Chef by chance

Photo Credits: pg 2- he story

Rahul Gomes Pereira only chose to enrol for the hotel management course at the Institute of Hotel Management in Dadar, Mumbai, because he thought he would have more free time on his hands. “I wouldn't say that I always dreamt of becoming a chef. I enjoyed cooking and of course eating. In fact my grand mum was a fantastic cook,” he admits. But the joy of working in a commercial kitchen soon won him over . “ When you step into the commerical kitchen it is a whole different world and at times you get cut off from the real world,” he says. “There is always something new popping up and there is much to learn!”

After working at the Oberoi group of hotels for a year in Mumbai, Pereira was chosen to train at the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development in Delhi, during which he was given the opportunity to work at the Oberoi hotels in Jaipur, Bangalore and Mumbai.

“ In Mumbai I was lucky to join the Vetro restaurant as junior sous chef on the same day as Michelin star chef Adriano Baldassarre joined as head chef. Michelin is the highest credit that a chef can receive and there are very few chefs in the world who get this,” says Pereira. The two got along well and turned the restaurant around magnificiently In fact, so impressed was Baldassarre that he asked for a two month extension for Pereira. Following this Pereira was handed the task of working as head chef at Travetino restaurant, Delhi where he set about transforming the place.

“The place was my very own for two months following which I was transferred to Hyderabd where I've solely looked after Tuscany as head chef right from it's inception,” he says.

Pereira now hopes to return to Goa soon for the next season. “The plan was always to return to Goa but I thought this would take longer. However I realised that the food culture is evolving at a fast pace here. Now you get almost evey sort of cuisine here and in a few years time there won't be any opportunity to get in anything new,” he states, adding that while there are many new eating places sprining up in Goa, there is one major drawback. “A lot of places here don't give you value for money. Also, most new places only have a short innings. After a few months of opening, a new place comes up somewhere else and this one is forced to close,” he says, adding that restaurants need to go beyond only giving a good feel and ambiance. “ Just doing well by itself is not the recipe for success. Regular tweaks and changes in the menu are necessary. Otherwise once people know your menu , they will tire of it after a while. You have to keep giving them something new to keep them coming back,” he says. Pereira's plan upon returning is to focus on playing around with the local produce. “ Tambdi bhaji for instance is eaten a lot at home but you don't see it in restaurants. Similarly there are a lot of vegetables that are unique to Goa which aren't found in restaurants. So the focus will be on playing with this in a wholesome manner,” he says. In fact the idea for working around with local produce took roots when he was chosen to represent India at the World Skills Competition held in Germany in 2014 after rigorous competitions in India. “ I competed against 24 countries in the final held over five days. But although I didn't win it I realised one thing- India is always going to be on the back foot when it comes to cooking European cuisine because we don't have access to local produce. For instance the asparagus there is double the size of that available here. So we too need to learn how to use our local produce to the maximum advantage,” he states.