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Chef Anurud Khanna, multi-property executive chef at The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi and The Westin Sohna Resort & Spa – leading a 150-strong team, is a busy man indeed. He spoke to ET Hospitality World about preparing for the winter season as well as adding new members to his team. It’s part of the conversation.
Customers are returning to restaurants like never before, and those dining at one of the many outlets overseen by Khanna have become much more discerning about what they eat.
Talking about the supply chain, Khanna also said that things are back to normal, though international sourcing is still difficult, noting that price hikes were sometimes double what they were pre-pandemic (salmon which was INR 1300 per kg is now INR 2500.
“As far as the APC is concerned, it is still hosting weddings—in fact it has a larger number of guests at the same time and of course a grander menu,” Khanna said.
International chefs were also returning to India, Khanna said, with Italian chef Marco Murenu returning to his hotel while they were on the verge of getting a new Turkish chef for their Westin Sohna Resort and Spa and negotiating for a Chinese chef expected from Shenzhen. to join them next year while his Japanese chef already joined the team last year.
“It’s amazing to see the excitement for these expat chefs to come to India—someone like a chef from Shenzhen who will be working outside of China for the first time, it’s something new,” comments Khanna. A lot of new talent is looking to come to India beyond common names, he added.
His team in the kitchen is back to full strength as far as people go, and they’re working to improve the onboarding process for new hires.
“All our induction modules have now become very powerful. Initially those joining the team would go through a two-day induction, now the process has become much more robust and takes a full week. Every new hire has a friend who is a senior chef. The new promoter travels all over the kitchen before entering his own section,” says Khanna, adding that the feedback process has also become crucial to being able to gauge how new team members are performing.
Those who joined the kitchen at the bottom were also given a specific timeline on how to move up the career ladder which Khanna added was an important incentive for them.
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