FROM ITC GARDENIA, BENGALURU

"JAPANESE CUISINE IS VERY UNIQUE"

                                         

Meet 29 yr old Kamlesh Joshi,The Asst Master Chef of EDO, ITC Gardenia's flagship Japanese Restaurant, at Bengaluru. EDO is inspired by the ancient name of Tokyo. This happens to be the one and only traditional Japanese restaurant of the ITC Group of Hotels that showcases the Izakaya style of dining and an abiding talent of merrymaking that originated during the Edo period. Since Jan 2010, this 84 Seater restaurant offers a spectacular array of sushi, sashimi and Japanese grills.

"The Japanese cuisine is very healthy and unique. Japanese chefs will treat their fishes with extreme care. The quality of ingredients used is another aspect. In Japan, they do serve live fishes. Fishes will be crawling in the chopping boards and plates. But, in India, serving live fishes is really a challenge" says Chef Kamlesh.

Kamlesh had the good fortune of working directly under the supervision of world renowned Michelin star Japanese Chef Masa Haru Morimoto (has won the Iron Chef title twice) while he was working with the Wasabi Restaurant in Taj Mahal at Mansingh Road Delhi.

Chef Kamlesh has never been to Japan, but has been so fortunate to work with many a renowned Japanese Chefs including Chef Morimoto. He speaks in Japanese very well. He did a course with Sakura Nihongo Japanese language institute, a Bengaluru based organization that propagates Japaneses language.

It was at Sheraton New Delhi, while working as an industrial trainee, Kamlesh had developed a passion for Japanese cuisine. He has represented Delhi zone in the under 19 Football National Championship.

"In the 12th my marks has been very poor. Because of my achievements in the football, I could get a berth in Karoremal College, Delhi for my degree, under the sports quota".

This tech savvy chef's prime passion is to create new Japanese dishes. He has been with Edo restaurant since the opening.

"Regarding the clientele, 70 per cent are Japanese and the rest are Indians. The members of the Japaneses Consulate in Bengaluru are our regular guests; so too, the CEOs of companies like Toyota, Mitsubishi etc".

In the Edo Restaurant, of the ten chefs in the food production department, two are from abroad. Fumio Kikuta (48) is from Japan and Benjamin Parades (39) from Philippines.

Messi is his favorite football player. Even today, he finds time to watch the football matches in TV, whether it is English premier or recently held ISL.

He is married to Mousumi, who works in JW Marriott, Bengaluru, as Asst Mgr

(F&B Sales).

Text and pics: R KESAVA MALLIA, in Bengaluru