Vinesh Johny, one of the co-founders and the executive pastry chef at the Lavonne Academy of Baking Science & Pastry Arts, is soaring high. The young baker, in his late 20s, has many reasons to smile — he is one of only two Indians to be featured on the inaugural ‘Forbes 30 under 30 Asia’ list for 2016 in the Arts category, he was presented the prestigious Restaurant India Award 2016 for Pastry Chef of the Year and Lavonne, affiliated to City & Guilds, London, has just opened a new building for its baking school.
Vinesh talks to MetroPlus about the world of baking and his school.
Excerpts:
Why a new building for the baking school?
We wanted to have a better facility for our students. We started off in the old building with only three students in 2012. Last year, we had 1,200 students and knew we had to get a bigger space. We identified this space when it was still under construction and got it designed as per our needs. It has five classrooms, each with state-of-the art machinery to master a particular skill.
And, now we also have a 90-seater auditorium for cooking demonstrations and lectures.
What is the need for cooking demonstrations?
Every time we brought in a master baker from other countries, it helps our diploma students. They get to see how he works from scratch and also get a hand-on class with him. I feel cooking demonstrations are important. They are not as popular here as hands-on classes. In demonstrations, you watch the best of the best in the industry at work.
What is the USP of your baking school?
My training was straight forward. I worked in a hotel and baked. Now that is not the requirement.
Students want to start a successful business on their own. Just teaching them to bake is not enough. They need to learn the other nuances, which will equip them. We have figured out what is needed for our students to become successful.
We started the Lavonne Cafe where they will get to work not just in the theory but also bake and get involved in production, ordering, sourcing and costing the ingredients.
They will have hands on experience on bulk production, how to sell and face a customer. We also make sure that our students travel abroad for their internship.
Do you feel threatened that your students will become competition against you?
Of course not. We are dedicated to teach. And 90 % of our students start off on their own or work from home.
They are able to sustain themselves. Some have gone on to become great teachers themselves. There are no secrets in baking. We don’t hold back any information.
It is also not ours as someone shared it with us and we share it with the others. Some of our students have even opened up cafés in and around our city, which is a part of our success story too.
Do you think we’ll end up with too many bakers?
No. I feel baking is one of the most under manned industries. It requires a specialised skill and is very challenging. Lot of restaurants don’t even make pastries, they outsource them. Maybe it is because they feel people are not too keen on desserts or lack the space for the machinery and equipment. You need piping bags, even to put a drop on the cake, the freezers, the ovens etc. Finding a skilled baker is also a challenge. An expert is one who knows how to finish a cake.
How do you sustain yourself in times when people are obsessing about fitness and healthy eating?
The perfect example of this is myself. I was 104 kilos. And now I am fit. It all depends on how much you eat. You can eat a slice of a cake every day and it will not make much of a difference. If you keep your choice moderate, I don’t see why you should stress about enjoying a dessert. I see that there are people who still eat desserts. That is why the ice cream shops are still there and open till late into the night.
Do you change the recipes for the health conscious?
I don’t mess with some of the classic recipes, whatever has to go into it will go into it.
But if it is a carrot cake then maybe I will change the sugar, the fat or the oil that goes in and use a healthier version.
