The kitchen has always been a place of beginnings for Chef Manuel Olveira. Long before he helmed the acclaimed La Loca María in Mumbai, he was a young boy in Toledo, Spain, standing beside his mother in their family kitchen. Together they would prepare flan, the silky Spanish custard that has passed through generations. “That was where it all began,” he recalls, his voice tinged with nostalgia. “Cooking with my mother wasn’t just about food. It was about family, tradition, and roots.”
Those roots became the foundation of a career that would take him far beyond Toledo. Straight out of school, Chef Manuel began training under Michelin-starred chef Pepe Rodríguez Rey. “That kitchen taught me discipline,” he says. “At the highest level, everything is about precision. Discipline became the backbone of my cooking and of my life.”
His journey eventually brought him to India. “I first came because a Michelin-starred chef I was working with opened a restaurant in Mumbai,” Chef explains. But the city quickly became more than just a professional posting. “What made me stay was love, I met my wife here. That changed everything. Mumbai became home.”
Opening La Loca María was, for Chef Manuel, a dream realised. “From the very first day we opened, it felt like a dream come true. But now, it feels like something more. It feels like home.” The restaurant is not only a reflection of his Spanish heritage, but also of the life he has built in India.
When asked which dish best represents him as a chef, Manuel doesn’t hesitate: the charred octopus. Smoky, bold, and refined, it embodies the balance he strikes between tradition and innovation. Yet, his fondest childhood memory belongs to the humble tortilla de patatas—a dish that brings back the simplicity and comfort of his Spanish roots. And after a long, exhausting day in the kitchen, his comfort is far more casual: “Butter chicken roll”
For Chef Manuel, the heart of cooking lies in never forgetting the basics. “The fundamentals of cuisine are what allow you to innovate. If you don’t respect the basics, you can’t create freely.” That philosophy guides the menus at La Loca María, where every dish draws from his heritage in Toledo while embracing the global influences of a city like Mumbai.
To young chefs who dream of following in his footsteps, his advice is both practical and profound: “Determination and consistency. Those two things are essential. With them, you can survive any kitchen, any challenge.”
Today, Chef Manuel Olveira is a man of two worlds. His roots remain deeply planted in Spain, but his branches have spread across the vibrant landscape of Mumbai. At La Loca María, those worlds come together in every dish is a story of family, discipline, love, and the unwavering belief that food, at its heart, is about home.
