Recognizing the best restaurant with delectable food and a delightful ambience.
Restaurant Awards 2023 is the top honour bestowed upon the greatest in the industry who have tirelessly dedicated their lives walking an extra mile to raise the bar of the Food & Beverage Sector. The awards will go to various regions of the country physically,to honor and applaud the great work done by foodpreneurs and chefs around the country.
This is a precious opportunity to excel your food & beverage business and hear the elevating tunes of applause by the whole fraternity. These awards will put spotlight on exemplary contributions made by profound professionals and passionate restaurant brands. This recognition will enhance your business credibility and would help in restructuring your brand image. Submissions are now open for Restaurant Awards 2023, browse through the appropriate category and region and nominate yourself today.
Read more »Restaurant Awards premium focus is to create recognition for various industry experts.
01The conference brings new perspective on Scaling up your Restaurant Business.
02Influential restaurateurs , thought leaders, innovative suppliers and industry titans join the show. They’re all here.
03Hear intriguing insights on the latest insights on Food Industry and visionary experts. Sit back and learn as Restaurateurs.
04Recognizing the best restaurant with delectable food and a delightful ambience.
This Category recognises Night Clubs/Bars that demonstrates the best ambience,food & liquor.
This category recognises the best bakeries which offers outstanding value, excellent food and appropriate service.
This category recognises a Restaurant/Bar/Bakery that has the best interiors
This category recognises caterers/unique concepts/customer experiences and cloud kitchens.
This category recognises restaurateurs/chefs/sommeliers who have demonstrated outstanding qualities.
Managing Director, Advantage Foods
Tarun Mahadevan, 27, is Managing Director, Advantage Foods Pvt. Ltd. Tarun holds a BSc. (Hons) in Business Administration from the University of Bath. Advantage Foods Pvt Ltd is the parent organisation of numerous brands such as Hot Breads and Writer's Cafe, which specialises in running Food & Beverage Outlets predominantly in South India. Prior to joining the Family Business, Tarun was working in Financial Services having gained experience with an investment services company before switching over to the buy side and gaining exposure with a UK based mid-market private equity firm.
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Pricol Gourmet
Japtej is an alumnus of the prestigious ITC Hotels Management Training Institute prior to starting Pricol Gourmet. With over 10 years of experience across multiple hotels and different restaurants and bars at ITC acting as a strong foundation to start something of his own with his best mate Nikesh Lamba, the duo’s first brand - Double Roti was conceptualized in the winter of 2013 in Delhi. This has been followed by other award winning brands like Savya Rasa, Soy Soi, Little Soi, Origin, Delish, Bayroot and Epicure(bespoke catering brand) under the stable of Pricol Gourmet over the last 7 years which now runs and operates 15+ restaurants across 4 cities.
At Pricol Gourmet, Japtej is the creative mind and power engine who is responsible for the culture of the organization and makes sure that restaurants offer the best vibe in the city. He is also responsible for Brand operations of Double Roti, Savya Rasa, Delish and overall strategic expansion of Pricol Gourmet.
Japtej is also a Managing Committee member at NRAI Chennai Chapter.
MD, Adyar Ananda Bhavan Pvt. Ltd
V.Vishnu Shankar is the Managing Director of Adyar Ananda Bhavan (AAB) group of restaurants and sweet shops. He along with his father K.T. Venkatasa Raja and Paternal uncle K.T.Srinivasa Raja are the main pillars of the organization Adyar Ananda Bhavan Sweets India Pvt Ltd.
The company has its presents in the states of Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Puducherry and Nellore totaling more than 130+ Outlets in India. Today it has its presence in USA, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and kenya. The company has work force of more than 12,000 workers.
Vishnu Shankar entered the business at a very young age and learnt the tricks of the trade from his illustrious father K.T. Venkatasa Raja and Paternal uncle K.T.Srinivasa Raja. The success achieved by him in his company is due to sheer hardwork diligence proper planning and determination. His company has crossed milestone of achieving a Rs. 800 cr turnover and marching majestically towards the Rs. 1000 cr mark.
His ambition is to reach the pinnacle of glory and his enthusiasm to do more and more in the food industry made him start a chain of Restaurants under the name and style of A2B. Today the company is providing sweets, snacks, chats, restaurant items, ice creams, bakery products ready to eat packaged food and more. With the backing of the huge work force his company has the capacity to cater to more than 3,00,000 people daily on an average
Managing Partner, Ironhill India
Harsha has set up several successful entrepreneurial ventures in the last two decades. One of his most cherished ventures is Ironhill India which is today one of the largest and fastest-growing breweries in the country.
Born into a humble middle-class business family in Hyderabad, Telangana, Harsha was heavily influenced by his parents' political ideology which had a big impact on his thought process which ultimately found its way to every venture he set up. He started planning his entrepreneurship journey at 19 but understood the importance of education and the fact that it not only helps you cultivate your life goal but also shows you the path forward. He went on to pursue his engineering in VIT, after whichhe headed to Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo for his Master's. A lifelong learner, he is currently pursuing his Executive Education (OPMProgram) at Harvard Business School, from which he will graduate in 2025.
At Ironhill India he focuses on new business growth and is currently in the process of setting up new touch points for both IH Breweries (Ironhill, Prost, Beerish )and IH Hospitality Restaurants and Lounges (Asie, Purple Potato, Soul of South, Pangeo, Pi-Kitchens, Ironhill Café, Anthm) as they continue to expand and grow while adding new brand ventures under each.
Harsha finds inspiration in challenging himself to find innovative solutions to problems. Always up for fair competition, he believes it keeps the mind sharp and commitment strong. As he puts it, “Win or learn. You never loose.”
Director, Nandhana Group
Shweta Ravi, the Director of (Nandhana Group) best known for their multi cuisine restaurant catering to Andhra style delicacies at the heart of the city Bengaluru. Shwetha Ravi, was born and brought up in an entrepreneurial family. She completed her graduation from Stella Maris in Chennai and furthermore did her Masters in Finance from Warwick University in England and trained in various hotels too. Besides, she is a sturdy visionary, carrying the twenty five years old legacy forward using innovation as a strong code, as she believes innovation is the only sustaining factor for any industry to progress
Partner, Inflection Point Ventures
As a Director in KPMG’s Deal Advisory practice, he managed mergers &
acquisitions, and restructuring engagements advising clients across Deal
Strategy, Strategic Transformation, Synergy & Cost Optimization, and other
Process Initiatives.
He worked as the Group Finance Manager – India and Thailand at Magna
Cosma International, where he led the M&A, Strategic Finance, and ERP
Implementation activities, development of cost models, and FP&A function
across the region.
He has also worked in EY (Financial Due Diligence) and PwC (Audit) teams in
the early part of his career, specializing in Industrial Manufacturing, IT & ITES
sectors.
Head - Key Accounts & Retail One - Nestle Professional
Experienced professional with 13+ years of experience in FMCGs like PepsiCo, Del Monte and Nestle in both B2B and B2C space with a demonstrated history of working in the food & beverages industry and Management consulting with Accenture. Skilled in P&L Management, Brand Management, Media Planning & Execution, Category development (core + innovation), Customer/Consumer Insights, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Trade Marketing, Business Development and B2B Marketing (Food Services industry), Management Consulting.
Founder, Biggies Burger
Biraja Prasad Rout is the founder of Biggies Burger. Being an entrepreneur with a passion for global food, Biraja was appalled to see the sordid state of affairs especially in the Indian grilled burger segment. With global chains serving up fried burgers, he took it upon himself to provide customer with healthier, grilled burgers. With the country fed up with the taste of fried burgers, Biggies Burger came up with the grilled burgers.
Having over 6 years of experience in automation, Biraja aims to utilize his experience to standardize the systems and processes so as to build India’s very own QSR chain that revolves around standardization and SOPs. He observed that there was a demand for grilled burgers in the QSR market. Biraja started the first Biggies Burger unit at Electronic City, in the year 2011. The concept of grilled burgers was first introduced to the Indian consumers, and received widespread recognition. Additionally, there was a very great reception for grilled burgers, which has since gone on to become the core USP of Biggies Burger.
Having taken baby steps during the initial years to grasp a better understanding of the nuances of the QSRs, the brand has gradually made its mark among the populace. Perhaps the best testament to the success of the brand is the fact that post adopting the franchising route in 2016. BIGGIES BURGER is the largest homegrown grilled burger chain in India with the brand currently operating 120+ stores in 23 cities across 15 states.
Biraja has since undertaken constant innovations and product development, ensuring uniformity in quality and taste across all locations. Not only in burger making, Biraja is also striving to ease the burger store franchising process for those that want to explore the QSR business opportunities. Adding to it is that Biggies Burger has enabled its franchisees that come from varied backgrounds, comprising of government officials, army personnel, IT professionals etc. to become successful in QSR business.
Chef & Culinary Director, Embassy Leisure and Entertainment Projects LLP (Embassy Group)
A well–travelled chef with an in-depth understanding of culinary concepts and a strong passion for innovation. IHM Mumbai alumnus, advance culinary skills honed at the Culinary Institute of America, comes with over two decades of work experience.
Chef Vikas Seth has been felicitated with the most coveted ‘Chef of the Year – 2022’ award by the prestigious Times Food & Nighlife Awards.
Chef Seth is now the Culinary Director at Embassy Leisure, he has been the brains behind the multi-award winning restaurants Sanchez Restaurante & Cantina, Sriracha – Contemporary Pan-Asian Dining, HopsHaus – Botanical Brewery + Kitchen, Zest Besopke Catering, F&B outlets @ BLVD Club – Embassy Boulevard, Eden Café at Embassy Springs, amongst others.
Chef Vikas Seth A truly multi-faceted chef and member of the prestigious International association of gastronomy as ‘Chaîne des Rôtisseurs’. He has authored books for private circulation “The Modern Indian Odyssey” and a unique twin cover brand book ‘Sanchez & Sriracha’. Chef Seth has been listed in the ‘Top Food Entrepreneurs’ book by Restaurant India, he is the winner of Upper Crust Food and Wine Celebrity Chef Competition. Chef Seth was one of the Super Chefs on the Sony TV telecast Cooking Reality Show - ‘Sanjeev Kapoor Ke Kitchen Khiladi’.
Chef Seth, has extensive experience in international product development as well, creating global flavours for every kitchen through the frozen food and ready-to-eat medium. These products were widely recognized globally and awarded a number of prestigious awards, namely in Boston Seafood Show and European Seafood Exposition in Brussels.
Founder & CEO, FreshMenu
CEO, GoPizza India
Executive Director, K Hospitality Corp
Karan Kapur has been with K Hospitality Corp since the past decade, and is part of the strategic decision making, business development and operations strategy roll out for the group.
With an expertise in business administration, finance and economics, backed by his education in various universities abroad, Karan believes in being a hands-on leader and believes in actively participating in the operations of the group to facilitate growth and expansion.
Karan Kapur is the Executive Director of K Hospitality Corp, one of India’s largest home-grown hospitality and food service corporations.
A graduate from Northwestern University in Economics, and from Kellogg School of Management, where he received a Certification in Finance. After setting up new businesses for the organization, Karan returned back to the US to acquire his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
He played an active part in the setup and launch of Travel Food Services, the travel retail vertical under K Hospitality Corp.
Karan currently heads the Indian and International food services verticals of K Hospitality Corp which include some of the acclaimed brands – Copper Chimney, Bombay Brasserie, Punkah House, Bombay Borough, Blue Sea Banquets, Pavitra Catering, amongst others; along with the recent foray into International QSR growth with the launch of Domino's Pizza in the African subcontinent.
At a group level, Karan is part of the strategic decision making, business development and operations strategy roll out for K Hospitality Corp, and has played an active role is building the organizational capabilities to scale up to over 6000 employees today.
Founder & Director, Handcrafted Restaurants Private Ltd
Co-Founder and CEO, BLR Brewing Co
Co-Founder, Samosa Singh
"Think Big! Trust Yourself and Make it Happen”, this is the mantra that Nidhi Singh, Co-Founder of Samosa Singh lives by.
Nidhi was heading the Business development vertical for a US based healthcare company, BioXcel Corporation. She worked a decade before quitting her satisfying job to start Samosa Singh.
She aspires to offer nostalgic and Indian delicacies both online and offline. She believes that the goal is to recreate and dominate the Indian snack category.
Her experience has enabled her to establish strong client bases that have assisted in reaching out at the corporate level for the business's growth potential. Her management and sales experience aided exponential growth and was critical in steering the startup by establishing a strong and healthy brand image.
Having a vision for developing healthy and hygienic food in India. Nidhi recognized a huge market opportunity and reached out to 10,000 customers in one day, delivering the samosas.
Co-Founder and CEO, HungerBox
Sandipan Mitra is the Chief Executive Officer of HungerBox – an institutional food technology company he co-founded in 2016, with Uttam Kumar, which helps institutions manage their F&B services effectively. It serves marquee clients across various sectors like corporates, manufacturing facilities, hospitals, malls, and multiplexes with the help of a comprehensive product suite built from the ground up to offer a seamless, digital cafeteria experience.
HungerBox currently manages over 550 cafeterias and works with more than 900 food partners to serve a user base of 1.2 million and handles 12 million orders every month. HungerBox counts 8 of the top 11 private sector employers in the country as its clients.
Prior to starting HungerBox, Sandipan co-founded HungryZone - South East Asia’s 1st online food ordering portal which saw a successful exit when it got acquired by FoodPanda.
An MBA by profession, Sandipan has worked with organizations like Wipro and Yahoo before venturing into his entrepreneurial journey. Fortune India featured Sandipan in its 2021, 40 Under 40 list of India's Brightest Young Entrepreneurs.
Managing Partner, Street Storyss and Sindh Kitchen
Akshay Luthria is a dynamic industry professional and restaurateur with over 15 years of experience.
His passion for hospitality projects led him to operate as a partner at Lemp Brew by Lemp Brewing Co., America’s first Lager beer brewers and one the most legendary brewing brands.
He has also opened his successfully running restaurants in Bengaluru and operating as a managing partner at Street Storyss and Sindh Kitchen.
Pastry Chef, Co-founder and Director of Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts
The bakery industry in India is the largest of the food processing segments with an estimated annual turnover of about $ 7.60 billion in 2020. The growth and spread of the bakery market have thrived on highly skilled bakers who have rattled the global industry as well.
Chef Avin Thaliath is one such name all pastry chefs and chocolatiers reckons with. An educationist at heart, the talented Chef’s mission is to spread joy with his insights and motivate others to find solace in this beautiful form of art.
Currently serving as the Co-Founder and Director of Academics at Lavonne Academy of Baking Science and Pastry Arts, India, Chef Avin’s desire and ambition to set up a specialized baking school in India, came true when Lavonne was born.
Hailing from Kerala, Chef Avin’s mother played a pivotal role in shaping his career and largely influenced him to dive into the culinary world. He was awarded a bronze medal in 2004 during his Bachelor of Hotel Management degree from Bangalore University. He further stimulated his field of interest, by taking up advanced level program in Chocolaterie and Sugar at Feves the Choco Creation of Pastry Fine Arts, Malaysia. He also holds the credit of being a Golden Certificate Awardee of Vatel Scholarship, Nimes, France.
After his studies in France, Chef Avin also interned under Chef Antonio Texeira before working with Le Granier A Pain, Paris, Paris Mamamia, Institut Vatel, Nimes and also Rhone Valley in France. After his stint in France, he worked with Indian giants like The Taj Hotels and The Orchid Hotels. Chef Avin was also appointed as a member of WACS (World Association of Chef’s Society), SICA (South Indian Culinary Association), and IFCA (Indian Federation of Chefs Association).
Rising up as a skilled dignitary in his field, Chef Avin steered the grounds of academic prowess as author of a number of academic journals, books, and monographs and has presented award-winning papers at top-level industry summits. He also served as assistant professor at the prestigious Christ University, Bangalore, India and has been associated with WorldSkills Org, since 2016 and has been representing India with skills from across the country at a global level. As someone who believes learning never stops, he competed his PhD in oenology studies and was in The Harun list for the most enterprising entrepreneurs of India. At present he is vice-president for the Pastry Council of India.
Soon, Chef Avin will launch his book “The Science in the Art of Baking”, which he has been working on for past 10 yrs.
Partner, Deloitte
Anand has around 16 years of experience from both an industry and consulting perspective. Anand is currently a Partner with the Strategy & Operations practice in Deloitte based out of Bangalore. He is a graduate from BITS Pilani and has completed his MBA from IIM Indore and PhD from IIM Bangalore. Anand started his career with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare. He has been in sales and brand roles for nutritional food brands such as Horlicks & Boost. Prior to Deloitte, Anand has been a part of the management consulting practice at KPMG for the past 8 years and has worked on over 90 engagements. His work has primarily been in the consumer markets domain across various sectors such as Retail, FMCG, Agribusiness, and Education. Anand led the channel and salesforce effectiveness solution for the practice.
Managing Director, V&RO Hospitality
Dawn Thomas has finished B.Tech from M.S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Bangalore. At the age of 17, Dawn co-founded Rices Obliquity (a clubbing community) to bring all of Bangalore together for incredible nightlife experiences and even joined hands with Sunburn and co-produced concerts of the likes of David Guetta, Avicii, Hardwell, Dada Life, Matzo, etc.
Just as most creators are - he is very particular about the brand image the company puts out and occasionally has taken up the responsibility of design & artworks himself in the beginning of his entrepreneurial journey.
In 2018, Dawn Thomas started working on building V&RO Hospitality as the CEO & Co-founder. VRO Hospitality, is one of the fastest growing hospitality chains in India which is the parent company of Popular Restaurant brands like Hangover, Badmaash, Nevermind, Cafe Noir, Tycoons, Plan B & Mirage. V&RO Hospitality takes pride in its repertoire of multi-format restaurants, cafes, lounges across 22 outlets in India
Under the leadership of Dawn Thomas, V&RO Hospitality also acquired F&B brands like Fava, Cafe Noir, Plan B, Caperberry, and One Night in Bangkok amidst the pandemic and also ventured into cloud kitchen brands with Burger & Beyond, Holy Doh to adjust to the new world of dinning
V&RO Hospitality has successfully raised an amount of $3million in a mix of equity and debt funding in Series A funding led by CreedCap Asia
Dawn Thomas is now focused on the growth mode of the company and with this fresh round of funding he aims to keep V&RO Hospitality on the trajectory of success.
Channel and Customer Marketing Manager – South India
Nestle Professional
10+ Year of Experience in Out of home F&B Space and part of two successful product launches in South.
Chief Strategy Officer, Third Wave Coffee
Started from 25 Cafes at CAFÉ COFFEE DAY in the Northern India as a Territory head advanced to a National head leading about 1400+ cafes & 400 kiosk spread across the country with a team strength of almost 8000 employees. With the retail experience and with the astute relationship have managed to open cafes at about 130+ cities across the country. Have been instrumental in scaling up the Café Division from 100 to 800 CR (pre covid). Setting sales goals basis the annual business plan & driving the team to achieve the set topline targets has been the key primary task.. Driving ops team to deliver organizational goals and deliver best customer experience was the motto.
Last 1 year, the journey at TWC as a Chief Strategy officer one of the key focus areas of my profile has been expansion. The strategy used in sequencing new outlet launches, training the team on negotiation skills, ensuring profitability of every store, data-driven decision-making in finalizing newer locations combined with teamwork has resulted in the launching of 70+ successful new outlets in less than a year. Still a long way to go with the targets that we have set for ourselves, but I am excited to be part of that journey that will surely help us build a strong Indian origin brand called Third Wave Coffee.
Principal, Kearney
Ankur is Principal with the global management consulting firm – Kearney. He is a practitioner within Consumer Industries and Retail Practice. He has engaged with multiple Indian and global food retail companies. The said engagements cover a variety of topics ranging from cost improvement, Sales and operations planning, store operations optimization and growth strategy. Across these engagements, Ankur has been actively involved in both strategy development and ensuring last mile implementation.
COO, FreshMenu
Mohammed Ali Shah is COO at FreshMenu. He is an experienced Operations Supervisor with a demonstrated history of working in the food & beverages industry. Ali joined FreshMenu in 2015 as Operations Manager. He is highly skilled in Operations Management, Microsoft Excel, Customer Service, Sales, and Business Development. He is a Strong operations professional with a Master of Business Administration - MBA focused in Operations Management and Supervision.
Culinary Director, Charcoal Concepts
To say that Shikha Nath is passionate about food is an understatement. Discovering the best that India has to offer, and sharing it with the world, is what she brings to the Copper Chimney, Bombay Brasserie and Bombay Borough tables.
Having been with the K Hospitality Corp group for over two and a half decades, she's worn several hats, along with being Culinary Director for Charcoal Concepts, the specialist Indian F&B vertical under K Hospitality Corp.
She's travelled across the length and breadth of the country with her young team of chefs, identifying unique ingredients, understanding India's rich culinary history and bringing constantly evolving, fresh ideas to keep reinventing the foodscape for each brand, based on the it's distinct identity. Mrs Nath has also played a key role towards the setup, growth and expansion of restaurants across different formats in India as well as Internationally
Founder Eatitude Consultants and MasterChef Tamil Judge
Chef Koushik has over 25 years of rich experience in multiple food and beverage formats across the world.
Back in 2003, at an event, his then employer Mr. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance, introduced him to movie star Amitabh Bachchan, as the "Mad Chef". Living up to this nickname, he took food to a
new level with innovative takes on traditional recipes from various cuisines. His obsession and seemingly crazy ideas are popular and well received even today.
His extensive tenure includes presiding on the judging panel of the Season 1 of the TV Show MasterChef Tamil hosted by actor Vijay Sethupathy on Sun TV in 2021, multiple appearances in
shows on Vijay TV, Jaya TV, in several features in various newspapers, as Judge and Presenter in many National Award Functions.
In 2006, Chef Koushik established Eatitude - Gourmet Technologists, to provide "Complete Solutions" to entrepreneurs entering the Food and Beverage Industry.
Having pioneered many out-of-the-box food formats in India since 1997, he enjoys the thrills of a new challenge and even now spends his time mentoring young Food and Beverage Entrepreneurs.
Fulfill your food and beverage dream with Eatitude. Create an award-winning brand that is scalable, replicable and financially viable over the years to come. Call in the experts and do this right, Save Time, Save Money.
Celebrity Chef
Dr. Chef Damodharan, professionally known as Chef Damu,[1] is an Indian celebrity chef. He is the first Indian chef to receive the doctorate degree- PhD- in Hotel Management and Caterging Technology. He started his journey in the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation as Trainee in the year 1977 after completing Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology from nstitute of Hotel Management, Taramani, Chennai. He has hosted numerous cooking shows and reality cooking competitions on various Tamil language television channels, most notably a s a judge on Cooku with Comali on Star Vijay. In 2010, he received a Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by a single individual. He also became the first Indian chef to receive Ph.D in Hotel Management and Catering Technology, which was awarded by the University of Madras in 2004. Furthermore, he has made a few appearances in Tamil films.
Editor-in-Chief, Franchise Media Entrepreneur India & Asia-Pacific
Ritu Marya is the Editor- in- Chief for Entrepreneur India-Asia-Pacific and Franchise India Media, a group company of Franchise India Holdings Limited. She is the Group Editor and leads the editorial desk which comprises business magazines including Entrepreneur, The Franchising World and Retailer together with the Digital media arm of Entrepreneur.com, Franchiseindia.com, wellnessindia.com, indianretailer.com and restaurantindia.in. In her tryst with Business Journalism over the last 16 years, Ritu is regarded as an authority on Startups, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Fintech, AI, Blockchain, Consumer Businesses, Retail, Luxury to Education, Restaurant, Funding and more. In her role as the Group Editor she meets and interacts with Leading Indian and Global Entrepreneurs and thought-leaders while tracking Startup and Entrepreneurial and consumer business landscape in India and Asia-Pacific.
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