The Hospitality Industry is one of the fastest growing and one of the most challenging arenas to find yourself in today’s competitive world. The generation of the modern era is looking for growth- development & advancement in its verticals in short time! With aspirations and ambitions soaring sky high for some on the other hand there are questions on how to sustain and be stable. Dr. Kaviraj Khialani- Celebrity Master Chef, Food Designer, Author & Academician, Food- Health & Lifestyle Consultant and National Level Advisor- To the Education &Hospitality Sector shares excerpts from one of his recent interviews answering a few important questions which one must find answers to before getting into it and taking it up as a career choice!

1. You have had an illustrious journey of over 25 years in the food and hospitality industry. Tell us about some of your challenges and learnings?

 I have always described myself as a committed, competent and creative professional with a untiring passion and dedication when it comes to culinary and hospitality industry in all aspects. My journey of over 22 years now have taught me some really very important lessons of life and I’m very glad and thankful to chef’s arena for having given me this opportunity to share it with all our esteemed readers. The word CHEF to me itself has been a great teaching right from the time I started since the age of 7 taking it up as a hobby and moving upwards and making it my one and only area of in-depth interest and expertise. 

C- CURATE

H- HOPE

E- EVOLVE

F- FAMILIARISE

• C- the very fact that cooking has always been my first love since childhood it was very important for me to curate, create, study, research, plan and get onto the range and try out my ideas and get them onto the plates for feedback and finale.

• H- a hope that yes things will fall in place and it will be all good at the end of the trial with a ray of positivity and a mind-set open for criticism, many of my tasks, challenges put across to me from new recipe development or creating unusual concepts for clients as a part of consultancy, performing in front of various media platforms etc hope is truly a saviour!

• E- to evolve and emerge as a winner was second to nature in my case ever since I grew up making cooking and food my passion and every date with food and a new recipe would evolve some really new ways to impress my guests, my evaluators at events and contests, my audience, my fans, well-wishers and even critics who have made me a much stronger achiever in all I do and wish to achieve.

• F- to be able to meet up the desired expectations of a human mind at various levels in a professional field it is imperative to familiarise yourself with what’s in vogue and in the trend these days, what are the latest developments we come across in changing times be it a new style of cooking or a cuisine by itself being taking top charts being aware and to be able to manage your work and operations being in touch really adds on to the experience like a berry instead of a cherry on the cake!

2. Covid and the impending lockdown have had a negative impact on the hospitality industry. Tell us about some of your experiences during the pandemic era and your mantra of staying strong?

 I have somehow decided not to be using any negative thought or words or any statement as an important learning from this phase of Covid era as we all have been witnessing since a year and a half now. Seeing something positive in a negative situation is also an art and a science in itself which I somehow was able to put into practice during this phase. 

C- CARE

O- OPTIMISM

V- VARIATE

I- INSIGHT

D- DEEDS

For me my own will power and faith in almighty kept me strong enough to face every single day and as I said above the pandemic has made me take more care of not only my own self, family, loved ones but also my industry and social circle, my community too on the whole. With an optimistic approach I was able to stand with a lot of people, was able to console, help, assist, mentor, coach and support a number of known and unknown entities as well at various levels. It was a variate kind of thought process as people wanted ways and means of sustenance, some wanted to try something new on the work front as well, having an insight of futuristic development and positivity I was able to offer all the possible expertise with my experience to those who wished to do something like starting cloud kitchen ventures, private coaching centers, starting tiffin services, menu planning for starting up home bakery set ups and a lot more.

3. During the last year which saw erratic and unprecedented times, you have gone out of your way to extend support towards the community and the society at large. Tell us about your initiatives?

 well, according to me I would just say that I did just a little bit what I could do to the best of my ability and capacity from supporting families in need, to senior citizens to associating with NGO’s and other social service activities which are not only humanitarian but also make us do some good karma have been a major part of my little steps towards providing food, shelter, clothing, essentials of education to kids and those who were not able to pay up school/college fees etc 

Besides, I also took up online counselling as well as a major part of this phase where loads of professionals from our industry from various hierarchy levels and departments were spoken with and were being able to be given some worthwhile tips on advice on how to ensure little stability during the unprecedented times.

4. How would recommend that the talented and skilled chefs in our industry should be utilising their time and how could more people get involved in humanitarian activities?

 well that’s a very nice question, somehow I feel that professionals from our industry need to be more approachable and be able to connect up with the ones who are intending to take this competitive profession of ours as a aim in life with loads of ambitions to achieve. Especially talking about the young professionals who graduated recently and had joined the industry were shaken up very badly and had nothing to say in order to what they were feeling about it. The support system needs to be a little stronger, a more stand with attitude and share to shape activities can help us getting more stability in our professional field in the times to come. Though a lot many did their level best from their side to do whatever they could but somehow the more the merrier as we say! Having a connect to continue and a humanitarian activity like help retain people as far as possible if not recommend them to suitable organisations and ensure they get through a decent re-start mode in their life.

5. What according to you are some of the new normal which the food industry will be looking forward to in the times to come?

 The Covid pandemic has made us realise a few important aspects of life and that is self-care before service. The mere thought process and learning which we usually have in mind that a hotel is a home away from home as we have all been learning ever since we did hotel management, therefore it gets all the more important to prepare our self by getting vaccinated first and our team members as well to be able to gain the trust and confidence of our guests that we are playing safe to the ultimate every single moment. Secondly, the new normal also foresees the use of artificial intelligence systems to an extent though we always believe in connecting up and having the one to one upfront interaction and service quality standards which cannot be completely replaced. An important aspect attached to the re-designing and re-structuring our busy kitchens are an important point of concern looking at the social distancing norms, we won’t advice having very crowded and packed kitchens. Thirdly, the kind of food and service patterns will also be seeing a change in times to come from having more freshly cooked food on buffets in small quantities, more refills, less wastage, food temperatures and safety standards being kept in place at all times, lesser number of very close contact service styles will also be a part of the new normal as we move ahead with time to ensure and assure our guests of safety and well-being.

6. What would be the tips and words of motivation that you would like to share with the students of hospitality management who wish to make a successful career ahead in the industry?

 TIPS: T- TRUST, I – INVOLVE, P- PATIENCE, S- SUSTAIN.

I love using words which are really effective, strong and are able to deliver a message to all those who wish to see themselves as a brand name, as an achiever, as a professional with the best quality standards, skills and set an example for others to follow us all and move the right way. It is very important to firstly know and be aware at all times that why do you wish to pursue a graduation course in hospitality management and to get these answers it might be necessary to seek professional guidance as well, which should be taken before it is too late. Once you have made up your mind, then there should be no two ways about it, it should be a one track follow move and reach your destination. There are many who are not sure of what they wish to do even at the end of the final year which is not a good sign and should be avoided. We need to be 100 percent sure and be ready to work on ourselves once we decide to join this competitive course. Staying focussed, being disciplined, punctual, committed to your tasks, being a continuous learner and picking up skills, areas of talent and being a confident multi-tasking individual would be really nice.

7. Tell us more about your recent national series of Webinars as offerings to the student community across India at various hotel management colleges and universities?

 Evolving from a situation and reaching out with an even better impact being one of the many learnings from the pandemic made me start a national level “Knowledge Sharing Activity” series of educational and motivational webinar sessions across the country from Shimla, Chandigarh, Punjab, Noida and himachal in the north to west Bengal, Gujarat, Surat, Ahmedabad, Mizoram, Bangalore, Hyderabad to name a few out of over 2 dozen such sessions which were truly inspiring for the students which not only answered their queries during the open forum during the sessions but also gave them in-sights on several topics like holistic approach in cooking, menu planning, innovation in Covid times, Covid cuisine and its impact, hospitality- the way forward, avenues and options post hotel management course and many more topics were covered which were out of books and curriculums as well. This was also a little offering from my end having been with this profession since 22 years now, I had a deadline and figure of at least covering over 22 colleges, universities, institutions offering hotel and tourism management studies as a professional course for our students and I’m very glad with the grace of god and the welcoming response I have received from various parts of the country for my sessions I have now revised the figure from 22 which is already achieved to my next lucky number!

8. Tell us about some of your positive traits during your career which can inspire the future generation?

 positivity is somewhat grilled into me ever since I saw myself growing up in this industry and for the very fact I never had a god-father in this profession being the first one in my family to take it up itself was a big challenge which has been very well met with. The support and blessings of my parents ever since have always made me a winner and achiever in all I wished to do. But to take this question in its literal sense of practicality, yes I had to develop a few positive traits in order to be there and which I must share with our youngsters to be achievers of tomorrow.

• Never give up attitude.

• Think- plan- work on it.

• Do not look for short cuts.

• Be a dreamer- imagine!

• Think from guest’s point of view as well.

• Passion to perfection as a mantra.

• Create- impress- conquer.

• perform- accept criticism- improve.

• Listen- act- don’t just react.

• Nothing is impossible.

 

9. What has been your success formula? Which are your upcoming projects/assignments?

 to me success has not been about formulating indexes or equations in my journey. I have had lows and bad days too, it is from that we pick up the real learnings of life and the faster we are able to improve and perform with dignity and standards I guess things and success starts falling in place. Some of the elements however which make me the kind of personality I am today is CONFIDENCE! It is one of my major key to success. It has opened unexpected doors and opportunities for me during my success journey so far and it just keeps me going stronger day by day. Besides, I also believe that being KNOWLEDGEABLE and being a PEOPLE’S PERSON really makes it simple to an extent. Being an achiever, winner, setting and raising standards of performance and then being a closed person not being able to make a connect with, doesn’t make anyone great. There is no secret I would say which I need to hide or keep away from people on how I have performed or proved myself over the years, being an open book with every page offering a lesson to learn and look up to sounds better to me. Some of my upcoming projects include a series of e-books on a recent topic titled: life of a hotel management student- a realistic approach to success! Besides I also have a number of assignments with several educational institutions in India and abroad as well on designing curriculum patterns, revising certain chapters in subjects like advanced culinary arts and developing course content as well. A documentary on my success story from being a model at the age of 11 months to growing up to being a celebrity chef! A few restaurant consultancy assignments from menu development to setting standard recipes and more. A couple of brand endorsement activities which will involve creative ideas and something new to impress the consumers, these are a few thoughts on tasks being worked upon as of now.

10. Do you feel that Indian food professionals are creating culinary trends for the world to follow? Your thoughts, please.

 absolutely, we as indian food professionals have some of the best exposure and experience in our country and indian cuisine itself is a super hit cuisine across the globe when it comes to variety, tastes, flavors, overall satisfaction, impression and palatability. We as indian chefs and food connoisseurs are doing a fantastic job with our creative minds and our hands on exposure with our foods are helping us create and develop trends as well in spite of just following some others as the case usually is. We are definitely in a strong position to set standards on a global level and with our personalised touch and love for our cuisine we have broken a number of records too and there are an umpteen number of followers of our unmatched level of talent.

11. Chefs are the face of a restaurant and have been the driving force in the operations and success thereof. Is there a fear of overexposure and resultant complacency when it comes to success in the form of awards and recognition?

 I don’t think so. I do agree that chefs are the face of a food operation be it a restaurant or a hotel or any kind of food related business and they do play a major unbeatable role in the success and revenue generation process of any food related organisation. In my opinion our chef’s community is well grounded and we do not take things into our head and never try to ignore or overlook our basic love for food and cooking. We are somehow good in balancing recognition, rewards and awards and It only makes us more and more motivated to perform even better and raise the standards like never before.

12. What comes to your mind when you think of the term Mindful Gastronomy?

 to me mindful gastronomy refers to being aware of the senses and what they discover while we prepare the food. To me cooking somehow is an act of caring as we create and what’s even more important is when we are mindful of the ingredients we choose for making a dish, that recipe will turn out to be truly nourishing and deeply satisfying too for my guest. I have always tried to enjoy the experience as I have been cooking be it any kind of dish for instance giving a tadka or tempering to a dal khichdi or preparing a marination for a tandoori or a continental grill, be it a fusion of indo- Spanish version of a butter chicken or a mexican style palak paneer with cheesy ajwain bruschettas, somehow the mindful understanding of the various ingredients their impact and transformation in the dish we add them in one by one from crackling of mustard seeds to sun-drying of tomatoes, preparing a desi style cumin and kasuri methi flavoured lasagne sheet to doing a drunken jalebi in a chocolate mousse topped with paan ki rabdi ! the art of mindful cooking presents an opportunity to anchor the mind and focuses attention on the senses, tuning them into the sights, sounds, aromas and textures of the creative culinary tasks at hand.

13. What is your take on the quality of fresh talent which is available in India today? Do you feel that there needs to be a change in the way they are prepared at the college level to face the challenges of the kitchen better? Please elaborate.

Preparing our fresh talent beyond curriculums and just regular lectures be it theory or practical sessions seems to be the need of the hour. I have always been closely connected and in-tune associated with my industry at various levels and all departments as well. My kind of professional circle involves asst. cooks to room attendants, dish-washing managers, kitchen stewarding experts, store, purchase, audit, human resource professionals, training managers, sales and marketing directors, executive chefs, director-food & beverage, general managers and all levels right up to the owners. The reason me mentioning this is for a simple fact that the expectation level and the entry level sync has been somewhat a challenge in my observations in the last few years. Students who are graduating have a set expectation of number of hours of duty, a particular set amount of salary, number of off days in a month, additional employee benefits, raise and promotion graphs and a lot more. Whereas when I see the same thing from the industry point of view it says that we need balanced individuals with a good mind-set, the right attitude, impressive to be representing our brands, good basic communication and knowledge of subject area of specialisation to name a few. A simple way out to face these challenges better would be to have an involvement of the industry experts from various departments in a planned manner scheduled into our time-tables be it twice a month or 3 times a month or whenever we get the mutual consent and we must bridge that gap between expectations and reality.it also gives the students a chance to clarify their doubts as well in a number of ways and learning can get more effective.

14. Have the kitchens of India started to create an honourable space for ladies in hospitality? What in your view needs to be done to provide equal opportunity to ladies in the kitchen and ensure their safety at the workplace?

 no two ways about it. Women in hospitality have ever since carved a niche for themselves in a long time now and I have known a number of women at the top be it executive chefs, corporate chefs, head bakery chefs, general managers, vice president operations and all over in every department being an effective team member, great initiatives, leadership qualities and being able to get tasks and work done on time too, be it tough situations, handling guests, corporates, clients etc have offered them the best of the honor, name and fame in our industry. There is a complete need for equal opportunity for the ladies in the kitchen as well and as we say where there is a will there is ought to be a way! Be it safety, dignity, care, respect and teamwork it is all there and will be as well in the future.

15. What is the one place which you would travel to, just for the food and experience? Why?

 Turkey! It has been one of the places on my pending list to travel and go all the way to explore the amazing food out there, known for its exemplary melting pot of culinary history and taste in its food, I would love to plan my next convenient trip to turkey do a little research as well on ground and getting along my experiences reviving them back into my kitchen with a twist of des taste into it and would love to bring about the unique experience and memories from Ankara & Istanbul!

16. What is your favourite food? Do your taste buds favour any particular region of India for its culinary prowess?

That’s a challenging one! My favourite food of course is indian cuisine on the whole out of which I love Dal Khichdi the most, it’s one of my most comforting and satisfying food which I love having with some home-made pickle, some papad, and a glass of chaas or a bowl of curd or raita for a truly wonderful meal. 

My taste buds favour my entire country on the whole as there is so much to cook, eat enjoy and relish in our home cuisine. So I would not want to be sounding picky on any particular region as such I am an avid foodie and I love balance at the end of the day!

Please provide one word/ line answers to the following:

• Favourite food – Indian Cuisine- Dal Khichdi.

• Favourite restaurant- Ming Yang- Taj Lands’ End, Bandstand, Mumbai.

• Most admired chef – Chef Gordon Ramsay.

• Most memorable guest - Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia.

• Favourite holiday destination - Switzerland

• Favourite movie – 3 Idiots.

• Favourite TV Show – Master Chef Australia.

• Favourite book – The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

On a concluding and guiding note: Yes, if you wish and have a clear vision with all your doubts cleared, go ahead- book your seat with an esteemed institution and kick-start your academic career by moulding yourself into a rock hard adjustable well-grounded individual who will be like a clay when needed and will perform at its best never compromising on values- ethics and morals. The sky is the limit as it is always said but looking beyond the horizon and aiming high to achieve nothing but success is all the more interesting to work towards! Wishing all aspirants all the very best for a successful career in hospitality.

With best regards,

Dr. Chef. Kaviraj Khialani.

Author & Academician.

Celebrity master chef.

Mumbai.