CHEF'S CORNER

 

Ranveer Brar: A Regular Guy From Lucknow Made His Way To The Top!

 

From the streets of Lucknow to becoming the youngest chef of a five-star hotel and a master chef India judge, Ranveer Brar is now a celebrity. The international chef also hosted television cooking shows (Breakfast Xpress, Snack Attack, Homemade, Ranveer’s Cafe, Andaaz Anokhaa and many more) and is known for being an excellent food stylist. He was also one of the judges for season six of ‘Master Chef India’ along with fellow chefs (Vineet Bhatia and Vikas Khanna) and indeed the journey of this successful chef is absolutely inspiring.

According to Ranveer, food has always been an inspiration for him to learn more. He used to cook at the langar when he was young and he slowly started exploring delicious street foods of Lucknow, which changed his perception towards life.

“People in Lucknow take food very seriously. They will not even give you salt and you have to eat it the way it is cooked because it might be someone’s grandfather’s recipe, they have stories around food. So, for me it was a very powerful place to be.” – Ranveer Brar

Ranveer was born in Lucknow, India, into a Jatt Sikh family to Ishwar Singh and Surinder Kaur. When fairly young, he was inspired by the local kebab vendors in Lucknow to pursue his love for food. He even worked as a volunteer for his favorite kebab vendor owned by Munir Chacha. Under his guidance, he worked as an ‘ingredient boy,’ and he used to pour the ingredients into the potlis. Soon he realized that his love for food isn’t temporary and that he wants to make cooking his profession. And further he decided to confess the decision he made to his parents.

 

Confession About the Choices

Though Ranveer was sure enough about making his career in cooking, his family instead asked him to ponder on his decision, as they were worried about their reputation, the lack of job security and instability that this career could bring. But being truly passionate about food, Ranveer remained firm on his decision and became one of the most successful and celebrated chefs irrespective of all the odds!

 

How It All Began!

When most of the teenagers are confused about their career choices, at such a young age, Ranveer made the pathbreaking decision of becoming a chef.

Ranveer started his journey as a chef with the famous Taj Group as a Hotel Operations Management trainee after his graduation from IHM. Ranveer didn’t stop there. In 2001, he moved to Goa and started three restaurants there (‘Morisco’ a seafood restaurant, ‘il camino’ an Italian restaurant and ‘Fishtail’ a small open-air barbeque eatery) and then joined the Oberoi group. Further in 2003, he joined Radisson Blu Hotel, Noida, an executive chef at the age of 25. He opened a hotel there too.

Later, Ranveer left for Boston, Massachusetts, United States, where he started ‘Banq’ a fine Franco-Asian restaurant, which later won prestigious awards including ‘The Best New Restaurant’ in the world by the magazine ‘Wallpaper’.

Though Ranveer didn’t stay there for long and came back to India again. All this time he was showcasing his talent and documenting food on television from hotel restaurants to a heritage hotel!

 

Ranveer And Food!

 “Food completes that circle of creativity, passion, happiness, and joy. I believe that food has the power to stimulate all the senses in a manner which is beyond what anybody or anything else can do. One of the biggest triggers of food is memory.” – Ranveer Brar

Recalling his first adventure with cooking he says, once a lady who regularly cooked the meetha chawal (sweet rice) at the langar was unavailable and the task of cooking fell on his plate. “It’s very different when you cook yourself. Suddenly, all of it starts making sense because the magic kind of starts breaking down and the whole joy of creation takes over. And I was like, did I really make this” said Ranveer.

Ranveer even believes that travelling is one of the ways to mature as a chef. While exploring the exquisite relationship between food and travel, Ranveer has travelled across the globe in search of spices, learning from top culinary experts about various cuisines and developing new cooking techniques.

“In order to evolve as a food person, you don't have a choice, but to travel. You cannot mature as a chef or a food person if you don’t have a cultural perspective. So, everything comes at a cost,” says Ranveer.

 

 

Ranveer Brar’s Achievements

Ranveer was featured among the top 50 chefs in the ‘Indian Culinary Forum’ book. In 2015, he was appointed first-ever brand ambassador for Philips India Kitchen Appliances. He was even appointed Brand Ambassador for Assocom Institute of Technology and Management (AIBTM) in the same year.

Ranveer launched his first book “Come Into My Kitchen” in 2016 and later in 2017, he launched his another book “A Traditional Twist”.

 

Ranveer was appointed 'Brand Friend' for one of the leading exporters of sea food, Gadre Marine Export Pvt Ltd. and for Swiss Army Knives pioneer Victorinox as well.

 

Ranveer has been Awarded ‘Indian of the Year’ for chef and TV Host of the year 2017 and LEGEA ‘Food Entertainer of the Year’ for 2018.

       

At Present!

“If I’ve taken the journey and I have a voice, and people listen to me, then I have to be able to say the right things and be at the right place at the right time. All this comes with a responsibility to deliver and make a difference in people’s lives. And you have got to deliver that responsibility with sincerity.” – Ranveer Brar

Ranveer inspires many youngsters to work towards their dreams passionately and conquer them. He keeps posting informative videos related to food on his social media platform and has over 1.45 million followers on his personal YouTube Channel.

Presently Ranveer is doing digital series named ‘Ranveer Aapne Bataya Nahi’ and ‘Food Speak with RB’ on his Instagram account. Ranveer even handles another Instagram page named ‘The RB’s Kitchen’ telling us about useful cooking hacks, recipes, food history and food facts.