t2 went on a hunt for women in five-star addresses in town. though there were only four ladies in the kitchen, in the larger F&B space we found a total of six. Here’s to the girls braving the world of boys to bring the best food to every table
TANIA GHOSH
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Anyone who has walked down The Street’s corridor must have at some point or another spotted a diligent she chef, wearing a black apron, putting the finishing touches to a Chicken Shawarma or simply greeting you with a welcoming nod. That’s Tania Ghosh, and she’s armed with a hotel management degree from IHM Bangalore. She joined The Park in 2006 and at 25, she is in charge of The Street.
First memory of cooking: Making omelettes and scrambled eggs at home. It used to be quite a task without non-stick pans and the egg used to come out charred! Omelette is one of the most difficult things to make, which is why it’s a basic test before joining most hotels, even today. Then I would whip up stuff with things at home when my brother’s friends were over. I soon graduated to making pasta and Chinese.
Best thing about the job: Whenever a dish comes out and a guest is eating it, I like to observe his/her reaction. When the food arrives, you can gauge by the look on the person’s face if he has liked it even before he eats it!
Most challenging item: Crepe or dosa. It may look simple but to get the right consistency is tough, one half of the crepe can come out looking like a papad!
Latest food fad: People are moving towards healthy food, low-cal and low on carbs.
Fastest-moving item at The Street: Chicken Shawarma and cold coffee. With kati rolls available on both sides of the hotel, it’s surprising that our rolls also do well!
Best compliment received from a guest: A French family who ate crepes prepared by me told me that they transported them back home!
Favourite restaurant not at The Park: Taaja’s and Mocambo.
If I was not a chef, I would be: An archaeologist.
My dream: To have a restaurant of my own.
MEETU KUMARI
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Have you ever met someone who hadn’t bunked a single class in college? That’s Meetu and you’ll find her at the HHI Pastry Shop. “At IHM Taratala, I loved practicals more than theory, I never bunked because I just didn’t want to miss a class!” she smiles.
The petite 24-year-old has been assisting the bakery chef at HHI for almost three years now.
First memory of cooking: I was always interested in cooking. During my industry training I was attracted to baking but honestly I don’t remember doing much till I started studying baking in college.
Best thing about the job: Creativity and innovation. We make cakes in all shapes and sizes, and it’s exciting to give a new look to a cake.
Most challenging item: Breads.
Latest food fad: Cartoon cakes for children.
Fastest-moving item at The Pastry Shop: Chocolate cake.
Best compliment received from a guest: Not a guest, but from chef Davide Cananzi. He tried the Tiramisu and said he hadn’t had anything better, anywhere else!
Favourite restaurant not at HHI: KFC.
If I was not a chef, I would be: In banking.
My dream: To be a bakery chef.
SNEHA GUPTA
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At only 23 years, Sneha manages the 106-seater Eden Pavilion at ITC The Sonar. Are the chairs in place? Are the table covers changed? What feedback did the last guest give? Sneha’s hands are full. After completing hotel management at IHM Calcutta, Sneha started her career at ITC in February and seems already at home.
First F&B memory: My family belongs to Rajasthan. At the age of 11, I was pushed into the kitchen and was taught to make phulkas. They never came out round so I used to use a cutter to get the shape right!
Best thing about the job: I’m a complete foodie. Permutation-combinations of the menu excite me most.
Biggest job challenge: At the coffee shop, 350-360 guests drop by in a day, all with varied taste buds. When a guest orders a chicken preparation, he already has a pre-conceived idea of what it will look like. Gathering this knowledge about a guest and delivering to his expectations is the biggest challenge.
Latest food fad: Healthy food. If Fish & Chips was a hit before, now it is Grilled Bekti. Our menus have adapted accordingly. The multi-grain dosas for breakfast are moving very well.
Fastest-moving item at Eden Pavilion: Grilled Bekti, served with a choice of sauce and on a bed of mashed potatoes.
Best compliment received from a guest: A Singaporean who said he had visited three five-star coffee shops in the city and found ours the best.
Favourite restaurant not at ITC: Mainland China.
If I was not a chef, I would be: A basketball player or swimmer.
My dream: To be an F&B manager.
SABRINA DEY
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Young and confident, at 26 she carries off a sari like she was born in one. With her hair pulled together neatly in a bun, and a smile on her face, it is hard to believe that it’s only been a year since the graduate from St Xavier’s College completed her post-graduate course at the Oberoi Centre of Learning & Development. Sabrina now manages La Terrasse, the coffee shop at The Oberoi Grand.
First F&B memory: My uncle used to own a biye bari, so I have grown up seeing the kind of involvement that goes into banqueting events.
Best thing about the job: Anticipating what people want. Being able to recommend what’s good — it could be the perfect dessert or which wine to pair with a meal. When a guest returns to the restaurant after four-five months, and says “you told me that this particular dish was good but I can’t remember which one”, it’s such a high to be able to remember what was recommended the last time! Luckily, all this comes easy to me because I love good food and wine.
Biggest job challenge: Keeping abreast of changing food preferences.
Latest food fad: Health food. Guests are asking for pizza without cheese and other low-calorie items.
Fastest-moving items at La Terrasse: Smoked Hilsa (made with lemon mustard sauce) and Calcutta Cooler (a fresh lime-like drink).
Best compliment from a guest: From a regular, who said, “Having you around is like being at home!”
Favourite restaurant not at The Oberoi: Fire and Ice and Casa Toscana for Italian; Bhojohori Manna for Bengali.
Three words that describe me best: Foodie, optimistic and eccentric.
If I was not a restaurant manager, I would be: A travel writer.
My dream: To be the GM of a five-star, or to own a restaurant of my own.
PRANITA THAPA & SMRITI PRADHAN
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These two 22-year-olds have only been at The Waterside Cafe for two months — and are the only two ladies in the male-dominated Hyatt Regency kitchen. While Smriti’s first memory of cooking is “learning how to make momos from my mom in Class VIII”, Pranita “can’t remember having cooked” before taking it up as a student.
After completing three-year diplomas from IHM (Kalimpong) this year, both are learning the ropes under the guidance of chef Abdul Wahab, chef de cuisine at The Waterside Cafe.
Kitchen tools close to the heart:
Smriti: Knife and slicing machine.
Pranita: Robot Coupe, a multi-purpose machine used for blending and saucing.
Most challenging dish:
S: Any baked item. If you forget any one ingredient it will destroy the dish.
P: Mutton Rogan Josh.
If I was not a chef, I would be:
S: Teacher.
P: Nurse.
Fastest-moving items at The Waterside Cafe: Caesar Salad, Dil Kolkata Bekti and Penne Arrabiata.
My dream:
S: I want to be chef de cuisine some day.
P: I would like to go abroad.
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CRISTETA COMERFORD has been she chef in the kitchen of the world’s most powerful man for 15 YEARS
Tell us about a typical day for you at the White House…
A typical day normally starts like 4.30… And by 6.30am I’m here at work and of course checking emails, checking what the day’s going to be like. And then you know working with Mr Hammonton, who is our head of purchasing. To make sure that whatever we need for the day will be in place.
How does that make you feel, as a woman who’s come from The Philippines and achieved this high level in her job?
Of course, it’s very humbling for me. To serve the first family, the president, the first lady and the children of course.... Being here and serving like the most powerful man in the world. That’s a big thing.
Do you kind of kick yourself every once in a while and say, I’m the executive chef of the White House!
Yes every now and then when I come in, and every time that gate opens. It’s a big blessing. And it’s a responsibility as well.
How did it all start for you?
I came from a family of 11 siblings, so food has always been a part of my family. There’s always food cooking anytime of the day… there’s always rice in the cooker, there’s always something in there. And when I was in the third grade, I actually like, you know, volunteered mom, I’ll take care of breakfast from now on.
When I was enrolling for college, my father came up to me and said, “Chris, why don’t you go to the culinary school?” I gave him the same blanks there. Culinary school? Why should I go to a culinary school? I never really took him seriously.
What do the Obamas like to eat, on a daily basis?
One thing with the Obamas is that they like a lot of different vegetables. And they are easy to please. So we have a good variety of things that we could play with. So it’s an easy family to really feed.
What is the most requested dish in the Obama White House?
Actually it’s more on a lot of the vegetables and salads, so we tend to really do most of our first courses as a salad, very light. Tomatoes and peppers and things like that, very simple.
Do you incorporate the cooking that you’ve grown up with, for official functions?
I mean, definitely. Because being a Filipino every now and then, there’s always that inside of me that says “it needs more garlic”, “it needs...” you know certain things you kind of tend to really favour, but then at the same time just for private dinners, every now and then I would do a recipe that’s very dear to me, like mom’s recipe. Like I would call her up like, hey mom, how do you make this?
How important are ingredients and the quality of ingredients to you as the chef?
It’s very important. For example, this colodrains? Just came from our garden. And how nice it is and sweet. It is to just go out there and have the ability to just walk a few steps out, grab your vegetables and just work with it. I mean, how simple is that?
In the garden you have all these organic and locally grown… Something the first lady and you want to promote…
Definitely. Because like you know, in Mrs Obama’s heart, the youth is the future, you have to make sure that’s well taken care of. So as a chef, my main responsibility is the food. Where it’s sourced from? How to prepare it well? And how to serve it well?
How do you prepare a dinner for the visiting head of state with 300 people in this kitchen?
Very efficiently and very well. You have to be very organised, and there are just certain things in place.
When you cooked for Manmohan Singh… what was that like for you, cooking that dinner?
When we did the state dinner for Manmohan Singh… it was more a kind of like a cook-off, if I may say so. At that time, they were like searching for the executive chef. And I didn’t realise that was actually my menu tasting, because I was a sous-chef running a state dinner at the same time…. you can just imaging how much work and pressure I had to contain with… doing this state dinner was a very honouring thing for me.
What would you tell a young girl who might have been you, in third grade. What advice would you have for her?
I think just really see what you are passionate about. Because eventually you are gonna go to college. You are gonna find a course. You are gonna find a job. Do a job that you would really enjoy the most. So it’s not a job. It’s something that you really enjoy doing. And in doing so you are more effective, you are better at it and you are actually gonna prosper. I think.
Excerpts from CNN “Talk Asia”
