Chef Vikram Ganpule: the Chef at the Helm of Hyatt Regency

Chef Vikram Ganpule,the Executive Chef of the 5-star Hyatt Regency in Kolkata is a colossus in world of Indian fine dining. He also loves British fish and chips.

When Chef Vikram visited the UK for the Curry Life Chef Awards, one of his culinary missions was to sample traditional fish and chips. Paradoxically, the best ‘chippy’ in London (allegedly) is down on Brick Lane, the mecca for Bangladeshi and Indian food in the UK. The gourmet chef not only enjoyed his British meal, he wanted to replicate it back home: “The batter is so crisp all the way through and the fish is very moist,” he eulogised. “We’ve tried cooking this in India but we can never get the batter the same.”

It’s typical of Chef Vikram’s approach in that he is always striving to find the perfect way of producing dishes but, judging by the Hyatt Regency’s track record for gourmet cuisine, he has no need to worry about fish and chips. Every day, literally hundreds of breakfasts, pastries, lunches and dinners from Italian, Indian, Pan Asian and European cuisine are created in the hotel’s speciality restaurants and presented to appreciative diners. This amazing feat is in no small part due to the Executive Chef who commands the entire dining operation much like a stalwart captain bestriding the bridge.

Born in Pune and brought up in Delhi, Chef Vikram first realised his “calling” as a chef in his second year at Institute of Hotel Management in Delhi during a six months internship. His career has taken him to different areas of India, and the Middle East, working for companies including ITC. He joined the Hyatt 11 years ago in Goa: “A lovely and sunny place - the south is quiet but the north is a riot,” he remembers fondly. From thence, he moved to Mumbai before finally arriving at Hyatt Regency, Kolkata.

So what's the average day like for the man who oversees the hotel’s three keynote restaurants - Waterside, the Indian Guchhi and Italian La Cucina - as well as commandeering six kitchens, a huge banqueting area, patisserie and 80 chefs?

“Basically I’ve got a great team,” he says with typical modesty. “The kitchen is divided into outlets, which have their own chef de cuisine, sous-chefs and supervisors.  I’ve also got a great number two but our success is also because of the team that backs us up.

“I typically start at around 8am and take a complete round of all the areas, not just the restaurants, the kitchens, but checking all the areas like the receiving areas,  garbage rooms, refrigerators, walk in areas and banqueting rooms and so forth, generally getting a feel of what’s going on,” he continues. “At around 8.45-9am I meet a few guests if they are having breakfast – long stay or VIPs. Then I switch on my computer and start checking my emails, catching up with correspondence. It’s great with my Blackberry because I used to get restless sitting in an office too long but now I can keep my finger on the pulse all the time. At 10 ‘clock it is our morning meeting. And then the day just goes by, alternating between the office and checking what’s going on, and then it’s meetings, meetings and meetings – more meetings than I would ever imagine!.” 

“When I was supervisor I always used to look at the executive chef’s office with a sense of awe,” he remembers with a laugh. “I never thought I would be here and now and, although some aspects are not always as exciting as I thought, I’m still living my dream.”

Fortunately Vikram, who is  married and father to a ten-year-old daughter, is still able to put his legendary cooking experience to good use: “I teach the guy a few of the basics which seem to have been forgotten, such as the correct way making sauces and gravies,” he tells us. “There are far too many shortcuts nowadays, especially with Indian food.”

As he’s also responsible for training and recruitment, staff appraisals and planning their future careers, Vikram has to be a man of many talents. “It’s a very creative role,” he says. “With the director of food and beverage I help marketing to design food and beverage promotions, arranging for speciality chefs to come here and so it goes on.

“But it is impossible to do everything on your own and I am lucky to have a really fantastic team here. Otherwise I would be losing the little hair that I have!”