Hat's Off

...To Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, recently honoured with the Padma Shri Award, for changing mindsets towards chefs in India

- Amber Dias

If you don’t know the name Sanjeev Kapoor, you’ve probably been living under a rock. With over 150 cookbooks and many more achievements and accolades, he is without doubt India’s most accomplished and recognized chef. Most recently, he was honoured with the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, for his contribution to the culinary realm. An honour well-deserved, but did you know that India’s most famous chef never planned on going down the culinary path?

He reveals, “Back then, I was actually preparing to be an architect. Then, by a twist of fate, I applied for hotel management at The Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi. And my life changed! My journey into the culinary world started as a chef for the ITDC Group, from there I went on to work at various positions and properties in India and abroad.”