Anil Bhandari of AB Smart Concepts with Chef Davinder Kumar and Chef Sanjeev Kapoor
The Indian Culinary Forum (ICF) hosted ‘The Chef Summit’ and the ‘13th Annual Chef Awards 2016’ in association with the Indian Federation of Culinary Associations and World Association of Chef Societies. The event was organized as a part of the celebrations of the International Chef Day at The Ashok, New Delhi.
Culinary experts came together to share their views on topics like, ‘How to succeed as an entrepreneur in food and beverage business’, ‘Culinary education in India’, ‘Future trends in food and beverage business’,’ Food safety for chefs’. etc. Students aspiring to enter the hospitality sector participated in these sessions and asked the chefs various questions.
Talking about the event, Chef Davinder Kumar, president of ICF said, “This is an event to bring together community, exchange ideas and share knowledge. Also, young chefs get a chance to meet masters in the industry.”
Speaking about entrepreneurship in the food and beverage business, Chef Sanjeev Kapoor added, “Indian chefs are relatively unknown outside the country. They need to make their own benchmark just like entrepreneurs from other business streams.”
Lalit Nirula, former CMD of of Nirula’s chain of restaurants and hotels noted that there are over 300 hotel management institutes, but hardly 150 culinary institutes. Hence more people are turning managers instead of chefs. “While there are many crash courses, these are big on quantity than quality. If we don’t take our profession seriously, how can we expect it to see the rise in the career in near future?”he questioned.
Chef Ranveer Brar said, “Talking about food trends, there is a lot of structuring happening today, even in the unorganized hospitality sector like the small eating places. This is a good sign for the future. However, most restaurants with Indian cuisine have similar menus; no one is trying to rediscover to old food culture.”
Other industry people who presented their viewpoint included Chef Manjit Gill, Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, Chef Abhijit Saha, Chef Ravitej Nath, Chef Parvinder Singh Bali, Anil Bhandari, Chairman of AB Smart Concepts, etc.
