DELHI GOURMET CLUB’S Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR 2015 Season 2 ended on Sunday, August 30, with the city’s hospitality industry who’s who giving Chef Arvind Saraswat a standing ovation as he received The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Lifetime Achievement Award from another doyen of the industry, Chef Manjit Gill. The Top Chef Awards is a brain child of the Delhi Gourmet Club. Under the expert guidance of Mr Atul Sikand, Mr Sourish Bhattacharya and Mr Rocky Mohan, Top Chef honours the real people behind the hospitality industry, the Chefs, the Restaurant managers and the Maitre d’s.
Co-chaired by Chef Manjit Gill, Corporate Chef, ITC Hotels, and President, Federation of Indian Culinary Associations, and Vir Sanghvi, eminent food writer, television personality and Chief Editor, EazyDiner, the jury handed out awards in 18 categories.
The Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR 2015 Season 2 was co-presented by the Delhi Gourmet Club, a Facebook group of 7,500-plus discerning food connoisseurs living in Delhi-NCR, and Le Meridien Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR, in association with Lite Bite Foods, Massive Restaurants, The Leela Ambience Gurgaon and Nestle Professional, and beverage support from Pernod Ricard, Sula Vineyards and Kingfisher.
At a glittering awards ceremony held at Le Meridien Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR, winners in 18 categories voted for by the more than 3,000 members of the Delhi Gourmet Club, Sikandalous Cuisine and Indian Restaurant Spy Facebook communities who participated in the election, and the eminent recipients of the six jury awards, were honoured by their industry peers. The jury had shortlisted three to five nominees for each of the 18 award categories open for voting. In the interest of fairness, Le Meridien Gurgaon, Delhi-NCR, opted out of the awards process.
The dinner spread, replete with innovative Indian, Modern European, Chinese, Japanese and Thai specialities put together by Executive Chef Tanveer Kwatra and his talented team, was the highlight of the post-event party.
The winners of the jury awards were (and these included one for the Best Maitre d’ of the Year, the first of its kind in any major food awards):
Jiggs Kalra Award for the Young Chef of the Year: Vikramjit Roy (Tian, ITC Maurya)
Maitre d’ of the Year: Jitender Kapoor (West View, ITC Maurya)
Delhi Gourmet Club Founder Members’ Award for Culinary Excellence: Vikram Khatri (Guppy by Ai)
Jiggs Kalra Award for the Top Chef of the Year: Manish Mehrotra (Indian Accent)
Delhi Gourmet Club’s Restaurateur of the Year: Riyaaz Amlani (Founder CEO and Managing Director, Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.)
The Leela Ambience Gurgaon Lifetime Achievement Award: Arvind Saraswat
And the voters gave their endorsement to the following 18 winners of the Top Chef Awards:
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Excellence in North Indian Cuisine (Five Star): Ghulam Qureishi, Dum Pukht, ITC Maurya
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Excellence in North Indian Cuisine (Standalone): Chiquita Gulati, Gulati’s Spice Market
Nestle Professional Top Chef Season 2 Award for Excellence in South Indian Cuisine: Pavan Jambagi, Carnatic Café
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Best Regional Cuisine: Kainaz Contractor & Rahul Dua, Rustom’s Parsi Bhonu
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Excellence in Modern Indian Cuisine: Saurabh Udinia, Farzi Café
Lite Bite Foods Top Chef Season 2 Award for Best International Café Cuisine (Five Star): Manish Sharma, THREESIXTYONEo, The Oberoi Gurgaon
Lite Bite Foods Top Chef Season 2 Award for International Café Cuisine (Standalone): Shamsul Wahid, Social, Hauz Khas Village
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Excellence in Italian/Modern European Cuisine (Five Star): Diego Martinelli, Le Cirque, The Leela Palace New Delhi
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Excellence in Italian/Modern European Cuisine (Standalone): Romina Lugaresi, Artusi (Award will be collected by Oscar Balcon)
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Best Chinese Cuisine: Zhang Hongshen, China Kitchen, Hyatt Regency New Delhi
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Best Asian Cuisine (Five Star): Vikramjit Roy, Tian, ITC Maurya
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Best Asian Cuisine (Standalone): Janti Dugal, Mamagoto
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Best Japanese Cuisine:Corey E. Asato, Akira Back, JW Marriott, New Delhi Aerocity
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Pastry/Bakery Chef of the Year: Sahil Mehta, The Artful Baker
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Mixologist of the Year (Five Star): Joel Scholtens, Blue Bar, Taj Palace
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Mixologist of the Year (Standalone): Vijay Prakash, Social
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Restaurant Manager of the Year (Five Star): Atul Tiwari, Megu, The Leela Palace
Top Chef Season 2 Award for Restaurant Manager of the Year (Standalone): Palki Singh, Indian Accent
