Chef Vanshika Bhatia has been cooking and baking since she could reach the stove top. “In my home, the very decision to plan and prepare dishes for the day is an act of joy,” she says.
Early associations with the sensorial power of food.
“It began with that quintessentially ‘Indian Home’ beverage, chai; which could start conversations, dissolve debates, and help heal, or soothe,” recalls Vanshika.
Like her maternal grandmother, Chef Vanshika’s cooking style is exploratory: revolving around the search, mix-and-match, as well as layering of exciting flavours. Ask her about her favourites, and there isn’t an ingredient that Vanshika hasn’t found something to love for.
Tracing roots & travelling ahead for inspiration
‘Home food’ is a profound sentiment for this rising and shining culinary star. Chef Vanshika’s maternal and paternal family traces their ancestry to pre-partition Bannu, in the North West Frontier Province. In India, the Bannuwals, as the community is addressed, preserve their resilient beauty through a distinct linguistic and culinary heritage.
In its many flavoursome layers, Bannuwal food – revolving around the use of simple grains and grain flours; dry spices; or pickling as a preservation method, amongst others – gives a safe harbour to secrets for making the best of what’s available.
Taking inspiration from the survival-driven ingenuity of her grandparents’ generation, Chef Vanshika wants to elevate her sustainability story in cooking, by reviving anecdotes that could soon be lost in the dusty corridors of time.
Usually, Chef Vanshika travels every 3 months in the search for new ideas, or simply to broaden her culinary horizons. Her recent forays have been to the lush green forests of the North East and the
The professional journey so far
In 2012, Chef Vanshika pursued her formal training in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu, London. As soon as the course concluded, she began working in some of the world’s best restaurants: Noma (Copenhagen), Gaggan (Thailand) and Junoon (Dubai).
She then brought learnings from the gastronomic globe-trotting home. Her first professional role following the return to India was with none other than the iconic Olive Bar and Kitchen, New Delhi. Here, because of her caliber and dedication, she was promoted to the position of Head Chef at Ek Bar, which was one of the restaurants under the Olive umbrella.
Chef Vanshika not only believes in the age-old saying, ‘change is the only constant,’ but also seemingly flourishes in it.
She’s (very proudly!) rooted in her classic French training, but her intuitive heart is always open to experimentation. It spells confidence and a striving for perfection; but also intelligent curiosity and a desire to never stop learning.
‘Chef-preneur’ since 2019
Chef Vanshika is famous as the young (she was but 25 years old) co-founder and head chef at Together at 12th, Le Meridien, Gurugram. The recently launched Petite Pie Shop – Chef Vanshika’s new French-style Bistro – is symbolic of her efforts to diversify her culinary empire.
She desires Petite Pie Shop to be identified as an inviting, informally elegant space, for enjoying life’s ‘petite’ pleasures. It offers the most delectable sweet-savoury pies, tarts, quiches and pizzas; besides croissant and baguette sandwiches, French onion soup, as well as terrines, cold cuts, spreads and preserves.
During the months of lockdown, Chef Vanshika found herself working with recipes of baked goods. These sparked the first ideas for Petite Pie Shop, and you can see the experimental inspirations reflected in the menu.
In 2022 she became chef partner at OMO- Soul Food Community serving contemporary vegetarian cuisine.
She has recently opened a second Petite Pie Shop in South Delhi, and plans on taking the brand national very soon.
Zero-waste zen
“The menu is made after you have the ingredients in-front of you, not before!”
Chef Vanshika elevates the art of using every part of the ingredient. The seamlessness with which it becomes part of a perfectly executed dish, shows how she balances classic training and freestyle creativity perfectly.
For instance, ‘upcycled’ recipes are an integral part of Chef Vanshika’s approach to cooking. Simply put, that’s using leftover shreds from, say, vegetables that may have been used for different dishes.
Sustainability efforts don’t stop at seasonal menus, locally sourced ingredients, and collaborations or partnerships with local farmers, or artisans.
Explains Chef Vanshika, “The longevity of kitchen operations is influenced by acts of ‘daily sustainability.’ Hygiene is crucial, needless to say. Our kitchens are cleaned three times a day.. If the premises already have a water harvesting or recycling initiative in place, then nothing like it, we become part of that effort too. In short, we know that we’ll find what we’re looking for, and we’re looking for an environmentally conscious, restorative process. When something that we think is feasible works, we make sure that we stick to it.”
The kitchen ninja brigade
Perhaps this is a reflection of Chef Vanshika’s classical kitchen training, but her mantra for making ‘chefs out of cooks’ is very simple. “Do what you know to the best of your ability, and then keep doing it. When culinary instincts are strong, the innovations and inspirations unfold naturally.”
An example of this is the daily ‘sensory test’ in Chef Vanshika’s kitchen. Everyday, she and her team will taste the items for freshness, and potential for flavour profiling. It not only helps them identify what can be used, upcycled, or recycled, but becomes daily practice for her team to develop their palette. After all, what’s a chef’s plate without their palate?
What about sustaining team spirit? Like all kitchen teams, Chef Vanshika’s also follows a clearly outlined roster, of course. Hours in a kitchen can be long, sometimes unpredictable and hard, so everyone’s favourite break time is mealtime, which everyone shares – and if the occasion calls for it – celebrates together.
Learning never stops
Chef Vanshika loves reading thesis and research papers about cooking cultures around the world, their historical evolution, and specialities. “The in-depth research sometimes puts a spotlight on very unique nuances, and even gives glimpses of what a day in the life of the people cooking that food could have been like, during a particular period in time,” she explains. “I find such discoveries very fascinating, and it recharges my creativity when I begin to think of whether it’s possible to put my own spin on it, or if there’s any way to make it relatable for my customers.”
Her intuitive cooking signature emerges in a very interesting light, when she says she is very interested in learning about ‘food as it used to be when foraged, before it was cultivated.’ If there’s anyone that Chef Vanshika looks up to, it’s her mentor, the chef and co-owner of the 2-Michelin star Noma in Copenhagen, René Redzepi. For her, he is a ‘culinary god.’
Chefs Manifesto
With the belief that chefs can and should be a part of the process that brings about change and tackles social and economic issues around food and hunger, Chef Vanshika associated herself with the organisation Chefs Manifesto. Working alongside chefs, nutritionists, farmers, NGOs, policy makers and government organisations from around the globe, the goal is to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.
In June 2022, as part of a conference to discuss the importance of beans as an optimal food choice in a effort to manage the issues created by conflict, cost, COVID and climate change and the disruptions caused to global food supply chains, Chef Vanshika give workshops and talks on the varieties of indigenous beans and legumes grown in India and their significance to local farmers and growers, and their impact on the current and future food systems.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS
Chef Vanshika has been named in the list of ‘40 chefs under 40’ in India by CNTraveller
In 2022, Chef Vanshika was first listed in the 30 best chefs in India by Vir Sanghvi’s Culinary Culture Co. and in 2023 she ranked No 17 on the same list.
Also recently listed in the 10 best young chefs in India by Mr. Vir Sanghvi
She was invited to speak about the issue of solving world hunger crises at the World Economic Forum.
She was awarded as an Outstanding Woman in Environmental Awareness by FICCI FLO.
OMO won best vegetarian restaurant award by Travel and Leisure Magazine.
Petite Pie Shop won Best Cafe- North in Times Food and Nightlife award and also Best New Cafe in Restaurant India Awards.
She was listed in 40 under 40 in the creative sector by The Week
