Q: What was your inspiration to venture into the hospitality trade?
A: My parents were my inspiration. My father wanted to be a chef and my mother is an incredible cook. Once I ventured into the trade, Chef Rohan Fernandopulle played a significant role in moulding, guiding and influencing me.

Q: As a chef, how does your day unfold?
A: I start by supervising the hotel’s nine outlets and 14 sub-kitchens. Then I attend the morning meeting with the other heads of departments after which my focus is on office correspondence such as responding to emails and taking note of special events, as well as requirements for the day. Thereafter, I supervise the lunch service and evening snacks.
I conduct an evening briefing with my team and run through the status of quality, cleanliness, hygiene standards, costing, leave planning and so on. We also schedule the following day’s agenda. My day ends around midnight once the dinner service has concluded.

Q: Your first dish was...?
A: Coconut sambol prepared at home. As a culinary trainee, my first place was at the omelette station.

Q: And what do you consider to be your greatest achievement as a chef?
A: I always wanted to be an executive chef before the age of 35 and have managed to achieve that goal.

Q: Tell us about your most challenging cuisine...
A: Authentic French cuisine is difficult to master because it can go wrong in a matter of seconds. And a dish that I find particularly hard to master is beef well done as you have to be precise with the temperature.