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A Journey – Cruising through the Taste of History @ BCIHMCT

Banarsidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology inaugurated The 12th to a record crowd of Hospitality Students, Industry Experts, Trade Media and Faculty Members. Chief Guest for the Inauguration Ceremony, Mr. Gopal Rao, Regional Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Inter Continental Hotel Group, South West Asia and Guest of Honour, Mr. Jag Pravesh Chand Gupta, Training Manager, Hyatt Regency, New Delhi declared the event open.


The other dignitaries present at the gracious occasion were Mr. Rishi Nath Bhagirath, Human Resource Executive, Taj Palace Hotel, Mr. B.N. Pandey, Ex- Vice Chancellor, Magadh University and team from Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla (our Academic Partner) represented by Mr. Ashwani Goela, Executive Assistant Manager Rooms, Ms. Sheetal Agarwal, Director Finance, Mr. Rahul Roshan, Chief Engineer, Mr. Amit Shiva, Restaurant Manager and Ms. Ankita Balyan, Training Manager. Mr. R.K. Bhandari welcomed the guests and informed the gathering that CHE is designed to educate and encourage hospitality undergraduates. He revealed that, “We aspire to elevate the bar of hospitality education through CHE, as a common platform for budding hospitality professionals.

Learning from shared experiences is a key feature of this student networking event.” Mr. Jag Pravesh Chand Gupta, while congratulating all present at the inauguration said, “No matter how the other industries react to turbulent economy, Hospitality Industry has nothing to fear. There are new openings every year and there are opportunities galore for Hospitality students”. He went on to reaffirm the importance of grooming, attitude and desire to excel as the key to success in this Industry. Mr. Gopal Rao, addressed the gathering and boosted the morale of the participants through his encouraging words. He reiterated that, “The substance of this Ensemble is the generation of team spirit. Winning is nothing else but, coming out of one’s comfort zone and those who take risk are more successful than the ones who don’t”. A vote of Thanks was given by Mr. Ranojit Kundu, Event Coordinator, Chandiwala Hospitality Ensemble. Chandiwala Hospitality Ensemble on September 25, 2013 Highlights of the First Day, September 25, 2013 With the spirit of nurturing young minds and build relationships within great surroundings at this fantastic event, the day proceeded towards the competitions scheduled for the day.

The first competitive event of the Ensemble was Zone Barwizard Bar Challenge Competition, 1100 hrs onwards, where each team made an innovative cocktail or mocktail. Students from 19 teams of various colleges participated in this event. The judges evaluated them on various criteria like technique, bouquet, aroma, taste and appearance of the drink, flair with ice and bar equipment, overall efficiency and time frame prescribed. The Judges for this Bartending Competition were Mr. Piyush Bhushan, Vivanta by Taj and Mr. Amit Sangwan from Leela Kempinski, Gurgaon. The winner with the most novel cocktails named Bellatrin (Female Warrior) was Jennifer from AISSMS, Pune. The Bar Challenge competition was followed by California Prunes Dessert Competition from 1200 Hrs - 1330 Hrs, in which 19 teams prepared two Desserts using California Prunes. Judges determined the most scrumptious dessert based on appearance and overall flavor. The event was judged by Chef Ayub Saleem, Pastry Chef, The Grand, New Delhi, Chef Pitambar D. Satyawali, Executive Chef, Sartoria Italian Cuisine and Chef Priya, Senior Kitchen Executive, The Oberoi Hotel, New Delhi. The winners with most delectable varieties of dessert “The Prune Panacota” were Mr. Tahir Ahmed Khan and Shivanjan Reddy from GIHM Hyderabad. The first day of CHE 2012 ended with the R-PURE Culinary Competition which was a three course Indian menu prepared by using R-PURE spices by 25 participating teams.

The teams competed with each other and the winners were N Arun Kumar , Deepthi, Saicharan and Vijaykumar, Regency College, Hyderabad. Chef Mahendra, Surya Leisure Pvt. Ltd., Chef Vivek Saggar, Consultant Chef, ICF, Chef Zakaria, Vice President, ICF and Chef Bharat Alag, Exec Chef, The Hans, judged the dishes on the pre-specified criteria. Highlights of the Second Day, September 26, 2013 “From food do all creatures come into being.” – Bhagavad Gita. This year’s new competition “Re-Discover Indian Cuisine Challenge” was introduced on the 2nd had to prepare two portions of one dish, either appetizer, main course or a dessert from any of the three historical periods namely: Ancient, Medieval or Colonial. The preparations of 17 participating teams at Real Re-Discovering Indian Cuisine Challenge were judged by Chef Atul Mishra, Exec Chef, Royal Plaza, New Delhi and Chef Umesh Mattoo, Consultant Chef, ICF on the cooking method, taste, presentation, research and the source of recipe. The winners were Rhythm W and Gauri M from AISSMS, Pune who prepared Ghavalayancha Bhaat and Kheer which is a thousand-year-old recipe. The winners from AISSMS say, “We tried to get out of comfort zone to compete at this national level platform.

We learnt to get over obstacles, while building up great rapport with other colleges”. The other mouth-watering dishes like Zamin Doz, Kanguch Roghan Josh, Murg Wajid Ali, Kesaram Dhorasanula Aushadam, Country Captain Spatchcock Chicken, Taro leaves and Salan, Kayar Katti Kola Urundai, Kounsupita Vepudu, Korma Ahmadshahi and Maas ki Kadhi, were prepared by the contestants. The next event, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla Hospitality Brain Twister, a quiz competition related to hospitality service and tourism inaugurated by Mr. Kunal Sood, Training Manager with his team from Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla. Rahul Goyal and Pavinder Singh from CCHMCT, Landran, Mohali won this event with their presence of mind from amongst the 20 participating teams. The Runner-up, Abhishek Badrinath says, “I come every year to participate in this event because of such a huge variety of competitions, where it’s the finer details that count. My mantra for success is that one should be passionate about work and good basics are a must”.

The third event was Chandiwala Hotel Facility Planning and Designing Championship Trophy which comprised of kitchen, restaurant, guestroom, reception and lounge area designing with all primary facility systems such as fire safety, water and waste water, HVAC, electrical and light fittings etc. presented via layouts. The event had 11 participating teams and was judged by Mr. Rahul Roshan, Chief Engineer, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla, Mr. Shutosh Upadhyay, Manager Pre Opening, South Asia, Carlson Rezidor and Mr. Shariq, Dy. Chief Engineer, Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi. Winners of this event were Chandini Patel and Abhishek Chaudary from Regency College, Hyderabad, who portrayed the layout of a coffee shop (90 covers) of a business hotel which had one side facing the pool and the other was an alfresco. Ms. Chandini Patel, the winner says, “This Ensemble has given us a great exposure and helped us to boost our confidence to take up such challenges at a national level”. day (September 26, 2013) at the Ensemble, where students There is no denying that decorating the baked products is one of the most technical and often the most challenging, forms of presentation.

The last event- Chandiwala Dress the Cake Competition, focused on cake icing based on a particular theme, with 15 paticipants. Cakes were decorated with sugar arts, that use icing or frosting and other edible decorative elements, to make plain cakes visually interesting. The judges for this event were Chef Harmender Mathur, Executive Pastry Chef, The Lalit and Chef Ayub Saleem, Pastry Chef, The Grand. The winner Aishwarya Raj, BCIHMCT prepared a cake based on bachelor party theme with a slogan “Last Fling, Before The Ring”. Highlights of the Third Day, September 27, 2013 The first competition of the day was Rodaaji International Culinary Challenge which was a three course menu consisting of an appetizer, main course (one starch based, one veg based accompaniment) and desert. 21 participating teams were judged by Chef Raghunandan, Chef De Cuisine, Eros Managed by Hilton, Chef Ajay Sood, Consultant Chef, ICF and Chef Kushal Arora, Corporate Chef, Golden Tulip Hospitality. Winners for this event were Ch. Deepti and Shahabaz Ali Khan from RIHMCT, Hyderabad who prepared Chinese Cuisine dishes - Diguo Shoufa as a starter and Long Can as main course and Huangjiatian as a dessert. As per Chef Sood, “The creativity and innovation, visual appeal and after taste of the dish are the major criteria for judging any dish as a food enthusiast eats the dish with his eyes first.” “Chandiwala Floral Decoration Competition” had 11 enthusiastic and diligent students, who challenged highly creative and unique designs, made by professional floral artists, by making spectacular flower arrangements depicting various themes.

The winner was Gagan Soni from BCIHMCT who portrayed the theme “Beautifully Painful: Adieu to Nirbhaya”. The judges Mr. Tarin Kataria, Housekeeping Manager, Crowne Plaza Rohini, Ms. Neeraj Sharma, Executive Housekeeper, The Oberoi, New Delhi and Ms. Binita Srivastava, Executive Housekeeper, The Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi judged the arrangements on the theme portraying the visual balance & appeal and the usage of flowers & foliage. The third event was Fruit & Vegetable Carving with a three hour time limit. 7 participants made their carvings using a selection of melons, papayas, cabbages, cucumbers, radish, carrots and pumpkins. With the goal to promote and enhance carving of fruits and vegetables, the presentations were judged on the basis of technique, difficulty of the carving, artwork, elaboration, creativity, attraction and practicality. The winner was Sai Prasad, GIHM, Hyderabad who said, “There should be more such national level culinary events where there is a lot to learn from others having different talents. I was sure that my hard work will pay off”. The judges were Chef Pradeep, Commissary Chef, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla, Chef Ajay Sood, Consultant Chef, ICF and Chef Kushal Arora, Corporate Chef, Golden Tulip Hospitality.

The fourth and the last event of the day was Nestle Quick Convenient Food comprising of one salad and one dessert. Prepared foods such as ready to eat food, frozen food products and prepared mixes were used by the participants of 17 teams to create irresistible dishes. Varun Dominic Philips and Aishwarya Raj, BCIHMCT were declared as the winners, by Chef Mohit Khanna, Executive Chef, Radisson Blu, Ghaziabad and Chef C.P. Gomes, Chef De Cuisine, The Lalit, New Delhi. This competition marked the end to competitions at CHE 2013, dedicated to the promotion of Hospitality Education. Many of our Chefs, future hospitality stakeholders and restaurateurs were felicitated at the closing ceremony of this mega event. The Valedictory Function, September 27, 2013 The valedictory function of the 12th with great variations of events which included Award Presentation to the winning teams, Cultural Programme by the students of BCIHMCT and finally the much awaited Theme Dinner Food Saga through the Ages comprising of food journey from Ancient period to Medieval, Colonial and finally destined to the Modern, Contemporary food era.

The lamp lighting ceremony was graced with the presence of Chief Guest Mr. Rajan Bahadur, Chief Operating Officer, The Grand, New Delhi, Guest of Honor Mr. Deepak Behl, Director Human Resources, The Grand, New Delhi, Dr. Bhuwan Mohan, Secretary, SBCSSTS, Mr. R.K. Bhandari, Principal, BCIHMCT and Mr. Pradeep Gupta, Dy. Director Administration, BCIHMCT. Mr. Vikas Arora, Executive Director, Precious Hospitality and Leisure Pvt. Ltd. joined in later. Mr. R.K. Bhandari welcomed the esteemed guests, sponsors, media partners, faculty members, participants and students of the Institute and encouraged the participating teams by declaring them as winners.

He mentioned that learning from Chandiwala Hospitality Ensemble commenced experiences brings the opportunities for going from Good to Great. Chief Guest Mr. Rajan Bahadur - Chief Operating Officer, The Grand New Delhi in his witty and relatable speech, recounted to his audience two very important things his life & profession has taught him - i) importance of dignity of labor & ii) importance of becoming a balanced professional to be able to achieve success. Using anecdotes from his own life, Mr. Bahadur educated the students the value of hard work, ethics, work-life balance & time management.

He thanked the entire management of Banarasidas Chandiwala Institute of Hotel Management & Catering Technology for introducing him to one of the brightest set of budding minds - the business leaders of tomorrow. Explaining “Dedication with a combination of Hard & Smart Work” is the mantra for success, he wished the students be blessed with instinct & intelligence to always make the right choice at the appropriate time, seize every opportunity and achieve all that can be theirs! This national level inter college competition, CHE 2013 saw over 25 hospitality colleges from across the country vying for the top position in the scheduled eleven competitions during the three days. More than 800 food enthusiasts attended the award ceremony, which culminated in trophy presentations to all winners and presentations of certificates for participation.

The sponsors for this event were R-Pure Premium Spices, Nestle Professional, California Prunes, Rodaaji Company, Zone, Real, Crowne Plaza Today New Delhi Okhla, Intercontinental Hotel Group. Associate Sponsors were Naturin, SR’s, FBE, Cheese Bazar, Farrell, Sky Enterprises. Media Partners were Food and Nightlife Magazine, Hotels and Restaurants Network, Hospitality Biz, Education World, Bakery Biz, Tourism and Trade, India Hospitality Review.com, www.hospemag.com - The Hospitality E Magazine and Printek Ways. The event was supported by Indian Culinary Forum, N Pauls, Havemore Restaurant and Yes Bank.