The second-year students of International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) cooked up a storm at the Monsoon Food Festival, in association with t2, at Penetti Banquets, Mani Square, on September 14 and 15. The theme? Food from South East Asian countries like Myanmar, Thailand,  Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, along with Sri Lankan and Indian cuisines.
“The IIHM Monsoon Food Festival is organised entirely by the second-year students. It gives the students huge exposure, a deep insight of doing big scale food fests and is also a learning for them,” said Suborno Bose, chief mentor and CEO of IIHM.

MENTOR SPEAK

“The students did an amazing job on all aspects of preparation and implementation. They researched about the theme, menu and then the cooking, decor, hospitality, guest handling and back-end operations came into the picture. The students handled everything with professionalism and delight,” said Sanjay Kak, one of the culinary directors, IIHM.

STUDENT SPEAK

Students were the stars of the event, doing it all, from conceptualisation to execution. The executive chef, executive sous chef, pastry chef and event managers were chosen from among the students. “We worked for 12 to 13 hours every day, almost for a week. A lot of hard work is involved in making this event a success and all the students put in their best. We had to take care of getting sponsorships, marketing and the F&B work. This helped us in understanding things like entrepreneurship and pricing of food,” said Sourav Jha (far right), who was one of the event managers for Day 1.

T2 PICKS

THEY LOVED

Lichchavi Ray Chaudhuri (left) from Dum Dum was attending the food festival for the first time. “The dessert spread is so good. I really liked the pancakes and the chocolate banana cake. One thing that’s standing out is the hospitality of the students,” said the first-year student of St. Xavier’s College, with friend Samit Paul, an alumnus of IIHM, by her side.  

“This is the second time that I am attending the festival. My main agenda is to eat. The dessert and main course counters have some good dishes,” said Biproy Saha (centre), a fourth-year electronics engineering student who came with his friends.

Mousumi Mitra has been attending the food festival for the past six years and looks forward to many more editions. “What impresses me is the enthusiasm of the students. They are all so young and energetic and it’s no mean feat to organise something like this. Even though I am not a foodie, I enjoy the variations that we get to see in terms of food,” said the director of beauty salon chain Be Bonnie, who attended the festival with her husband and daughter.

ON THE SIDELINES

The evening also saw a host of cultural events like fashion show, band and dance performances by the IIHM students.

Text: Nandini Ganguly
Pictures: Arnab Mondal, Gopal Senapati