The Oscars of Chef Awards in India, 16th Annual Chef Awards by Indian Culinary Forum

Hospitality Lexis glorifies the 16^th Annual Chef Awards organised by The Indian Culinary Forum to honour the best culinary artists of India

Hospitality Lexis/ Print edition December 2019 

New Delhi: The Indian Culinary Forum organised the 16^th Annual Chef Awards in the presence of renowned master chefs and veterans of the hospitality industry at Hotel Le Meridien, Delhi. Hosted to commemorate the International Chefs Day, Amitabh Kant, CEO NITI Aayog was the chief guest of the evening. Also, present on the occasion was one of the most respected and loved chefs of India, Padma Shri Sanjeev Kapoor. The glittery night witnessed an august gathering of around 400 industry professionals including young chefs & students.

While addressing the attendees, Sh. Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog said, "Indian chefs are one of the best in the world. There is a lot of stress on healthy food, but if we look at traditional Indian cuisine then there is nothing healthier than it. Indian chefs are the best brand ambassadors of the country and will play a pivotal role in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of becoming a 5 trillion economy by 2024."

As a build-up to the awards, four days’ culinary competitions were held at RIG Institute of Hospitality & Management, Greater Noida and Academy of Pastry Arts, Gurugram among young and promising chefs in ten different categories. Noted Malaysian Chef Peter Chan was the Chairperson of the jury in this year’s competitions along with renowned national and international chefs, while Chef Sireesh Saxena was the organizing secretary. 

Speaking on the occasion, Anil Bhandari, a hospitality industry veteran and Chairman of the Organising Committee ICF, said “It’s an overwhelming experience to have successfully organised the Annual Chef Awards for the last one and a half decades. Our idea behind the inception of the Chef Awards was to provide both veteran and upcoming chefs a professional platform where they can exhibit and hone their culinary skills.”

Chef Davinder Kumar, President Indian Culinary Forum added, “The Chef Awards aims to not only honour the contributions of our fraternity members but also motivate thousands of youngsters to take up this profession. Hosting the Chef Awards wouldn’t have been an immensely successful affair without the constant support and encouragement of the industry experts, jury members, associates, sponsors, and participants. We have all made earnest endeavours to bring our fraternity closer year after year and will continue to do everything possible for the betterment of the culinary profession. By imparting improved education and organising grand industry-specific events, we will try and set new benchmarks in the hospitality industry.”

Chef Vivek Saggar, General Secretary Indian Culinary Forum, opined “There is a need to see chefs as nothing less than artists as what they prepare, requires a great deal of imagination and creativity. It’s a platform where the young turks can meet the veterans of the field and exchange ideas. The awards will spread greater awareness about this profession and highlight the indispensable role of chefs in the hospitality sector.”

The following are the winners of the 16^th Annual Chef Awards:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Chef Sushil Chugh, GM & Executive Chef, Hotel Country Inns & Suites by Radisson

Golden Hat:  Chef Machindra Umakant Kasture, The Ashok Hotel

Silver Hat:    Chef Sanjay Agrawal & Chef Vivek Saggar

Pastry Chef of the Year:  Chef Ranojit Kundu

Lady Chef of the Year:  Chef Rekha Sharma

Food writer Award: Mr Kalyan Karmakar

Master Chef of the Year: Chef Raj Kumar Gupta, Hotel Le Meridien, New Delhi

Master Chef Kebabs: Chef Ravindra, Country Inns & Suites by Radisson 

Master Chef International Confectionery Award: Chef MPK Reddy, Leela Ambience

Master Chef Indian Sweets Award: Chef Sukanta Pal, Hotel Lemon Tree

Master Chef South/East/West Indian Cuisine: Chef Govind Singh Deopa, Leela Ambience

Master Chef International Cuisine Award: Chef Jatin Bhatia, Leela Palace

Master Chef North Indian Cuisine Award: Chef Dhum Singh, Hotel Lemon Tree

Master Chef Oriental Cuisine Award: Chef Swapnil Mendiratta, Leela Ambience

Master Chef Baker Award: Chef Deepak James, Hotel Suryaa

Student Chef of the Year (Female): Chef Ashi Nibekar, DIHM 

Student Chef of the Year (Male): Chef Kartik Agrawal, BCIHMCT

Special Jury Awards: Excellence in Culinary Art: Chef Vikas Khanna - For outstanding contribution in promoting Indian Cuisine Globally 

The Indian Culinary Forum is India’s association of Professional chefs of India. It was formed in New Delhi in 1987 as an exclusive non-profit-making organization, dedicated solely to the advancement of the culinary art of India. The Forum’s objective is to act as a link, a platform and an instrument for the enhancement and overall development of the national community of chefs. The World Association of Cooks Societies is 110-nation fellowship comprising the world’s various professional chefs’ organization representing over 9 million professional chefs. The ICF has an international culinary focus in the staging of its various competitions, seminars, and events. The aims of the ICF, broadly, are:

To enhance international, the culinary prestige to India

To encourage Indian nationals to consider a career within the hospitality industry

To promote Indian Cuisine globally

To help young chefs to hone culinary skills through training, workshops, and competition

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