On August 24, 2019, Travel+Leisure India & South Asia transformed the capital city into a culinary carnival with the second edition of its annual readers’ choice Delicious Food Awards. Leading chefs, hoteliers, restaurateurs, and gourmands from all over the country came together to celebrate the best in the industry― as voted by our readers across 22 categories― at The Imperial New Delhi. A separate set of three awards were decided by an esteemed jury that comprised the Editor-in-Chief Aindrila Mitra, chefs Kunal Kapur, Ranveer Brar, and Anahita Dhondy. On the list of attendees were Vijay Wanchoo, Sr Executive VP and GM, The Imperial, New Delhi; art connoisseur Shalini Passi; designer Gaurav Jai Gupta; Jasdeep Singh, CPO, Sage Apothecary among others. The awards ceremony also saw the announcement of Travel+Leisure India & South Asia’s first-ever A-List featuring advisers like Chef Anahita Dhondy, designer duo Shivan & Narresh, Shoba Mohan, Founder, Rare India, and Ajeet Bajaj, Founder, Snow Leopard Adventures, who graced the event with their presence.
A full house at The Royal Ballroom of The Imperial, New Delhi.
Vijay Wanchoo, Sr Executive Vice President & General Manager, The Imperial, New Delhi.
Björn Rettig, CEO, Burda Media India.
Host for the evening, actor Aahana Kumra.
Aindrila Mitra, Editor-in-chief, Travel+Leisure India & South Asia.
The glorious team of The Imperial, New Delhi. (L-R) Mandeep Abrol, Security Manager; Surender Singh Thakur, Director F&B; Aparupa Ray Ganguly, Head PR & Marketing; Jitendra Kumar, Banquets Manager; John Charles Dean, Sr Restaurant Manager, 1911 Restaurant; Vijay Wanchoo, Sr EVP & GM; Ruchi Jain, PR Manager; Satbir Kaur Sandhu, Head, Interiors and Estate; Puneet Chaudhary, Restaurant Manager, Daniell’s Tavern; Lieutenant Colonel (Retd) Satish Bhati, Chief of Security; Prahlad Kumar, Asst Manager, Banquets.
The team of Nostalgia at 1911 Brasserie, The Imperial, New Delhi―(L-R) Surender Singh Thakur, Director F&B; Prem K Pogakula, Executive Chef; Anoop Singh Adhikari, Asst Restaurant Manager, 1911 Restaurant; Chef Anil Kumar Jaiswal, Chef de Cuisine, 1911 Restaurant; John Charles Dean, Sr Restaurant Manager, 1911 Restaurant; Ralph D’Silva, Asst Restaurant Manager, 1911 Restaurant―receive the award for Best Continental Cuisine from Chandni Nath Israni, Director of Logix Group.
(L-R) Ajeet Bajaj, Founder, Snow Leopard Adventures; Prachi Tandon, Marketing & Communications Manager, Conrad Bengaluru, receives the Best Pan-Asian Cuisine award for Mikusu, Conrad Bengaluru; Jasdeep Singh, CPO, Sage Apothecary.
Shoba Mohan, Founder, Rare India (extreme left) and Priyanshi Manya, Brand Manager, Baked by Ratna Saluja (third from left) present the award for Best Vegetarian Cuisine to the team of Royal Vega, ITC Grand Chola.
(Third from left) Manoj Bisht, Head Bartender of Cirrus 9, and Simon Rastrick, Executive Assistant Manager, F&B, The Oberoi, New Delhi receive the Editor’s Choice award for Best Rooftop Bar from designers Shivan & Narresh.
(L-R) Art connoisseur Shalini Passi; Pratiti Rajpal, Cluster Director of Marketing Communications, Andaz Delhi & Grand Hyatt Gurgaon receives the Best Sunday Brunch award for The Café, Hyatt Regency Pune; Sushmita Gupta, Business Director, Travel+Leisure India & South Asia.
Designers Shivan & Narresh present the Best Farm-to-Table award for Haveli, Alila Fort Bishangarh to Parinita Samanta, Director of Marketing and Communications, Hyatt Regency Delhi & Alila Fort Bishangarh.