To emphasize Hyatt’s focus on its rich culinary heritage, Hyatt Hotels in India introduced the “Hyatt Culinary Challenge – people cooking for people” in 2014. The Hyatt Culinary Challenge was conceptualized as a unique event that will bring together individuals from the corporate realm on a common platform; where they could showcase their culinary expertise and passion for food in an interactive culinary event. Each participant will be paired with a child from the SMILE foundation, Hyatt’s partner NGO in India and they will recreate a recipe of their choice for the judges. The corporate winner from each city will compete at the grand finale in Mumbai in November 2015.
The preliminary rounds were held across Hyatt Hotels in Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune on October 31 and November 1 , 2015, and the finale will be held at Grand Hyatt Mumbai on November 15 , 2015. I was at Hyatt Regency Kolkata on the 1st to witness the preliminary round and it was a great experience. Children from SMILE foundation were there to assist participants who were from organisations like the American Consulate, SREI etc. All of them came up with some really good dishes and I loved the Paella, the chilli chicken and the baby corn cigars. The Paella and Baby Corn Cigar won the top prize judged by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, Rajan Bali, Shalmoli Mukherjee and Arijit Dutta. It was a wonderful afternoon with good friends, excellent food and wine. Thanks Hyatt for the invite. Check out some more pictures from the event.