Bengaluru, November 22, 2015: Indian culinary forum hosted 12th annual chef awards 2015 delhi, october 23, 2015: top notch names from the culinary fraternity came together to celebrate and recognize the chefs and their contribution to the hospitality industry and society at large. As a part of the celebrations of international chef day, indian culinary forum (icf) successfully hosted 12th edition of annual chef awards 2015, in an association with the apex body – indian federation of culinary associations and world association of chef societies, at the ashok hotel, chankyapuri, new delhi. Mr. Vinod zutshi, secretary, ministry of tourism, government of india, felicitated the winners of their excellences in the culinary field, in the presence of eminent names of the hospitality industry.
The culinary extravaganza kicked-off with the four-day long trade test where over 100 chefs participated in 11 categories of culinary competition and showcased a series of live culinary skills. Malaysian chef, lee chan wai,was the chairperson of the hon’ble jury along with renowned national and international chefs for the trade test. As part of the celebrations, icf also organized chef summit for consecutive third year, where renowned names from the hospitality industry presented their point of view to the young chefs on various topics. The grand celebration of chef awards 2015 ended with a gala chefs’ child dinner, which was the contribution from leading hotels and restaurants as prepared by the master chefs, the proceeds of which are contributed to their charity organization, ‘chef and child foundation’.
The winners of the different award category were food legend – mr. S.s.h. Rehman (for outstanding contribution to indian cuisine), lifetime achievement award – chef vincent joseph, best food writer award -ms. Rupali dean, golden hat award – chef rakesh sethi (radisson blu, dwarka), silver hat award – chef arvind rai (the ashok, new delhi), chef of the year award – chef vinay sehgal (dramz), master chef international cuisine award chef – pranab nayak (old world hospitality), master chef north india cuisine award – chef lukesh bajaj (radisson blu, dwarka), master chef rest of india cuisine award – chef sebastian (lite bite foods), master chef kebabs award – chef ratan singh negi (radisson blu, noida), master chef indian sweets award – chef dalbir singh (ashok hotel), master chef international confectionary award -chef nitin singharia (le meridien), master chef oriental cuisine award – chef martyn lepcha (radisson blu, noida), kitchen artist award – chef prabhas mandal (old world hospitality), student chef of the year – nikita singhal (iica, hauz khas)
Mr. Anil bhandari, chairman of the organising committee chef awards, instituted the chef awards with mr. R. Kumar of continental equipment in 2004 along with icf and ifca with the objectives to award excellence, to honour chefs, to promote creativity among the chef community, secure the profession its due importance in the society, and to encourage more people to join the profession, especially ladies.
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. On this joyous occasion of the international chefs day i would like to assure our members, corporate members and associates that icf will constantly thrive to bring our fraternity closer and continue its commitment to encourage the betterment of the culinary profession, through improved education, related industry events and collaboratively setting new benchmarks in the hospitality industry.”
Chef vivek saggar, general secretary of indian culinary forum said, “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. The participants are being judged and evaluated by experienced professionals. The whole idea of having the chef awards is the selection of the master chefs from a national team and bringing them forward to the international forefront.”
