India’s most celebrated chef Sanjeev Kapoor launches Melbourne’s first Indian food guide
Melbourne has for the longest time needed a food guide exclusively for Indian food. And Spice Out, which launched this June, provides the perfect spread. A dream come true for the hospitality industry in Melbourne.
How often do you find yourself surrounded by more than 300 names to reckon with from not just the business of cuisine but also those that have titles of substance from many other industries in Melbourne? Not often at all.
A three-hour dazzling affair this June witnessed the most celebrated name of Indian cuisine—Sanjeev Kapoor—address a much respected gathering as he launched Spice Out, Melbourne’s very own Indian food guide. Kapoor left the audience simply mesmerised as he walked down memory lane with an inspiring speech, narrating his humble journey into stardom and success as a chef, businessman and most of all, global brand.
“I only dream, that’s what I do. The reason I am here in Melbourne is because some people (Indian Executive Club) have seen a dream, that of Spice Out. This might be something that is born today but it is going to grow into such a big thing that when we look back we will say to each other, ‘you know what, this is what we did, we had a nice evening and we launched a small magazine but who knew it would become so big’,” said Kapoor.
For everyone interested in such a dynamic affair with food, the significant turning point of the evening was when the president of Les Toques Blanches, Marcus Moore, shared his take on Indian cuisine.
“I personally just love Indian cuisine. On my travel to India I have experienced fresh Himalayan trout and freshly picked sweet corn. Not to forget the amazing Kashmiri teas. The sounds, senses and culture is what has really encouraged me to become a chef and I have not regretted one minute of the journey,” said Moore.
But why is it that IEC perseveres to help the growing Indian diaspora? IEC’s president, Vinay Sharma, answered that question most succinctly. “It was only after the successful launch of the Indian Executive publication that the IEC came into existence in 2011. And the key objective has been to recognise, support and profile executives as well as SME businesses from the growing Indian diaspora in Australia. Hosting value added networking functions throughout the year is one of the key activities of the IEC and the signature event is the IEC Awards,” said Sharma.
As for what this flavoursome food guide has been designed to accomplish, Sharma says the first few editions of Spice Out will be a colourful collection of reviews, exclusive secret recipes and photographs of Melbourne’s most reputed Indian restaurants. Expansion to greater far reaching additions are on the horizon in the near future, added Sharma.
Published in The Indian Sun (Indian Magazine in Melbourne)
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