Dhruv's Story

It all started with spending time with mum in the kitchen, from helping her organise the spice jars to asking her the details of my favourite dishes. I remember being overly excited for the summer breaks when we would go to my grandmother’s house in Manali and I’d get to spend time learning and observing her commendable skills at her restaurant.

 

Upon reaching the 10th grade, I was asked about my choice of career and my instant answer was to be a chef. I was neither the brightest in my foyer nor was I popular amongst my peers, in fact I was never able to spell the words correctly and was diagnosed with a reading disorder in the 11th grade, which I now consider the turning point of my life as that’s when I shifted my focus to learning professionally what I loved the most- I started enrolling myself in various culinary and baking classes. As I explored, I found myself having a keen interest in the French and the European cuisine.

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 It so happened that when I was travelling to Goa and had a chance to eat Xakuti, a native crossover dish of Goa which is deeply influenced by the Portuguese, I realized it tasted even better after knowing the background and the story of the dish and that’s when I started to look up to the lost/ not so popular Indian cuisine and also knowing about the history of dishes and ingredients.

 

To take it further, I studied Bachelors in Hotel Management at Le cordon blue, India. I was fortunate to do my first internship in the French Alps at a Michelin starred restaurant “Lematafan in Chamonix , Fr ”, where to prove myself, since I wasn’t fluent in the native language French, I had to work harder than everybody else working in the kitchen. 

I would record recipes and would get it translated from a local boy. I learned molecular cooking, native French dishes and had a first hand experience in the waste segregation. It opened doors to the world of cuisine from the French perspective.

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Upon reaching India after my internship, I 

started working at Qla with Chef Priyam Chatterjee where I learned all about bakery and today, I can finally do French patisserie. Then I was shifted to Hot Kitchen where I discovered my love for different techniques and ingredients used in the Kitchen. As I explored, I grew interest in vegetarian food and I desire to explore all the ingredients of the Indian food. 

I later worked/collaborated & pop ups with brands like

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THC - The Hunger Cartel, Shisho - Yu choi, La latina tapas bar, Sir John bakery, Kerry adventures & Hangout.

 

Finally, for the common love of our local ingredients, I happened to meet The Prodigal Farm team at The Earth Collective, which was the start of the vision we share “To use the local , seasonal produce as much as we can “, At TPF I head the kitchen operations and R&D department