An inspiration from India’s First Michelin Star Chef

I work in the aviation industry with academic background in information technology. Who would have known that I would find inspiration from a chef? Not just a chef, but India’s FIRST Michelin Star Chef.

A conference on Innovation

I recently attended the BOLDTalks Innovation 2017 event. This event is something that I look forward to every year because the topics are very engaging and relevant. This year’s event included the a Chef as one of the speakers. You’d ask yourself, what does a Chef have to do with innovation?

The journey of India’s First Michelin Star Chef

Vineet Bhatia was born in Mumbai, India in 1967. He  got his early culinary inspiration from his mother, whom he describes as ‘an excellent cook with a fantastic imagination’. As a teenager, he was fascinated by flying and wanted to become a pilot and join the Air Force. Destiny had a different plan for him. He failed the physical assessment. In an attempt to move forward, he decided to venture into a different field – Hospitality. He wanted to be a bar man but didn’t pass the required height to be a bar man. He was put in the kitchen and he fell in love with it.

Here comes the Innovation

Having no freedom to experiment and develop his own Indian cuisine from traditional kitchens, he moved to London in 1993 and started at the Star of India in South Kensington. He had completely overhauled the menu by the end of his first year, changing the style of food from the westernized ‘curries’ of his predecessor to more authentic delights. Fay Maschler of the Evening Standard wrote at the time of his ‘excellent food’, prepared with ‘imagination and care’

The inspiration

Vineet Bhatia talked about many reasons for his success. The one that inspired me most is when he said “Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do”. The statement indicates humility and at the same time encourages perseverance.

For me, I interpreted this as an encouragement to keep doing what you have been asked to do and not lose sight of where you want to be. Continue developing your skills, build your network, and save enough money so that when the right time comes, you can do what you have always wanted to do.

Inspiring isn’t it?