The Hindu : Karnataka News : A kitchen good enough to eat

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Friday, Mar 14, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka

A kitchen good enough to eat

Staff Reporter

The chefs on the Golden Chariot are handpicked to serve a discerning clientele

The kitchen cannot fit more than three people
The chefs plan to experiment with various cuisines

— Photo: M.A. Sriram

Culinary delight: Executive Chef Deepak Kumar Chaubey (right) and his kitchen staff on the Golden Chariot.

On board the Golden Chariot: Given the high standards and eclectic tastes of the clientele, meeting their gastronomic needs is no mean task, especially if they are on a train. The kitchen on the Golden Chariot may be small, but the effort to keep it running is huge.

For the chefs on board Karnataka’s luxury train, it is a challenging task to function from a compact kitchen, a completely different scenario from the big kitchens most five-star category hotels have.

Yet, the seven-member kitchen staff headed by the Executive Chef Deepak Kumar Chaubey has been trying to adapt to a new environment, catering to the high-heeled tourists travelling on this luxury train of Karnataka that is on its first commercial run.

“Even though more than three persons cannot work simultaneously in the kitchen, we are catering to over 60 passengers,” said Mr. Chaubey, who gave up his position at a five-star hotel in Bangalore to take this assignment.

“It is a different kind of job and is an opportunity that comes in lifetime. Most of us are used to working in far bigger kitchens, sometimes 10 times the size of this ‘kitchen on wheels’. But we are managing to keep the guests happy with a combination of Continental, North Indian, South India and North Karnataka dishes,” he added.

The team

Setting up a team for the luxury train was not an easy task.

Limited accommodation available on the train meant that each of the kitchen staff had to be carefully chosen for their multi-skills, who could prepare all the cuisines, and since offboard services was not a part of the plan, food had to be prepared onboard fresh.

Besides, the team members have to gel with each other since they had to work from a compact area yet deliver quality services on time. The kitchen on the Golden Chariot is fitted with electrical equipments for preparation of food, and gas cylinders are not used.

Selection

Mr. Chaubey said: “The kitchen staff were selected carefully, and most of them are bachelors. A couple of others who are married agreed to join the team to have a different experience.” The onboard kitchen experience is a different thing since anyone can join any hotel, but only a handful gets the opportunity to serve onboard, he added.

The challenge in the coming days, he said, would be more as they plan to experiment with cuisines to break the monotony. “Every four months, we plan to change the menu onboard since we (chefs) also need to experiment with new menu and presentation. The dishes would be replaced after considering the feedback from the customers also,” Mr. Chaubey added.

Impressed with the freshness of vegetables and fruits available at the Gadag market during the trial run undertaken in February, Mr. Chaubey plans to buy it himself every time.

“We do not like to stock everything from Bangalore when we start. Meat is good in Mysore, vegetables in Gadag and prawns in Goa, and depending on the need we can purchase them from local markets.”

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