On 11/08/2020, WGSHA hosted a webinar under the title”Rendezvous with Chef Atul Kochhar”. All the students of Bachelors in Hotel Management and Bachelors in Culinary Arts were the beneficiaries of the above event.

The event started very well on time with an opening note from the Principal, Chef K. Thirugnanasambantham. The Guest speaker was introduced by one of the students and this was followed by a 40 minutes key note address by Chef Kochhar.

Chef began his talk with a sneak peek into his college days around 25 years back in one of the prestigious Hotel Management institutes in Chennai and went on to say how his college days in one of the South Indian States made him fall in love with the cuisine of South. Furthermore, he continued telling about his journey with the Oberoi Group before leaving to Mayfair, London which completely turned tables for Chef.

Being the head chef of a restaurant in Mayfair, Chef Kochhar got an opportunity to interact with several Michelin Star Chefs including Chef Marco Pierre White and Chef Gordon Ramsay and he understood the attributes associated with a Michelin Star Restaurant.

The incident which changed the face of his restaurant was when his father disliked the food he served at his own restaurant. Chef realized that he needs to improvise and adapt as per the taste and requirement of the local crowd and needs to do innovation with the ingredients available in the native. A single minded focus on what one wants to achieve is the key to the success of any restaurant and Chef Atul Kochhar, in the year 2001 received his first Michelin Star whilst he was with Tamarind.

Addressing the current pandemic issue and its affect on the Hospitality Industry, Chef told that every scarcity comes with an opportunity and urged the students to think out of the box and come up with new ideas of survival in the market amidst the pandemic.

Chef concluded his address by saying us to not cook for earning a Michelin star but to cook for promoting the cuisine of India.

The webinar ended with a Question and Answer Session and Chef Kochhar answered all the questions with his sheer knowledge and wisdom. The session concluded well on time.