With voting drawing to a close for Season 3 of Nearbuy presents Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR, there’s heavy speculation about the lucky 18 — chefs, pastry makers, mixologists and restaurant managers — among the 104 contenders who will walk away with the trophies at the awards ceremony to be held on Sunday, September 4 at The Claridges New Delhi. Top Chef Awards is the only one of its genre in Delhi-NCR to honour the people, especially young and emerging talent, behind popular and successful restaurants in the country’s most competitive dining out market. The nominees for the voting round of the Awards were shortlisted by an eminent jury consisting of 15 industry leaders. As of August 30, 2:00 P.M., as many as 21,500 individuals had cast their votes. Founders Sourish Bhattacharyya and Atul Sikand brought the Top Chef Awards together to recognise local brilliance in kitchens and restaurants across Delhi-NCR. Explaining the thought behind Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR, Bhattacharyya, well-known food critic and blogger (www.indianrestaurantspy.com), said: “Professionals who bring food to people, be it by cooking,serving, or managing, can take comfort in their existence. With the Top Chef Awards, we recognize and encourage individual talent in gastronomy. This event exemplifies the spirit of food and the chef community in a way that has never been done.”
As a build-up to Season 3 of Nearbuy presents Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR, as many as 28 chefs threw in their hats on Monday, August 29, for the top honors at the Great Butter Chicken Cook-off, a first-of- its-kind live challenge to identify the best butter chicken and shahi paneer in the city. Held at the Banarsidas Chandiwala Insitute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, the Great Butter Chicken Cook-off was presented by Lite Bite Foods, the company that owns, among other brands, the Punjab Grill international franchise. The Cook-Off winners will be announced on Sunday. Speaking on the awards and the Great Butter Chicken Cook-Off, Atul Sikand, curator and administrator of Facebook’s largest Indian recipe-sharing community, Sikandalous Cuisine, added: “As in the past two years, the nominees for the awards have been chosen by a panel of eminent hospitality industry professionals headed by Chef Manjit Gill, President, Indian Federation of Culinary Associations, and Corporate Executive Chef, ITC Hotels. This year, we wanted to ramp up the excitement and therefore added the element of a live challenge. We thank Lite Bite foods for sharing our vision, and hope to have more such events in the run-up to the next season of the awards.Besides Chef Gill, this year’s jury consists of Bakshish Dean, Executive Director, Prime Gourmet; Manish Mehrotra of Indian Accent; Ritu Dalmia, Chef & Co-Owner, Diva; Vineet Kochhar, Corporate Executive Chef, Lite Bite Foods; Samir Kuckreja, Trustee, National Restaurant Association of India; Rahul Singh, Founder-CEO, The Beer Cafe; Anant Verma, Business Head, DLF Utilities; Shivkaran Singh, Director, Smokey’s BBQ & Grill; Yangdup Lama, Celebrity Mixologist and Owner/Partner, Cocktails& Dreams Speakeasy; Chiquita Gulati, Chef & Co-Owner, Gulati’s Spice Market; Ravitej Nath, Indian Cuisine Consultant; Tanveer Kwatra, Director of Cuisine, W Goa; and Sid Mathur, Head of F&B, Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality.”
After the jury shortlisted the nominees, they were put to the ultimate test — an online vote by members of the Delhi Gourmet Club, Sikandalous Cuisine and Indian Restaurant Spy Facebook communities. The names of the winners will be announced at the awards evening at The Claridges New Delhi on September 4, 2016. As in the past two years, the jury and patrons have also nominated eight hospitality professionals for special awards. Dhaba, the North Indian restaurant that has completed 30 successful years at The Claridges New Delhi, will also be honoured with a celebratory awards. The jury/patrons& awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented in 2015 to Arvind Saraswat who led the Taj Palace and Taj SATS kitchens for a number of fruitful years; and Restaurateur of the Year, which went last year to Riyaaz Amlani, President, National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), and CEO-Managing Director, Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality. The names of the Season 3 special awardees will be declared on September 4.
For more details about the Top Chef Awards Delhi-NCR Season 3, click here.