Explorer of Experiences

I thought I'd write something special with Womens' Day just around the corner. Sometimes, you don't need to search far and wide for inspiration. It's right close to you. Look around you - a friend, a co-worker, a movie, a book, travel...inspiration can come from anywhere. In this case for me, my ever-smiling and oh-so-hardworking friend Keshia is an inspiration. And I want to share what makes her tick with you.    ‘Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously in it.’ This famous quote by Julia Child fits like a glove as the beginning to our interview with Chef Keshia D’souza. Currently Chef de Partie at Courtyard by Marriott Pune City Centre , she found cooking to be her passion at the tender age of eight. With over six years of experience in the kitchen, here she is in her Chef’s whites with a smile on her face and her affable personality already evident. How did your passion for cooking begin and what inspired you? I got the idea...

This article was published on The Punekar and can be viewed here .  I have been lucky enough to live in several cities over the past few years. Pune has been a particular favourite for me; I always feel home here. So I am always thinking about ways this city can be made more livable and more exciting!  1. Pop-up Restaurants Chef Gaggan If you’re a follower of the global food scene, you’ve probably heard of pop-up restaurants. Pop-ups are like wandering, nomadic restaurants and our neighbor, Mumbai, has seen quite a few of them over the past year. Case in point, Gaggan Anand of Gaggan fame (his eponymous Bangkok restaurant ranked 3 rd  on the World’s 50 Best Asian Restaurants list) set up a public tasting of his progressive Indian menu at Bandra-Kurla Complex. Needless to say, the city’s foodies were raving about it. Pune has a proud and flourishing food history too and we are sure there will be lots of takers of such pop-ups. 2. Dedicated Public Ope...