Kunal Kapur

Kunal Kapur Chef Kunal Kapur

Born	(1979-09-18) September 18, 1979
Education	Institute of Hotel Management, Chandigarh
Style	Indian cuisine

Kunal Kapur (born in New Delhi), is an Indian celebrity chef and restaurateur, best known as the host and judge of the TV series MasterChef India Season 1, 2 and 3 on Star Plus and Junior Masterchef India Season 1.

Personal life

Kunal was born in New Delhi to a Punjabi family. He did his schooling from St. Francis De Sales School and pursued his education in Hotel Management from Institute of Hotel Management, Chandigarh. He is also a graduate from the Delhi University in Commerce. At a very early age, he took a liking to cooking and pursued it to become one of the most well known chefs in the country today. In his free time, Kunal trains underprivileged & unemployed youth in cooking and raising funds to make their own sustained food business together with United Ways Delhi. He is also very passionate about automobiles, technology, photography, travel, fashion and history.

Professional life

Chef Kunal kapur

Having the early lessons about cooking from his father and grandfather, he began his career around 2000, from the Taj group of hotels and worked with many of its hotels in various cities across India. After a long career at the Taj group of hotels, he is now the Executive Sous Chef at the Leela Kempinski in Gurgaon. Kunal also opened a restaurant which has achieved the Best Restaurant Award. In January 2008, he was rated as one of the Best Indian chefs in Delhi by India Today and was also titled as "the next big guy in kebabs and curries in India".^[1] He is well recognized by the Government of India and was given an opportunity to present Satvik cuisine to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Ms. Merkel, in Bangalore.^[2] He also cooked for 42 first ladies on the India Africa Summit besides an interactive cooking session with them during their recent visit to India.^[3] Chef Kunal has an in-depth understanding of regional Indian cuisine having learnt it from the best in the industry during his early career. He is equally adept with innovative Indian cuisine that is at par with the best culinary standards in the world.

Television appearances

Kunal has made television appearances both in India and abroad. He hosted and judged the popular Star Plus television show MasterChef India in season 1, season 2,^[4] season 3 and season 5. He hosted his first travel & food show ‘The Foodie comes to America’, shot entirely in New York and California, discovering the journey of Indian food in the USA. The show was aired on Times Now which captures Kunal’s travel and culinary journey across one of the world’s most vibrant cities, showcasing the best Indo- American cuisine. Kunal also hosted season 1 and season 2 of 'My Yellow Table' on NDTV Good Times and 'Pickle Nation', 'Fit Foodie', and 'Celebrating Togetherness' on Living Foodz.

He was invited as a guest judge on an episode of Season 2 of MasterChef (U.S. TV series) and made a guest appearance in an episode of Chef Pankaj Ka Zayka,^[5] on Star Plus, India.

Awards and achievements

Awards for Masterchef India and Junior Masterchef India

Kunal's name was cited by Limca Book of Records for creating India’s largest "Chocolate Tower".^[6]
India's Tallest Chocolate Eclair Tower by Chef Kunal Kapur
Kunal received Dr. S Radhakrishnan National Media Network Award 2014 for his contribution in television (MasterChef India).
He is the proud recipient of The Indian Television Academy Award 2014 for the Best Jury/Anchor in a game show format for Junior MasterChef India. Best Anchor Award
He was awarded the prestigious Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship, by the Prime Minister of New Zealand Mr. John Key in the field of Food & Beverage.^[7] http://www.fuzionproductions.com/master-chef-india-host-and-judge-kunal-kapur-awarded-sir-edmund-hillary-fellowship-by-new-zealand-government/
Chef Kunal Kapur with New Zealand Prime minister Mr. John Key

Associations

Kunal is the brand ambassador for United Ways Delhi, a not for profit organization that focuses on improving lives by Education, Income and Health. Kunal’s role as ambassador is to train under privileged youth in food production, educating them with the right kitchen skills and techniques and help them in becoming small- scale entrepreneurs/food hawkers.
Kunal is in the league of elite Star Chef on board German airline Lufthansa, where he has customized menus for the first and business class passengers. Star Chef Lufthansa
Kunal works closely with NASVI (national association of street vendors of India) to improve the lives and quality of food and sanitation of food hawkers in India.
Kunal promotes healthy cooking and is closely associated with Avanza Avocados in India for the same.
Kunal is also associated with Tupperware and recently launched 2 of their new products in Delhi.
Kunal is also a part of Passion Trails – which is organized by The Times of India, where he takes food enthusiasts on culinary adventures around the country.

References

External links

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