The Westin Pune has appointed Chef Vikram Khatri as Director of Culinary. In this role, he will focus not only on providing guests with a curated and immersive dining experience, but will work towards redefining the hotel’s gastronomic offerings, by recognising unique blends of creative flair and passion for food, balanced by strong business acumen.
Chef Khatri comes with 21 years of experience in hospitality, working alongside international chefs. He joined the kitchen brigade in 1999 after finishing the Culinary School from Bangalore. His first stint was at The Metropolitan Hotel, New Delhi, where he spent seven years learning the craft, nuances, and technique behind a good professional Kitchen.
He says the real fun was to learn the trade at India’s first Japanese restaurant Sakura, and then joined Olive Group as a core team member, initiating various standalone properties for the group. After a short stint at Australia’s modern Gourmet city, Sydney, he returned to ai, an Olive project in Delhi.
Hailing from Delhi Chef Khatri acquired his Bachelor in Hotel Management (B.H.M) from S.Nijalingappa College, Rajaji Nagar, Bangalore, in 1999 and later went on to undergo 6 months training at the restaurant ‘Ocean room’ in Sydney, Australia, where he attained global exposure in Oriental gourmet cuisine. In addition, he then went on to attend The World Gourmet Summit 2010 and FHA 2010 in Singapore, and also attended a workshop on kaizen management and well-versed with HACCAP.
In each of his prior responsibilities, he has made significant contributions for which he has brought home many awards which include ‘Chef of the Year Award’ at the 7th International Chef Awards organised by the PHD Chamber & Indian Culinary Forum (ICF), along with Indian Federation of Culinary Associations, 2010, and the ‘Culinary Excellence Top Chef Award’ at the Delhi Gourmet Club 2015. He also mentored the team of Chefs who bagged the first and second prizes at the ‘National Sushi Championship 2016’ organised by JETRO, a Japanese trade and investment promotion organisation under Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), along with Indian Federation of Culinary Association (IFCA).
Chef Khatri believes a satisfying meal is one that has harmony, both in flavour and colour. Flavours should complement each other and not overpower. In his opinion the art of flavour pairing is instinctive and can’t be taught and differentiates a good chef from a great one.
Commenting on his appointment, Chef Khatri said, “I am delighted and honoured to be presented the position of Director of Culinary at The Westin Pune. As Director, my very first course of action would be ensuring that the hotel plates food that’s addictive and one that’ll take you over and I look forward to driving the culinary team in curating goals and expanding the firm revenues”.
