From Executive Chefs to Chief Executives of a Restaurant: On the Changing Role of Chefs In India

From Executive Chefs to Chief Executives of a Restaurant: On the Changing Role of Chefs In India.

The role and career growth of Chefs in India has seen a tremendous growth in the past decade. From being the Master Chef at a small hotel to being the Executive Chef of a luxury five-star hotel chain, every chef has something more to aspire for. Besides, there are celebrity chefs who regularly screen on TV programs - teaching the nuances of cooking and what it takes to be a chef to being judges of reality shows where thousands of participants across the country put on their cooking hats and compete with each other.

For aspiring chefs, it is definitely the best time to dive deep into their passion of cooking and explore their career and growth! The role of Chefs has changed from just being the best cook at home, to being the most popular chef in a small restaurant, to owning restaurants and being chefpreneurs and to eventually lead large team of chefs as the Head Executive Chef of a large hotel chain! 

Are these Executive Chefs the next Chief Executives of Big Restaurants?

Being a Chief Executive Officer of a luxury five-star hotel chain in India involves taking on multiple roles. The large portion of it involves the CEO to have a deep understanding of how restaurant business works, what foods are the most liked ones on the menu, what kinds of menu are to be planned on what days of the week, what is the core customer psychology of the people who frequent the restaurant, when and how would one know that it's time for an ambiance change or interior design upgrade change and so on. 

The list goes on and on! However, the Executive Chefs of a restaurant pretty much have a good sense of understanding on all of the things mentioned above and much more than that! Executive Chefs of big hotel chains are often equipped with valuable knowledge on all things food and restaurant - from what is to be served when and how, to where to source the best produce and how to manage different teams at a hotel to ultimately create the best output for end consumers! This large list of responsibilities of Executive Chefs of hotels has led the industry experts to think if they're soon going to scale up and assume the position of Chief Executive of a Restaurant besides being an Executive Chef.

Are Indian Chefs on their way to make a new mark in the global culinary world?

Indian Chefs are no longer confined to the restaurant chains they work in. The changing restaurant trends has led people around the world to make global food choices and Indian Food is something that definitely sits on the top of the list. While many Indians are falling in love with the Continental Cuisines, the Europeans and Americans are trying Indian dishes.

This has made a huge shift in the lives of Indian Chefs, especially those who are the Master Chefs of Big Hotel Chains. The chefs are now seen traveling around the world setting up the most perfect Indian dinner banquets in different parts of the world and leading projects of open Indian Speciality Restaurants in the United States and Europe. Bottom-line? Chefs now have this immense opportunity of traveling around the world and make a new mark in the global culinary world!

From the greasy aprons to professional business suits - Chefs Career in India has seen a huge boom! 

Chefs are no longer confined to the four walls of kitchen wearing their aprons that's greased up with variety of flavors! Their roles and responsibilities are on a verge of increase and has been seeing an upward trend. Chefs are now seen pulling off stylish professional business suits - talking business deals about collaborations and food exhibitions. Their space thus, is shifting from being confined in hot fiery kitchens that always had something "cooking up" to plush fully air-conditioned offices that has the chefs busy in making decks and closing business deals!

With this trend sweeping in, there is no doubt that Executive Chefs with a good working knowledge of restaurant business coupled with a fair understanding of analytics and marketing of a restaurant business do have a good chance of being the next Chief Executive Officer of the restaurant! That's a good news for every aspiring chef out there. Be prepared to rock in business suits too just as much as you love to rock in your favorite apron!