New Delhi, November 08, 2016: Incredible chefs in huge number from around the country, battled it out to wow the jury at 13th Annual Chef Awards organized by the Indian Culinary Forum, in association with the apex body – Indian Federation of Culinary Associations and World Association of Chef Societies, at The Ashok Hotel, Chankyapuri, New Delhi. The best among the 100s of chefs were bestowed with awards in the presence of Hon’ble Chief Guest, former Director General Tourism, Government of India and International Tourism Advisor Shri V.K. Duggal among other top notch names from the culinary fraternity.

The culinary extravaganza kicked-off with the four-day long Trade test where participating chefs competed in 11 culinary categories and showcased a series of live culinary skills. Chairperson of the jury Chef Alan Payen, WCWB Ambassador from Mauritius with renowned national and international chefs evaluated the best among them. As part of the celebrations, ICF also organized Chef Summit for Consecutive fourth year, where eminent names from the Hospitality industry, like Chef Sanjeev kapoor, Chef Manjit Gill, Mr Anil Bhandari, Chairman AB Smart Concepts and AB Smart Placement, Chef Davender Kumar, Chef Sabyasachi Gorai, Chef Abhijit Saha, Mr. Lalit Nirula, IAS Officer Dr. Mrinalini Darswal, Chef Ravitej Nath, Chef Parvinder Singh Bali and others presented their viewpoints on various aspects of Indian Cuisine.

Chef Davinder Kumar, President of Indian Culinary Forum said, “The evolution and concept of this Chef Awards is to recognize, honour and promote the fraternity of Chefs and encourage youngsters to join the industry. Cooking and serving great food is only one part of the mix — it has to be met with the enthusiasm of its staff for the overall experience to be memorable. 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. Every year we aim to patronize authentic food culture and motivate chefs to be innovative and creative. I am sure it was a valuable experience for all the chef and will surely maximize their potential and growth in the sector.”

Chef Vivek Saggar, General Secretary of Indian Culinary Forum said, “We celebrate International Chef Day every year by organizing Chef Award to recognize, honour and promote culinary excellence among the fraternity of Chefs and encourage youngsters to join the industry. 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.”

The winners of the different award category were Golden Hat Award – Chef Rajan Loomba, The Ashok Hotel; Lifetime Achievement Award – Chef Imtiaz Qureshi; and Best food writer award – Rinku Madan. The other category are for, Master Chef International Cuisine award – Chef Anuj Verma; Lady Chef of the Year ­–Chef preetika Malik, ITC Hotels ; Master Chef Baker Awards – Chef Birender Kumar, Hotel Golden Tulip; Master Chef Regional Cuisine awards (South Indian) – Chef S. Kamalakannan, The Oberoi; Kitchen Artist award –Chef Jitender, the Ashok; Master Chef International Confectionary Award – Chef Prashanth Bhatol, the Leela Ambience, le Meridian; Master Chef North India Cuisine Award – chef Ankit Sharma, Country INN & sweets Saibabad UP; Master Chef Indian Sweets Award –Chef Sukanta Pal, lemon Tree Premier society; Master Chef Oriental Cuisine Award –Chef Harish Chander, Double Tree; Master Chef Kebab Award – Chef Prem Kumar, Radison Blue and Student Chef of the Year Award –Mohanjeet Singh.

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)