At what age did you start your journey and how?
I started my culinary journey working in a full-fledged fine kitchen at the age of 21 years with a chef management program with British luxury cruise brand P&O Uk and Southampton city college. I then climbed up the ladder which in turn I got recognised and landed an opportunity to working with a couple of Big name Celebrated Chefs James Martin & Marco Pierre White.
Did you always want to be a chef and what were your first stepping stones like
I would not want to give the standard line of saying I watched my Grandmother cooking or helped my mother cook while growing up. But I guess being born and brought up in Goa, food and cooking exposure to various meats and seafoods makes our spectrum broader. Our Cuisine, Hospitality & Culture is very international hence being able to cook the basics and then honing my skills further is what I attribute to be my stepping stone.
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How was your experience working abroad
My experience working abroad is what makes me cook professionally and now dabble as a Restauranteur with confidence. The exposure, hands-on experience it gave to my skills was undoubtedly something which I will cherish along with work ethics being ingrained which is a key in any profession. We came up in an era where skill mattered over social media fame.
Talk about your favorite cuisine and how you've incorporated the same at your restaurants
Favorite Cuisine to be honest I love the bold flavors of South Indian Food, Obviously Goan and South east Asian. I do love simple food in terms of European food from a steak, Simple Seafood salad to well prepared pasta.
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I learnt heavily on European food techniques where I personally like a slight kick of flavors from Asia. So that’s what is incorporated also keeping in mind the theme of the restaurant venture and the audience we cater too.
You have restaurants in Mumbai Goa and now leh, which one do you prefer the most
I like my work in all the cities. I have put my skill to it too, I break it down to commercial cities and tourist markets. I prefer the tourist Diner to be more challenging hence I would say the tourist cities I do over the metropolitan cities. In Mumbai I’m a culinary Director and in Goa/ Leh which is a total of 5 as we speak I am a chef and investing partner.
How did the idea of opening a restaurant in Leh came about
Cafe Montagne leh was a dream come true. I cooked across the world, in many cities in India and wanted to challenge my skill and experience. I must credit my conceptualizing partner Twinkle for backing the instinct and taking the challenge with me to open something which was alien for us and also in terms of infrastructure and the in depth challenges.
Talk about your recent projects and what you have planned for the future.
Lots of new openings in 2023 this time another tourist destination Gem in Kochi at the backwaters, Another premium fun Beach concept in Goa and Indian hospitality biggest Revenue exploding market of Hyderabad at Jubilee Hills. That’s the first half of 2023 as of now.
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What more western cuisines would you like to see in india.
Western cuisine has been getting more popular in the 2 tier cities so that’s a good thing. Good ingredients are coming to us so that brings us more variety.
