Chef Sanjeev Kumar, who was born in Patna and spent most of his childhood in Mumbai, joins The Pioneer for a special edition of Hyderabond. He shares how his connection to Hyderabad has changed the course of his career
Tejal Sinha
The days when Hyderabad’s cuisine was solely focused on Mughal and Nawabi dishes, are long gone. You can enjoy a variety of cuisines these days, including Andhra, Italian, Chinese and even Korean.
But Chef Sanjeev Kumar believes that there’s still a not-too-long way to go for the city in terms of the food culture. Hailing from a family from the Indian Navy, hospitality was never something he thought he’d get into. However, destiny had a different plan!
While enjoying cooking with his mumma in the kitchen, the young Sanjeev found his friends doing well in the hospitality industry, making him get into IHMCTAN in Mumbai. Learning under the guidance of Chef Varun Kohli, Chef Aaron and Chef Maithreyi, he joined the Management Training (MT) program at TAJ Hotel, Mumbai and did an internship for ITC Grand Central. Over the years, he has also had the opportunity to closely associate and work with the renowned chef Ranveer Brar. Later on, he also travelled to the US for his other skill development programs.
However, the pandemic in 2020 came as a twist in his career. “During COVID-19, when hospitality in Mumbai were shut, I was home for 7 months. I then got an offer from Hyderabad. My then-boss offered me to travel to Hyderabad and join her restaurant. I came here and started working with Tiger Lily.”
Before shifting to Hyderabad, he was a part of Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach and Novotel Maimi.
Born in Patna and mainly brought up in Mumbai, also travelling to other cities due to his father’s posting, Hyderabad, he says, has given him love, name and fame. “It was unbelievable how Hyderabad has shaped my career. I’m out of words to express the gratitude I have for the city. I will always be grateful for the kind of work culture and the type of skill development I got from here. I definitely started my career in Mumbai, but the development of my career happened in Hyderabad.”
Though Hyderabad has been one of the top cities when we talk about its hospitality, on the contrary, he says, “I’ll be very honest with this. When it comes to hospitality, Hyderabad is definitely a good place. However, I feel it’s still going to take some time for Hyderabad to reach the level of cities like Mumbai, Delhi and the US. People are understanding of the authenticity of the food here. Now people are enjoying cuisine worldwide.”
Over the years, he shares that Hyderabad has now become more than just about Hyderabadi Biryani when it comes to food. “Today, if you see, people are trying different cuisines that tantalise their taste buds. There have been so many restaurants with different cuisines and concepts. When you open a new restaurant with a new concept, people here in Hyderabad will surely try it.”
While, he does give much of his career’s development credits to the city and is also a member of the World Indian Culinary Association (WICA) and Telangana Chefs Association (TCA), he shares, “There’s a lot to love about the city and I can’t just name one. However, if you ask about the dislikes when it comes to introducing a new dish, it does take a little time as compared to other cities. For that to change, the chefs here in the city need to educate and make the guests understand more about the new cuisines for people to be aware of.”
At present, he works as a corporate chef for Mondo Foods Jubilee Hills Hyderabad and has also been a part of Tiger Lily Bistro, Taro, Fat Pigeon and Resign Sky Bar, all in the city, on a concluding note, he says, Hyderabad holds a special place in his heart.
