IFCA INDIA

Chef Manjit Singh Gill, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels wears many leadership hats beyond the four walls of the hotel group. As President of Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA), Chef Gill was instrumental in getting Indian culinary traditions and the artists behind it, the Chefs, recognition and laurels at the global forum of Chefs. He was the first Indian to receive Honorary Life Membership into WorldChefs. Chef Gill has spearheaded several Indian food promotions of international platforms. He is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from India’s Ministry of Tourism; Chef Gill is passionate about the slow food movement and principles of ancient Indian gastronomy. In 2011, he successfully led his team from ITC Welcomgroup, to a massive catering of gala Indian cocktail dinner for 2000 people, and heavy Indian snacks at DAVOS, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum (WEF) organized by ‘INDIA INCLUSIVE’ representing India.

Dr. Chef P Soundararajan was the Corporate Executive Chef at Club Mahindra Holidays & Resorts, India’s leading lifetime holiday company with 50 resorts across the country. He has held this position since 1997. His responsibilities include Monitoring of overall F&B operations Compiling and implementing standard operating procedures Commissioning of new restaurants and setting up standard recipes along with menu engineering across resorts. He is the second Indian to receive Honorary Life Membership into World Chefs organization, Chef Soundararajan has been involved in the promotion of Indian culinary competitions. He has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Vels University by the former President of India, Dr. A P J. Abdul Kalam. Received Golden Star Award in 2008 issued by the South India Culinary Association. He was awarded the ‘Best Chef of India’ in 2008, by the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India for his contribution to the culinary fraternity in his career which spanned three decades. 39 years of professional experience as a chef. He was assigned to catering for the prestigious Asian Games for close to six thousand athletes every day.

World’s best top ten chefs with Marriott worldwide in 2001 and awarded National award for best chef by the Govt. of India amongst many other recognitions. Manisha is a nationally and internationally recognized culinary innovator with diverse cuisines under her belt. Known for spearheading her work with the local farmers and encouraging them to grow local produce, she has made her passion for local produce evolve to fine dining concepts. Her work in local cuisines, Dehlnav the food of Delhi has evolved with the influence of conflux of communities has found many innovations on the plates. Her award winning restaurants Bukhara and Dum Pukht are leaders in Indian cuisine the world over. Pioneer of many concepts like Food Sherpa, Indigenous Foods. She is a committed advocate for using local seasonal produces which reflects in the cuisine served at ITC Hotels. Developed unique organic locavore ingredients with international flavor for Ms.Hillary Clinton when she visited India in 2011, showcasing our commitment to the environment. Having travelled with “Incredible India” international marketing campaign by the Government of India to promote tourism in India to New York and Los Angeles to create awareness of Indian foods and catered to dinner reception.

Chef Tapan Mukherjee, the Vice-President of the Chefs Guild of India is the Founding Director of Tapan Mukherjee & Co. He has extensively worked with The Grand Hyatt, The Oberoi, and The Claridges hotels in India. He also has a rich international exposure. He worked in United Kingdom and was trained at “Vendome” a three Michelin star restaurant in Germany. An alumnus of the internationally renowned Robert Gordon University (U.K) and American Hotel and Motel Association, Tapan appears frequently on talk shows and is a routine judge for International Culinary Competitions. He regularly writes articles for Hospitality trade magazines and is a prominent sub-committee member of the ICF where he actively engages in forum activities. He supports future Chefs by delivering guest lectures at various Hospitality institutes as well as by judging junior culinary competitions and giving motivational talks during college festivals.

Chef Madhu Sudan Gupta, the Treasurer of the IFCA and CGI is a successful and a progressive person who started his culinary career as Chef Management Trainee in ITDC in the year 1974 and retired as Vice President of Hotels and Corporate Chef in the year 2010. He is also a member of a prestigious international club ‘Le Club des Chefs des Chefs’. He is a veteran in the culinary field and is inspiring many young and budding chefs across the country by sharing his vast knowledge. MS Gupta has been in the business for thirty-five years and has served numerous visiting foreign dignitaries including the former President of the United States, Bill Clinton, and former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf.

Chef Salil started his career in 1991 with Oberoi Hotels as a Kitchen Executive Trainee. After having gained enough skills & knowledge he moved on & since then has worked in many prestigious hotels including the Neptune Hotels and the Marriott Group. He started at Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai in 2007. He has been a preopening specialist, Hotel Sahara Star being his fourth pre-opening hotel. Chef Salil is the founder member of Western India Culinary Association and is currently the serving Vice President With 28 years under his belt and food being at the center of his heart, He has steered the kitchens as Executive Chef for 16 years. He took a lateral shift into the world of managing hotels and is now designated as Hotel Manager, Sahara Star.