As a young boy, Lerrick Coelho, 29, loved experimenting in the kitchen, rustling up dishes to impress his parents and grandmother in the evenings. Celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson also played their part in inspiring his early love for food. He recalls that by the time he was in Class VIII, the idea of becoming a professional chef had taken hold of him. At the Institute of Hotel Management, Goa, the interest evolved into a fascination with pastry work, a passion that he honed during  a seven-year stint with The Oberoi, Mumbai. Those years, he believes, shaped him both as a person and chef, the exposure vital to what he did later. 

“Operationally, I would rank it higher than what I do now,” says Lerrick in a conversation with mid-day. “Mumbai with its food and bustling streets filled me with so much energy and joy. And the people are great, too.”