News & Updates
Ethnic Chef Award 2011
CCE Group are the proud sponsors of the Ethnic Chef Award at the 2011 Craft Guild of chefs’ culinary Oscars
Winner
Karunesh Khanna Amaya
Karunesh Khanna was specially recruited from India by Masala World for the post of head chef at Amaya in Belgravia. As a holder of a catering diploma from the Government of India run catering college in Calcutta, he was selected to join the prestigious Taj Hotels chef management programme. He trained in the western cuisine stream specialising in French cooking and was appointed chef in charge of Orient Express, the top French restaurant in New Delhi located in the Taj Palace Hotel. He has now been at Amaya for more than six years and during that time it became one of the few Indian restaurants to be awarded a Michelin star, and the rare distinction of winning two prestigious restaurant awards – the Tio Pepe ITV award for best restaurant as well as the best new restaurant award.
This was the first time these awards had been presented to a restaurant serving non European food. Khanna sets high standards and the combination of ingredients and spices that create a complexity of tastes are made up in a separate spice room. The open kitchen serves more than 30 grilled items using three kinds of grilling equipment in full view of the diners. His directors says his discipline, devotion to his craft and commitment has kept the high quality at the restaurant for a long period and he has trained many chefs.
Runners up
Anirudh Arora Moti Mahal
Anirudh Arora heads the kitchens of Moti Mahal, considered to be one of London’s top Indian fine dining restaurants, and produces traditional dishes with a modern twist. His menu was inspired by the Grand Trunk Road in India covering 2,500km from Kolkata in the east through Delhi and Amritsar before reaching Pakistan, where Arora picked up rural Indian recipes on his travels. Raised in Delhi, he was one of only 15 students out of thousands of applicants to gain a place at a top training college in India. By the age of 25 he was cooking for the Prime Minister of India. Arriving in London in 2003, he first became sous chef at Benares before taking up the challenge at Moti Mahal.
Sudha Shankar Saha Saffron
Executive chef Sudha Shankar Saha’s efforts to refine Indian cuisine have seen a more modern approach to traditional Indian cooking. Described as a gifted Indian chef with a steely determination, he has aimed to break conventional boundaries by opting to use local, seasonal produce for his menu, flavoured with authentic spices and given a western presentation. The result has been that Saffron became the Midlands region winner in the 2010 Good Food Guide beating a three rosette French restaurant. Saha is aware of the shortage of skilled ethnic chefs in the UK and encourages junior chefs to hone their skills in ethnic cuisine. Last year he faced the challenge of competing in Ch4’s Iron Chef show and won the dish of the day award.