High class cooks are among the most temperamental professionals in the world. They are like concert pianists, fine tuned and ultra sensitive. So, when we collected a whole company of Bombay�s best for a photo op. at the Oberoi Towers� swimming-pool, it was touch and go all the time. Would the Only Fish�s Abhay Bagader chase the gentle Giovanni of Little Italy with his hilsa stabber, and would Gilbert Gomes, Gaylord�s and Bombay�s prize-winning Continental chef, be patient with Mandarin Chinese�s Dominic Ho?

Fortunately, it turned out all right. Peace and harmony reigned in the kitchen, or on the swimming pool level. The cooks came starched and toqued, trade-mark spoons, knives tucked in their aprons, Ishtiaque Qureshi, son of the legendary Imtiaz Qureshi, in a dashing earring. And instead of ego clashes, there was much mutual admiration. After all, it takes a chef to recognise another chef. Between them, they represented half a world of culinary skills and as many schools of cooking. From Balkrishna Bhatt�s kismis and cashew stuffed family-size dossas to Salu Fernandes�s Raigadh roasted coconut masala clams and oysters, Swami�s Trishna crabs and grilled baby shark steaks, Sapan Gomes�s steak and kidney pies and puddings, Madhav Verma�s rice spinach, Jitendra Singh�s appams with the soft centre, and, of course, Augustine Fernandes�s Steak a la Fernandes. Let�s go to The Other Room tonight.

A lot of them were old friends, tried and tested and dined on. The gentleman who fries the bhaturas for the queues that form on the pavement outside the Cream Centre at Chowpatty weekends, the kitchen staff of the Leela Kempinski�s elegantly appointed restaurants in Captain Nair�s garden oasis with the Vijay Amritraj tennis courts, the chef in charge of the Fariyas� dining experience, and the new players on the block, from Legacy of China, Indigo, Wall Street. Finally, as the sun climbed over the Oberoi, represented by Vikas Malhotra, the photographer called the kitchen to order. He did his lighting, mounted his camera, got all the chefs in his lens, then told them: �I�ll call salt, pepper, cream, custard - you say, cheese.�