From cooking for prestigious VIP guests including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, to appearing on primetime TV, Saurabh Prabhakar, the new Executive Sous Chef at DoubleTree by Hilton – Leeds City Centre is bringing his star quality and a flair for exotic flavours to the table at the hotel’s award-winning City Café restaurant.
35 year old Saurabh, who recently appeared on BBC2’s ‘Chefs on Trial’, relocated to Yorkshire from London having worked at the Hilton Kensington for three years. The talented chef first cut his mustard on a two-year training programme at one of Asia’s most prestigious culinary schools, the Oberoi Centre for Learning and Development, considereda benchmark for international excellence within the hotel industry. He then took up positions at several Oberoi hotel restaurants across the globe including the Oberoi Mumbai, serving up culinary delights for a range of VIP clientele included A-list movie stars, Prime Ministers and even the legendary King of Pop himself, Michael Jackson.
Two years spent working for the Holland America Luxury Cruise Line company allowed Saurabh to hone his craft, learning about different international cuisines, before settling in London where he undertook apprenticeships with renowned chefs, including the Michelin starred Galvin brothers and mentorship under Phil Howard of award-winning The Square restaurant in Mayfair. Saurabh’s passion for mixing modern British cooking with more exotic flavours has earned him a reputation in the industry as ‘one to watch’ and in 2013, he was a finalist at the prestigious Craft Guild Of Chef’s National Chef of the Year competition and again a finalist at Nestle Hilton Chef of the Year 2013.
Traditional British favourites with an international twist
Comments Saurabh, who will work underExecutive Head Chef Daniel Benefer at City Cafe in Leeds: “I love modern British cooking and especially being able to experiment with different flavours and spices, giving traditional British favourites an international twist using techniques I’ve learnt from some of the leading contemporary chefs. Daniel is a terrific champion of the fine produce which we have in abundance here in Yorkshire and I completely support his commitment to working with local ingredients, as do our customers who, now more than ever, like to know exactly where their food is coming from.
“I’ve not only been able to create some fantastic fusion dishes on the a la carte menu, but the weekly changing market menu also gives me the opportunity to really experiment with flavours and dishes, working closely with the whole team.”
He has already made his mark on the new summer menu at the award-winning restaurant. New dishes designed by Saurabh on the a la carte menu include a starter of Yorkshire asparagus with poached eggs, mains including Yorkshire lamb with apricot couscous, courgette fritters and smoked aubergine or spiced monkfish and prawn curry; and a dessert of pineapple carpaccio with coconut sorbet and kafir lime syrup.
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Marcus Wareing, Mark Poynton and Angela Hartnet