India, Nov. 6 -- Masaharu Morimoto is the most famous Japanese chef in Mumbai. His fame derives from the success of Wasabi, the Japanese restaurant he opened at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai two decades ago. Wasabi is small (around 40 covers), hideously expensive and hard to get into on weekends (and often on weekdays too). It is still the restaurant that the city's wealthy elite will go to for a celebration, and it remains Mumbai's most exclusive restaurant.

I spoke to Morimoto at Wasabi last weekend. He was on one of his infrequent trips to the city (he has 27 restaurants around the world now) and we talked about how risky the Mumbai venture seemed when it opened. Would people like Japanese food? Would they pay such high prices? Would ...