
The Indian grotto
A place where you can find the frankness and genuineness of the Ticino grotto tradition, but where you can mainly savour flavours from the Orient. It all stems from a wager launched in the early 2000s, to introduce Indian home cooking to the people of Ticino. That bet turned into a restaurant that attracts customers from all over the Canton and international tourists to the slopes of Collina d’Oro.
The Tabla restaurant is the brainchild of Gagan and Daniela. Indian he, Ticino she, they met in the USA, then started a family in Ticino. With them, we embark on a journey into the Indian flavours of their mother’s recipes and pairings with international wines.
From India to Ticino, how did it happen?
“I was born in a “village” of two million people in the centre of India: 40 minutes‘ flight from Mumbai, 10 hours’ drive. After my studies in a boarding school near Mumbai, I went to a hotel school in the US. I stayed in Connecticut, Chicago and then joined the Ritz-Carlton group. So, in 2000 I went to New York, first as room service manager and then as food and beverage director. And at the New York Palace I met Daniela, my wife, originally from Lugano, who was room manager. We lived in the US six years.”
Then came Ticino?
“Yes, I was not ready to go back to India. But we didn’t want to stay in America because Daniela had to wait for her visa to be renewed. So, we came to Ticino for a “pit-stop”, which has lasted 18 years.”
Did you start from scratch?
“Yes, in that year our son Marc was born. The following year we opened the Amici restaurant in Vezia. Then our daughter Sara arrived.”
When did you start offering Indian cuisine?
“At first, ours was a traditional Ticino cuisine, then I gradually started to introduce Indian dishes. Daniela was a bit sceptical, but instead the people of Ticino proved that they are curious at the table and appreciate good food, even if it is exotic.”
Then you didn’t stop, from Vezia to Montagnola...
“Yes, there is a curious story about this place where we made Tabla. In 2003, when we lived in America, we came to Ticino for three days on holiday. I remember we went to eat at the nearby grotto. We parked, I got out of the car, saw this building and said to Daniela: one day it will be ours. Keep dreaming, she replied.
We forgot about it, then in 2010-11 when we were looking for a place of our own for a restaurant, it was proposed to us and we managed to find a fair deal. The dream had come true. After a year, on 4 June 2012, we had completely renovated and opened Tabla.”
What kind of Indian cuisine is yours?
“We could call ourselves an Indian grotto. In India, there are restaurants and dhaba, a kind of grotto, where you can eat home cooking. This is what we offer, based on the recipes of my mother Gurmeen and my grandmother. Our chefs don’t have to elaborate them but only respect them. The result is that when some Indians come to us, they say: it is like eating at home.”
Is the sense of hospitality part of Indian culture?
“Certainly, for us the guest is sacred. That is why when I come down for service, I am always serene and smiling. For me it is an honour to be able to serve people and make them happy at the table.”
Which is your most popular dish?
“Undoubtedly the Chicken tikka masala is the most popular. It originates from New Delhi, and is marinated chicken chunks, cooked in the tandoor oven and sautéed in a creamy spiced tomato sauce. Another popular dish is lamb shank, but more and more people are choosing vegetarian and vegan dishes lately, and our cuisine offers some delicious things in this area.”
A recipe for a sauce?
“You can make an excellent green sauce with mint, coriander, lime and ginger and then add coconut flakes or coconut milk to make it creamier. It is an excellent and very fresh sauce.”
But does Indian cuisine go well with wine?
“Indian cuisine is vast so many pairings are possible, which is why we offer dinners with producers where we match their wines with our dishes.”
Favourite pairings?
“Usually at the end of the evening, Daniela and I maybe have our chicken bites marinated and cooked in the tandoor oven, to be paired with a Pinot Noir from Burgundy or a Nebbiolo or a soft Barbaresco. If, on the other hand, we go for the lamb shank, the Amarone area is better, but also a Cabernet from the Bolgheri area.”
Do you bet a lot on the cellar?
“We have a cellar of a thousand labels with wines from all over the world: France, Chile Argentina Australia South Africa, North America and also Italy and Ticino. They are all wines chosen knowing the producer, for me it is important to know who is behind it, its history.”
Over the years you have continued to offer traditional and Indian dishes, but you have also added Asian dishes, why?
“I wanted to bring to the menu some heartfelt recipes that bind me to my father, I travelled to Asia with him and so some flavours have remained in my heart.”
For example?
“What we propose as Hong Kong Rolls: tempura-cooked sea bass fillet, rolled with rice leaf, salad, peanuts and a kind of wasabi mayonnaise and a secret soy sauce. It is a recipe prepared for us by a Vietnamese lady living in Hong Kong.”
Is your clientele from Ticino?
“We work a lot with locals, but Lugano is an international city, so we have several customers from Dubai or Kuwait and celebrities who come back and have become friends.”
Nostalgia for India?
“When I want to in seven and a half hours by plane I am there. If I miss it, I go there. But I love Lugano and Switzerland I embraced its culture, and it has given me so much. There is a very high quality of life, you have security, and you can go anywhere in the world. I have many friends here and I feel this is home.”
Gagan and Daniela’s story is one of intertwining destinies and the desire to follow their own visions. And perhaps it is by chance or another twist of fate that they chose Montagnola to realise their dream, the same place that the writer Hermann Hesse, who brought the charm of Indian culture to European literature, chose to live and compose, to feel at home.
Gagan Nirh
Year of birth: 1977
Profession: Restaurateur
Originally from India, he furthered his studies in the hotel industry in the USA, where he was food & beverage director for Ritz-Carlton. In 2007, he opened the Amici restaurant in Vezia with his wife Daniela. In 2012 he opened the Tabla Restaurant in Collina d’Oro, bringing the people of Ticino to discover Indian cuisine.

Our cuisine is based on the recipes of my mother Gurmeen and my grandmother.
Tabla
The name of Gagan and Daniela Nirh’s restaurant is inspired by a characteristic Indian musical instrument. The tabla is a pair of small drums, one usually made of wood and the other of metal or clay, on which the leather membrane is stretched by means of leather ties. The tabla is used in Indian music, both classical and popular and religious, but also in world music for its typical sound that evokes an imagery linked to the world of Indian culture.
Curry
In India, ‘curry’ simply means sauce, which can be made with different ingredients. In the West, the retail sale of packets of ‘curry powder’, a mix of powdered spices, has led to that flavour being associated with curry. There is no specific curry flavour, but it depends on the mixture of spices used to make the ‘sauce.” Furthermore, the term ‘curry’ is also used to refer to various curry dishes.
