to be a seafood restaurant, but we were quite delayed - it was due for summer but ended up opening in December - and in that time we got to know more suppliers, more people who own restaurants in the city, more chefs and it became clear that we should take that route. It’s a fully seafood restaurant​​ that concentrates specifically on the western coastal region of India, from Bombay to Goa and all the way down south to Kerala. We don’t serve any meat over there except for lamb chops. We have a very serious sparkling wine list over there, which goes brilliantly with the seafood.

Has it inspired you to do something similar on these shores?

We’d love to do some coastal seafood cooking here but for us but it’s about getting to know more of the seafood supply chain. A lot of the crustacean that is sold in Europe comes from Scotland but we don’t get it in England. It’s much more expensive here than in Lisbon so we’re trying to figure out how we can convince suppliers to sell to us for the long term here as well as in Lisbon, because we’re happy to support them as long as they’re happy to support us. We’re going up to Scotland for a couple of days to meet a few suppliers and see what we can do.

Empire Empire opens in March. How are you feeling about it?

I’m excited, but anxious. I’m excited because I’m loving the process, it’s insane. But I’m anxious because not only are the market conditions not ideal, but with the restaurant I’m also letting people into my personal life, which I tend not to do. Gunpowder is brilliant, but it’s not me. Empire Empire is going to be more of a look into how I am as a person - the artwork that we’re having in our restaurant is from artists I have loved for years. It’s giving people a glimpse into what I actually like and don’t like, and that makes me very anxious.