Chef Viraf Patel approaches his cooking and his business ideals with utmost honesty and dedication- laced with much eccentricity provided for by a creative mind which is always thinking a hundred steps ahead and analyzing what happened a hundred steps before. Starting off as one of the most celebrated young chefs he has treaded paths mostly unexpected and usually revered by much of his clients and the hospitality industry itself. Chef Virafs culinary style exudes the respect he has for his ingredients and his complete focus on technique. His familiarity with food that anchors the soul, in all hues of global cuisine, has helped transport people to places far off- sometimes familiar and sometimes pleasantly unimagined. Chef Viraf, through his culinary adventures has transformed peoples perception of food in India. He loves to delve deep into past histories of cuisine and always loves the challenge of making them relevant to our time and age. Chef Viraf began his culinary escapades fairly early in life. Born to a mother dedicated to the hospitality industry and a father who was a printer publisher, he always maintained an interest in all things culinary and later went on to pursue his education in Hospitality Management at the prestigious Les Roches School of Hospitality Management. The parents combined, along with a front seat view of how industries are run created the Chef in Viraf while honing his skills to observe and apply innovations to the trade. Post his education in Les Roche, Chef Viraf went on to work at Restaurant Zur Rossweid, Zurich where the largely methodical and technique focused, Chef Attinger became his mentor and challenger. He attributes much of his culinary understanding, attention to detail and technique to Chef Attinger. Having arrived back in India at the time when people’s curiosity towards the global food space was increasing tremendously, Chef Viraf was able to capture the ever-evolving palates of India with his own experiences. In India, Chef Viraf first worked at Indigo Mumbai as a Sous Chef. This was a time when he could feel and sense that the city was ready to gorge up global flavours with joyful abandon. Under the mentorship of Chef Rahul Akerkar’s philosophies he understood that guests were ready to be taken on journeys that the palate yearns. Chef Viraf understood the nuances of the well-travelled Indian palate and this fostered his translating of his own global food adventures unto the plate. Having been offered an opportunity to push his creativity further he took on the making and running of “Touch” in Hyderabad which was among Hyderabads first high end global stand alone restaurants of note. Virafs first tryst with entrepreneurship and first taste of true culinary freedom came when he took on the position of Corporate executive chef- Fine dine division- at Impressario Handmade Restaurants. With a free hand at choosing a team and a great location at Girgaon Chowpatty in Mumbai, his first task was creating the Iconic and unforgettable “Salt water grill”. He later spearheaded the creation and running of Salt Water Cafe (Mumbai), Smoke House Grill (Delhi), Delitalia (Mumbai), Stone Water Grill (Pune) and The Tasting Room at Good Earth (Mumbai). With a hankering to explore his entrepreneurial skills further Chef viraf went on a journey exploring new properties and ideas. In the mean time He came on board Food Matters hospitality Pvt. Ltd as consultant Executive chef on board and went on to create “The table” in Colaba which went on to become Indias best high end stand alone. Chef Virafs desires to have his own space came to fruition when he went on to create and part own “Café Zoe”. With the creation of “Café Zoe” began an undeniable shift in the dining culture of Mumbai. A comforting casual restaurant with focus on high volumes and fantastic quality food served in a transformative environment, which shifted from comfortable cozy breakfasts in the morning to an energetic bar at night, changed how people viewed restaurants. Chef Viraf hung his boots at Café Zoe while still holding stake at the restaurant to explore and learn further. He went on to Join the Olive Bar and Kitchen Pvt ltd, briefly handling toast and tonic in Mumbai as Consulting executive chef before being handed the responsibility of becoming Executive Chef and Business head for Olive Bistro and Hoppery Hyderabad and Executive chef at Olive bar and Kitchen in Mumbai. In between his several engagements with companies and/or on board consultancies - Chef Viraf has also managed Firebred hospitality Pvt Ltd with his wife and partner. Fire Bred hospitality Pvt ltd. has gone on to create iconic brands from scratch- taking on turn key projects from business planning, design to operations. Some of them are – The salt house (Kolkata), Gateway Taproom (BKC, Mumbai), Frida cantina (Goa), Salz (Hyderabad), The burgs burger chain (Mumbai) etc. With a culinary career spanning 24 years (as of 2021) and a desire to take on larger, longer term and impactful presence in the Food and Beverage industry Chef Viraf has joined Trenton Investments Pvt. Ltd. On the 6th of July 2021 tasked with the responsibility of being Director of Operations for Miadiamante Foods and Beverages Pvt Ltd. He has taken on his newest journey as an unchartered canvas of newer culinary and beverage trends lay before us in the days to come. Personal Life and Back story. Chef Viraf is the father of his two biggest food critics and admirers. His daughter (3) and his son (10) often inspire him to push his culinary skills further. They also work as anchors for him to constantly stay humane, honest and just. As often seen from his instagram page, other social media and just in casual conversation one can get a glimpse into how dear travelling is to Chef Viraf. He is often seen enjoying street food all over the world and believes in learning and knowing the what, why, where and how of peoples culinary cultures wherever he goes. From advocating fairness to all who have worked under him, being a shoulder to lean on for everyone who has ever come under his wings to mentoring newly inspired cooks to become chefs in their own capacity Chef Viraf is loved by many who cross his path even when they’ve seen his temper when they’ve made him cross. Every earnest and honest person who has worked with Viraf has worked with him for decades and continues to do so. He counts it as one of his strengths and takes great pride in it. Chef Viraf believes fraternity and camaraderie within the food and beverage industry is the only way to survive storms and he’s been among the first people to try bringing Chefs together and holding solid friendships among innumerable people within the Food and beverage industry. Such camaraderie has brought forward works of charity and a consistent helping hand among all who have accepted being part of the fraternity. It is little known that Viraf used to DJ for Aztech entertainment for popular joints likeTavern, The Cellar and Palkhi in the 90s while studying at Wilson college. He recounts many stories of Djing when the highest technology involved a pencil and a cassette tape.