HBI Staff | Hyderabad 
The Indian Culinary Forum, the apex body of professional chefs in India, honoured some of the best chefs in India at the country’s biggest culinary awards as a part of the celebration of International Chefs Day. Renowned master chefs and hospitality industry veterans graced the 19th edition of the prestigious awards at Hotel Pride Plaza, Aerocity, New Delhi. The award winners were felicitated by the chief guest of the evening Mr Arvind Singh, Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism.
Seventeen outstanding culinary artists were awarded in multiple categories, including the lifetime achievement award, golden chef of the year, silver chef of the year, and others, at the glittering ceremony in the presence of over 400 industry professionals, young chefs, and youngsters looking to make a career in the industry.
In his address, Chef Davinder Kumar, President of the Indian Culinary Forum, said, “The idea behind instituting the Chef Awards was to provide both veteran and upcoming chefs a platform to exhibit and hone their culinary skills. We are thankful to the industry participants, jury members, associates, and sponsors for their support in making the awards successful. We are thrilled to see that the experience gained by the chefs here has helped them maximise their potential and growth, and we hope the awards continue to inspire and encourage more chefs.”
Chef Vivek Saggar, General Secretary of the Indian Culinary Forum, said, “It’s an overwhelming experience to have successfully organised the Annual Chef Awards for nineteen years. We want Indian culinary art to gain more international recognition and acclaim. The Chef Awards not only honour the contribution of our fraternity members but also motivate thousands of youngsters to take up this profession.”
Chef Vinod Bhati, Treasurer of the Indian Culinary Forum added “A Big thanks to our title partner Maggi Professional for making this grand ceremony successful, and special thanks to our associate partners Nutaste, Patanjali, DP Chocolates, Food Service India, Rich’s, Griffith Foods, Cream bell and all our event partners & supporting association for making it a success”.
In the build-up to the Chef Awards, a four-day culinary competition was organised at the Institute of Bakery & Culinary Arts in Delhi and the Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, Delhi. Over 150 chefs from all over India
Indian Culinary Forum organises India’s biggest culinary awards to honour the best chefs
competed in 11 categories in the competition.
Eleven of the 17 award winners were chosen through this competition and the rest six were selected by an esteemed jury. World Association of Cooks Societies (WCAS) certified Dayashankar Sharma chaired the award jury, while noted chef Sireesh Saxena was the organising secretary of the awards function. The title partner for the grand ceremony was Maggi professional and the associate partners were Nutaste, Patanjali, DP Chocolates, food Service India, Rich’s, Griffith Foods, and Cream bell.
The following are the winners of the 19th Annual Chef Awards:
1. Lifetime Achievement Award: Chef Virender S Datta
2. Golden Hat: Chef Vineet Manocha
3. Silver Hat: Chef Bharat Alagh
4. Pastry Chef of the Year: Chef Deep Mohan Singh Bajaj
5. Master Chef Fruit & Vegetable Carving: Chef Carving Karthick
6. Food writer Award: Mr. Sumit Jha
7. Master Chef of the Year: Chef Anuj Mathur
8. Master Chef Kebabs: Chef Hasan Ali
9. Master Chef International Confectionery Award: Chef Izhar Ahmad
10. Master Chef Indian Sweets Award: Chef Dalbir Singh
11. Master Chef South/East/West Indian Cuisine: Chef Ravinder Singh
12. Master Chef International Cuisine Award: Chef Varun Chauhan
13. Master Chef North Indian Cuisine Award: Chef Praveen Kumar
14. Master Chef Oriental Cuisine Award: Chef Mangal Gautam
15. Master Chef Baker Award: Chef Raju Kumar
16. Student Chef of the Year (Female): Sohail Saifi
17. Student Chef of the Year (Male): Radhika Goel
The Indian Culinary Forum is India’s premier association of Professional chefs of India and was set up for the advancement of culinary art in India. The Forum’s objective is to act as a link, platform and instrument for the enhancement and development of the community of chefs. It also aims to bring international culinary prestige to India, encourage Indians to consider a career in hospitality, promote Indian cuisines globally, and help young chefs hone culinary skills through training, workshops, and competition.
The World Association of Cooks Societies (WCAS) is a 110-nation fellowship comprising the world’s various professional chefs’ organisations representing over 9 million professional chefs.
