Profile update: Intern@Le15

From popular patisseries and nightspots to bars and diners, standalones in Mumbai are now offering internships to those who wish to hone their culinary chops, beyond a five-star kitchen

  Ever wondered what it’s like to work with Mumbai’s dessert queen Pooja Dhingra? Then, check out Delhi-based food blogger, Shivesh Bhatia’s posts on Instagram, which offer a glimpse into an exciting two-week internship that the 20-year-old recently completed at Le15 Patisserie.

Shivesh Bhatia and Pooja Dhingra in the central kitchen of Le15 Patisserie

From adding finishing touches to foodgasm-inducing desserts to posing for selfies with ‘the boss’ and tucking into yummy lunches at Colaba’s Le 15 cafe, the posts paint a macaron-hued picture of the internship. "I worked in the central (patisserie) kitchen and did everything from making cupcakes and assembling macarons to chopping oreos. It was interesting to see how a commercial kitchen works. The macarons that I assembled made it on the cafe shelves and that was a great feeling. I also helped organise a pyjama party [also my farewell], where we drew invites and whipped up hot chocolate and cheesecakes," gushes Bhatia, a Political Science student at DU’s Hindu College, who took to food blogging in 2014 and now, runs a popular portal, Bake With Shivesh.

(From left) Interns Jay Wadhwaniya, Rohit Vishwakarma and Priyanka Tandon bite into freshly-made pizza with chefs Donald Fernandes and Pooja Bhagwat (second and third from left) at an Indigo Deli outpost. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Dhingra adds, "He was confused about his career options and wanted to get a feel of a professional kitchen before he decided a career path. I was more than happy to help. I wanted him to look at all aspects of running a business, so he also helped devise social media strategies. We’ve had a few interns before and usually, offer one internship every six months. Candidates can send us their CVs and we choose them depending on their career goals and qualifications."

A rainbow cake by Kariwala

The pastry chef isn’t the only one who’s thrown open the doors of her kitchen to eager learners. Case in point: Since it opened 16 months ago, The Bombay Canteen has taken in 28 interns, including first-year college students, recent graduates and even, mid-level professionals looking for a career change. "Restaurant kitchens across the world work with stagiaires (French: trainee). Internships play a significant role in one’s career since the restaurant business isn’t a desk job. There’s a lot of teamwork and running around involved. While interns get a first-hand experience of a professional kitchen, we, too, get an idea if the person is cut out for it, in case we wish to hire them later. We’ve had two career changers, who came in as interns and are now, employed in our kitchen team," says Sameer Seth, banker-turned-restaurateur and partner at the Lower Parel haute spot.

Chef Jaydeep Mukherjee

Not just cheap labour
While previously, students from catering colleges or those armed with hospitality degrees could only seek internships at five-stars, now, they can apply for stints at standalone outfits too, thanks to the evolving restaurant scene in Mumbai. These opportunities might also work as a better training ground. Kshama Prabhu, the executive chef at The Bar Stock Exchange, who was trained at Holiday Inn, Pune (now Sun-N-Sand) around 18 years back, reasons, "Internships at standalone restaurants are more specialised and provide a hands-on experience. As new-age chefs, we are keen to teach them all aspects of cooking, rather than just asking them to peel an onion or tomato. Currently, we have five trainees, who need to keep daily logbooks and are tested in the kitchen every fortnight."

Sameer Seth

Similar is the case in the kitchens at Indigo, Indigo Deli, Tote On The Turf and Neel — the restaurants that operate under the umbrella of de-Gustibus Hospitality. The corporate executive chef Jaydeep Mukherjee (a.k.a chef JD) says, "Many hotels might hire trainees as cheap labour but we don’t. We encourage them to come up with ideas, discuss them with sous chefs and in that process, many new dishes are added to the menu." Four years back, the brand also conducted a training programme for underprivileged students in association with the NGO Salaam Baalak. From the 13 students trained for 18 months, two have been hired as full-time employees. "One of them, Pooja Bhagwat, is a senior cook now. She learnt everything — from holding a knife to identifying veggies and herbs, and learning various cooking techniques — on the job. Now, she can confidently helm different cooking stations and has come up with some great ideas for salad preparations. She’s also training our new recruits!" beams the chef, like a proud parent. He cites another instance of a media professional who interned at Indigo Deli and now, runs a cafe in Delhi. "It’s been a learning curve for us too. Interns come with an uncluttered mind and without formal tutelage, bringing a different perspective to the art of cooking," he says.

Akshita Kariwala

Spot the chef
According to insiders, the intern stipends are nominal, ranging from Rs 1,500 to Rs 6,500 depending on the work that s/he takes on. However, the experience of working with an established chef at close quarters is invaluable. For instance, Bhatia, who was present with Dhingra at a recently held nine-course dinner at Byculla’s Magazine Street Kitchen — where the likes of Kelvin Cheung, Alex Sanchez and Rahul Akerkar dished out courses to discerning gourmands — chimes, "I’ll never forget it. I got to work with Pooja in the kitchen; we plated 40 desserts in five minutes! I love her style of working, she plays her favourite Drake song, and creates magic on the plate."

Beyond chops and cuts
While kitchen and bar, followed by F&B (front-of-house) services are preferred areas for internships, restaurants also get requests for back-end and business development training. For instance, if you walk into the head office of Francesco’s Pizzeria at Lower Parel, you might find a Psychology major and an Electrical Engineering graduate arduously analysing product sales and customer calls to improve the diner’s operations. "Their research and analysis will help provide insights into our bestsellers and gauge our delivery guys’ work patterns. The engineering intern is helping us build a digital platform for our delivery service," informs the pizzeria owner, Mikhel Rajani.

Anurag Katriar, executive director and CEO at deGustibus Hospitality, adds, "For the current year, we have had about 30 interns across verticals, including internship requests for departments such as Finance, Human Res-ource and Marketing. It gives an intern a first-hand experience of how the trade functions, which, mostly, is different from what they study in theory."

What’s the scope?
While the duration of an internship ranges from a few weeks up to six months, most city restaurants offer hiring possibilities post the programme. The experience can also arm one with skills to launch their own venture. Mitesh Rangras, chef and owner at Sid Hospitality, that owns Lemon Leaf, Soy Street and Pot Pourri, cites an instance, "What or how much an intern learns is completely based on their level of interest. We had a boy who has gone on to become a chef in Taj while another has opened his own restaurant which is doing quite well."

And though age and a culinary-based qualification may not be the recruitment criteria, a passion for cooking certainly is. Mukherjee, bruised by a bad experience in the past, admits, "A prominent freelance pastry chef in the city spent over a year working with us and then, stole our recipes. I’ve worked with chefs who love the business and they know that if they teach, they learn as well. I try and impart the same in my kitchen but I won’t entertain anyone with vested interests."

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