Leela Ambience Gurgaon overhauls its kitchen team to add more flavours

Hyatt Pune, Kalyani Nagar has appointed Amit Kapoor as the Food and Beverage Manager where he will be heading the Food & Beverage Service team.

Amit, a Postgraduate in Tourism Management, has worked with Jaypee Palace Hotel Agra and ITC Grand Maratha, Sheraton Mumbai, before he moved to Hyatt in the year 2003 at the Grand Hyatt, Dubai as the Assistant Outlet Manager, moving on to become the Outlet Manager, and worked with the property for 6 years.

He then moved on to Sofitel Jumeirah Beach, Dubai, to head the Banquet Operations for 8 years. In his last assignment, Amit Kapoor was the F&B Service Manager at Courtyard by Marriott, Gurugram Downtown.

He takes prides in being able to drive his team to deliver the best always and delivering outstanding levels of customer service. Amit’s mission at Hyatt Pune is to build the hotel’s reputation for offering first-class guest experiences to anyone who comes through our doors – whether they’re stopping by for a coffee, attending a conference or bringing the family for a relaxing stay.

Prominent chef and bestselling author, Vikas Khanna is entering into the film line with Michelin-starred chef and restaurateur’s first film, called The Last Color. The film is based on a book by the same name written by him a couple of years ago.

Speaking about his movie, Khanna said in an interview, “It’s a very simple story capturing the richness of India. I found this story so compelling that I couldn’t resist telling it to the world. I mean, imagine being denied the right to touch colour. My life is all about colour in the form of spices and vegetables; the thought that if someone took that privilege away from me, drove me crazy.”

About the drastic shift from chef to a screenwriter Khanna said, needless to say, the shift was substantial, but the Utsav author’s desire to add a “surprise element” to his career is what motivated him. That said, it wasn’t an easy switch to make. “Filmmaking is the most difficult form of storytelling, but the most effective. In the kitchen, you do things on a repeat mode but here [on the sets] a scene has never been shot before. Also, a dish disappears in some time, but a film stays with you for the rest of your life,” Khanna shared.

‘The Last Color’ is Vikas Khanna’s 31st literary work. The 86-minute-long movie, which stars actress Neena Gupta in the lead, will make its trailer debut at the Cannes Film Festival (8th – 19th May) this year. Notably, this is not the first time the chef will be in the spotlight at the esteemed film festival. Back in 2017, Khanna revealed the trailer of his film Buried Seeds at the 70th Cannes Film Festival.

Chef's Basket in association with Zomato is celebrating India's first Hummus Festival from 24th November- 27th November across multiple top Mediterranean restaurants in Mumbai like Raasta, The Little Door, Cafe Terra, WTF, The Treesome Cafe, Global Chaos, ZOOBAR, Mockingbird Cafe, The Bar Terminal, Mediterra, Papa Cream among many more.

The festival aims at celebrating the savory and nutritional aspect of Hummus by collaborating with the restaurant chef's and curating unique and interesting dishes using Chef's Basket's range of Hummus.

Fresh, a sub-brand of Chef's Basket, has a line of multiple flavored Hummus, which can be used as a dip or a spread. Hummuses, made with chickpea paste along with other ingredients, are made with 100 percent natural ingredients with no preservatives and additives.

The Hummus Festival will have 10-15 dishes curated by the chefs across different restaurants using Hummus as a main ingredient and will be a part of a special menu. The patrons will not only get a free sample of Chef's Basket’s Hummus, but also a recipe book to recreate the dish at home.

The festival will also be attended by top chefs, food bloggers and celebrities across different restaurants.

Prominent names from the culinary fraternity came together to celebrate 13th Annual Chef Awards organized by the Indian Culinary Forum at The Ashok Hotel, Chankyapuri, New Delhi.

The Indian Culinary Forum is India’s association of Professional chefs of Northern India.

The best among the 100s of chefs were bestowed with awards in the presence of Honorable Chief Guest, former Director General Tourism, Government of India and International Tourism Advisor V.K. Duggal among other top notch names from the culinary fraternity.

The objective is to act as a link, a platform and an instrument for the enhancement and overall development of the national community of chefs.

Chef Davinder Kumar, President of Indian Culinary Forum said, "The objective of Chef Awards is to offer fellow chefs a professional platform to showcase, exhibit, hone culinary skills and raise the overall Indian Culinary Art at par with international standards.”

Chef Vivek Saggar, General Secretary of Indian Culinary Forum said, “Chef Award is not merely a competition, but a platform for chefs to put their culinary skills on display that will surely enhance their culinary quest, knowledge and forte. Our objective is to bring our fraternity closer and continue our commitment to encourage the betterment of the culinary profession, through improved education, related industry events and collaboratively setting new benchmarks in the hospitality industry. The participants were judged and evaluated by experienced professionals.”

Celebrity chef Saransh Goila who is known for his butter chicken recipes is launching ‘Goila Butter Chicken’, a takeaway and home delivery kiosk in Mumbai.

Starting June 15, the place will serve Saransh special butter chicken in Andheri(W) region.

“I am working on a venture called ‘Goila Butter Chicken’ that is going to be a take away and home delivery kiosk. We are starting at Andheri West and once this model is successful we are going to expand to Bandra, and other parts,” added Goila in an exclusive interview to Restaurant India.

Focusing on online delivery and food-tech model, the place will home deliver the butter chicken.

“We want to promote the online delivery. Once people started liking our dish we will enter into other regional dishes. So, the idea is to use that platform that butter chicken is one dish which is popular but there are many dishes which is not popular dishes which is equally good,” added Goila.

Saransh has put in around 25 lakh to start this venture which is his first stint to entrepreneurial journey.

Adding on India’s diversity, Saransh commented, “There is no country in the world which is as diverse as India. We have to move out to promote our own cuisine. We have a lot of content and we have the power of diversity.”

RI Bureau

Gadre Marine Export Pvt Ltd, the largest Surimi producer in India and the third largest in the world, has roped in Vikas Khanna an award winning Indian chef as their brand ambassador.

Since he is one of the few Indian chefs with global presence, and is a pioneer in the F&B industry, Vikas Khanna is a strong personification of Gadre’s brand identity and exemplifies the same values that are attached with the brand.

”I can never get enough of seafood and through this association I've explored some interesting recipes which will change the way we eat seafood especially with an upcoming innovative products from Gadre,” shared Chef Khanna.

Gadre Marine Export was originally a processing and packaging unit of frozen marine products such as shrimps, squids, cuttlefish and other fin-fish.

In 1994 however an unprecedented and bold step was taken, India's first and only Surimi manufacturing plant was set up in Ratnagiri. Gadre Marine since then became the third largest Surimi** manufacturer in the world and also started Indian operations for the frozen sea food category.

Talking about the association Arjun Gadre, Owner, Gadre Marine Export Pvt. Ltd comments, “Vikas Khanna is one of the most versatile chefs in the country with an expertise in sea food. We are extremely delighted about this association and couldn’t have thought of any one better to represent the brand Gadre and our products”

The brand is all set to launch its new campaign – "What The Fish" for the packaged Frozen food products with Vikas Khanna for the year 2015 - 16.

Through this campaign the brand plans to engage with its target audience on various levels from Television commercials to digital activation.

Khanna has also created a range of fun, easy to cook recipes with Gadre Seafood that are perfect for a quick snack or meal with your family. These recipes will be accessible through the website and the Webisodes of the brand.

With this association the brand aims to change the perception about frozen seafood in India and create more awareness about its specialties.

There is good news for the chef fraternity as the Ministry of Culture recently received a proposal to include the art of cooking in the list of Padma awards.

“The Ministry of Culture recently received a proposal to include the art of cooking in the list of Padma awards. Cooking is an art. If there can be Padma awards in other fields of art like music, tabla, why not cooking? We studied the proposal and sent a recommendation to the MHA,” said Mahesh Sharma, Union MoS for Culture and Tourism, reported Indian Express.

The idea was floated by Sharma during a book launch he attended in Delhi a few months ago. Talking to the prominent chefs who attended the event, including Sanjeev Kapoor, Sharma apparently said Indian food and spices are popular across the world and that the art of cooking should be included in the Padma awards since that would open up business opportunities in the field.

Subsequently, a group of chefs and hoteliers, including Kapoor and Anil Bhandari, the chairperson of the organising committee of Chef Awards, sent Sharma a detailed proposal.

“Cooking has come a long way — from being looked down upon to being cherished as an art. This is perhaps the only art form that is consumed by all senses. Can a painting be consumed by all senses? Imagine eating a papad or wafers without enjoying the (crackling) sound,” Kapoor said.

Tarla Dalal is the only person from the field to have received a Padma award. “She got it the ‘others’ category. Cooking cannot be any other category. It is a separate category,” said Kapoor.

Given by the Home Ministry, the Padma awards — India’s highest civilian awards — “seek to recognise work of any distinction and are given for distinguished and exceptional achievements/service in all fields of activities/disciplines, such as Art, Literature and Education, Sports, Medicine, Social Work, Science and Engineering, Public Affairs, Civil Service, Trade and Industry, etc”. It mandates that “there ought to be an element of public service in the achievements of the person to be selected”.

Mumbai cake bakers and cake lovers had a time of their lives on 16th, 17th and 18th October for India Cake Fest, a one of its kind event celebrating the love of cake.

The three-day event included competitions, workshops, conferences, cake carnival and other exciting activities for kids and adults.

Adding more to the objective, Celebrity Chef Ranveer Brar said, "The whole baking and confectionary sphere in India has come of age with the intervention of technology and the home bakers. It's about time that we had a property that brings cakes and us closer together. And India cake fest did exactly that."

The event was conceptualised and organised by Enquo Experiential Communications, in association with Sheila Raheja Institute of Hotel Management .

The baking competition held on 16th and 17th October at Sheila Raheja Institute of Hotel Management, Bandra, divided into two categories - home bakers and students.

The winners of the competition have won it big with holiday packages from Club Mahindra, gym memberships by Living Foodz channel who were also the event title sponsor, microwaves from e-zone, exclusive professional baking classes by CakeSmiths, gift hampers from Chocolate Partner Morde and Ingredients Partner Tropolite.

The competition was adjudicated by the best national and international chefs from the industry, who judged the sweet delights on the parameters of texture, innovation and taste.

Excited about the event, B. P. Sahni, Principal, Sheila Raheja of Hotel Management, said, "Making a cake is definitely not a piece of cake. It is a skilful combination of the science of baking and the art of icing."

The Cake Carnival was held on 18th October at Phoenix Market City, Kurla who were the Venue Partner for the festival.

Chef Anil Rohira  quotes, "It was great to see students, home bakers, professionals, chefs, enthusiasts and kids getting together for this extravaganza. It is an opportunity for budding bakers to showcase their skills and indulge at India Cake Fest."

Taj Krishna located at Banjara Hills, Hyderabad is organising Telangana food fest from 2nd June till 8th June.

The customers can savour traditional delights from Telangana, a land seeped in rich cultural history.

As a tribute to its rich legacy the chefs have crafted a Grand Telangana Thali at Firdaus the fine dining specialty restaurant at Taj Krishna.

Firdaus offers a delectable array of traditional dishes accompanied with soothing renditions of classical music creating an unmatched experience where guests are served exotic fare rooted in tradition & nostalgia.