Behind the food scene

It’s always a pleasure when a guest praises your Hotel and your food. Especially, when he likes to meet chef in-person. It is this motivation that helps one to give his best shot at work, says Shailendra Bhandari, executive chef at The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa, New Delhi. He openly shares his thought on how food can influence a person’s character traits.  

According to him, guests like the vast-laid menu and variety of options available ranging from starters to main course and desserts. “Guests have often complimented us that our soup is the best soup in town and it surprises me that there are people who especially come here to have our soups Matcha Yakhni and quinoa cauliflower shorba is quite popular over here,” he boasts. Indeed, the best compliment for a chef. It matters more than the money or luxury and is the key to his job satisfaction.

Now, if we are to talk about food and food-maker we must try and understand what exactly food means to one. Food for many is not a thing that makes you feel full or just fulfils your hunger. It is rather something that makes you feel good, he says. A person will only indulge in purchasing a dish if he or she feels confident about that particular one. Now, here is a new concept where the USP of a restaurant along with its dishes are the 200 variants of chutneys that they offer.

In the present era where technology has taken over every aspect of a person’s life, how can kitchen be exempt from tech products? Speaking on this, the executive chef reveals, “Technologies have made life easy and smart technologies have given us the license to innovate new things. Nowadays, many new food technologies are available in market and we are using some of the smartest and useful ones in our kitchen.

We are using smart air fryer which fries and cooks food with a tablespoon of oil without compromising on its crunchiness and taste. This is a healthy method of cooking. Less oil helps in maintaining cholesterol level and keeps weight under control.”

“Another machine which we love using is blast chiller. This chiller freezes food in 5 minutes. This quick and smart process avoids bacteria formation at zero level. We also use combi oven for quick and smart cooking. The oven cooks different items at same time that require different temperature. So, as and when any new trend comes, we try to adapt it in our kitchen,” he adds.

What he prepares ends up becoming a favourite for guests from across the globe. But the chef prefers Italian food among all. He cannot figure out though, which particular dish is his absolute favourite.

As he says, “Even my simple toast and butter needs to be creative and appetising. I like to give a twist to my everyday meal too.”  

A chef does not become a chef in one day. It takes a lot of practice, hard-work and zeal to prove oneself. Shailendra’s story goes like this, “I was born and raised in Delhi and graduated in Hotel Management from ITI, Pusa, New Delhi. After completing my hotel management, I started my career with Hotel Radisson, Mahipalpur and later joined Grand Hyatt, Delhi. Have also worked with Leela Kempenski, Mumbai, and then moved to Doha Qatar for 8 years. My last stint was after I came back to India was with B&R Hospitality, Mumbai as corporate chef and then finally I am here at The Metropolitan Hotel. It’s been a year now.”

Food means differently to each individual. For some a dish can act as a stress-buster, while a whole lot can simply be bribed with their favourite dish on any occasion. But food or especially a dish means completely different to one whose day’s job is to make sure that his preparation stands out from the crowd. Bhandari says, “As a chef, my focus is taste and presentation without compromising on health benefits. Every dish is an artwork so I work extra inch on my plating. I believe a dish should be appealing and visually attractive for a wholesome dining experience.” But all that one hopes doesn’t come true in reality. At times the best in the game also makes mistake worth criticism. And a chef must know how to handle such circumstances. Commenting on this the chef concludes,

“We listen to our customers and try to understand the issue. I believe criticism helps us in growth. It can be from the service point of view or taste wise and we take it seriously. This way we get to know our guest’s evolving taste and expectations from us as well.

We implement the same so that our guests have a comfortable experience. A genuine criticism always helps us to make a better dish. We take criticism positively and our team work towards it as we want our guests to be happy and come back to us again.”