Chef Pillai narrates beautiful story about MS Dhoni during his stay in Trivandrum for 2018 series against West Indies

MS Dhoni, the former India captain, enjoys fine cuisine. He really likes chicken meals. He loves chicken butter masala, according to his Twitter bio. But there is a particular food that Dhoni cannot consume because of an allergy. The skipper of the Chennai Super Kings is allergic to seafood, thus he cannot eat it. A week ago, after CSK claimed the sixth IPL title, numerous supporters expressed their admiration for “Thala” on social media. One of whom was Chef Suresh Pillai, and told a lovely tale with a Dhoni twist. 

During an ODI series against the West Indies in 2018, Chef Pillai cooked a special delicacy for the Indian team in Thiruvananthapuram with seafood. However, Dhoni claimed that he would not eat it. 

While in the room of his hotel, Dhoni learned that the players will be receiving seafood that evening. He called the chef to his room to inform him that he was allergic to seafood and so could not eat it. With a look of incredulity on his face, Chef Suresh sprinted to the third-floor room. Dhoni was summoning him to his room, and he was dumbstruck by it. He wrote, “For a moment, I froze. Here’s someone I have been idolising, watching on the TV screen – calling me to his room. I dropped everything and literally ran to his room on the third floor, not even waiting for the lift.”

Dhoni welcomed him to the room before inquiring about the dinner. He was informed by the chef that the crew was served seafood. Dhoni then informed him of his allergies and asked if he would like rice and chicken curry. Dhoni requested as he said, “Can I get some Chicken curry and rice? I would also like some spicy rasam since I have a sore throat.”

Adhering to the former Team India skipper’s request, the Chef headed back. He said, “In about 20 minutes, I returned with the food to room no.302: Chettinad Chicken, Basmati Rice, Roasted Pappadam, and Rasam with a hearty serving of pepper and garlic.” Every item on Dhoni’s plate was something he adored. He was so pleased with the meal that he made sure Chef Suresh was acknowledged.