Culinary wizard Chef Kshitiz Shekhar has been promoted as Culinary Director at Marine Plaza Hotel, a five star hotel overlooking the Arabian Sea, in South Mumbai. Prior to his promotion, he was working as Executive Chef for the past six years at the same hotel. Chef Kshitiz joined Hotel Marine Plaza Mumbai as an Executive Chef in July 2016. Chef Kshitiz is a skilled culinary professional, recognized for a comprehensive knowledge of international and Indian cuisine. He has an innovative approach to setting the stage for a customized dining experience. At Marine Plaza, he is taking care of overall kitchen operations and is custodian of award winning restaurants like oriental blossom, bay view, Allamanda and Geoffrey’s.
Chef Kshitiz completed his hotel management degree from Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology & Applied Nutrition, (IHM) Bhubaneswar. Chef Kshitiz began his career with ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton & Towers, Mumbai under the leadership of Madhu Wadhwani Krishnan, talented Executive Chef of ITC Grand Maratha and never looked back thereafter. The journey with ITC Grand Maratha was the major turning point of his career; it helped him translate his passion for Indian & Western cuisine into expertise. He started with the kitchen Executive training programme where he supervised and catered to account planning for the kitchens. To achieve experience, gaining deep knowledge on International soil, he joined Sheraton St. Louis City Center, USA, here; his career graph touched the zenith.
Feeling affectionate towards homeland, he returned back to India and Joined Hotel Sahara Star under the headship of talented Celebrity Chef Salil Fadnis. Chef Kshitiz played a pivotal role as Chef De Cuisine and extended his Indian and western culinary skills by developing culinary competencies, skills and capabilities. He aimed to bring unique dining experiences for patrons at Hotel Sahara Star and played a pivotal role in banquet operations, known for one of the biggest banquets in town. As he wanted to expand his horizon, he joined Intercontinental Marine Drive Mumbai as an Executive Sous chef in January 2015. He was instrumental in reopening Iconic Kebab Korner, which was known for authentic Indian delicacies in new avatar. He was instrumental in making Atelier the ball room an exclusive venue. At Intercontinental Marine Drive, he was overlooking the operations of their award winning restaurant Kebab Korner, Koh, Long & Short and Dome.
Hotel Marine Plaza
After gaining adequate exposure, he wanted to move further to climb the ladder of success. No sooner an opportunity came his way, he moved to Hotel Marine Plaza as Executive chef. Here, he left no stone unturned to make all dining venues and banquets a most sought after destinations for food lovers. After seeing his outstanding performance, he was promoted as Director of Culinary, a coveted position.
He has almost two decades of progressive experience managing the provision of fine dining at numerous leading hotels. He has refined the art of cooking, developing impressive menus and preparing culinary dishes influenced by culturally diverse regions around the globe. He is an expert when it comes to food and his passion. He has worked with reputed International and Indian hotel chains like Intercontinental Hotel Group, Hotel Sahara Star, Sheraton Saint Louis City Center, USA and ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton & Towers.
Award & Accolades: Chef Kshitiz has won numerous awards and accolades that includes Most Admired Chef by World Leadership Congress in 2022, Chef of the year award 2019 by Sarovar Group of Hotels & Resorts, awarded India’s top 10 chefs by Best of India Biz Award, India hospitality F&B Pro world Expo 2018. He was also judged Nestle young star chef in 2005. In his culinary journey he has done various shows on various channels which includes Upper Crust and The Times of India. He has also done a web series on cookery on Gemplex – Khane ke Diwaane which became very popular amongst food lovers.
Chef Kshitiz is multi-talented and is a task master. Being able to multitask efficiently, he juggles various responsibilities with ease. With a firm management skill, he is brilliant enough to undertake new tasks and complete them with utmost perfection. Training being an integral part of his profile, he is constantly guiding and training junior chefs to reach the efficacy in every menu and presentation. Passionate for food, he keeps exploring various new ingredients to create an innovative recipe, something that his patrons can vouch for. No wonder, he rules the kitchen and the stomach too.
Editor in Chief : Mewati SItaram
