On July 1, Telangana Chefs Association (TCA) celebrated its second anniversary at Hotel Raddison, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. The celebrations went beyond merry making, as the Association aimed to discuss the welfare of the culinary professionals in the State, by helping chefs find jobs, turn entrepreneurs and also conducting a culinary competition.
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The gathering of close to 71 chefs listened with rapt attention to Chef Shankar Krishnamurthy’s talk on ‘Chef and Entrepreneurship’, wherein he shared his journey as a chef in the hotel industry and his current stint as an entrepreneur. He encouraged chefs to dream of starting their own ventures, irrespective of the size of the enterprise. Shankar stressed, “You can start small if you believe in your business plan.”
Other discussions on that day centred around conducting activities to keep up the morale of chefs and continue to be creative. Vice president of TCA, Amey Marathe said, “The inter-culinary competition is to keep the fun and excitement on with our profession. We are currently facing a time where all of us need a boost and some inspiration. We also want to conduct live cooking demo sessions with culinary arts students. However, we have not yet decided whether to conduct the event virtually or physically. As we want to target a larger audience for the demo, the vote will mostly be to conduct it virtually.”
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Plans are on to help chefs connect with the culinary industry, through the TCA portal, where employment opportunities and chef requirements can be posted by hotel and restaurant establishments. Chef Amey adds, “The Association wants to set up funds for chefs who need financial assistance in times of emergency.”