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“The culinary industry is blessed with endless innovative opportunities, which branches out to diverse styles, approaches and more. However the huge gap that should be filled and has untapped potential is reducing wastage. This is begging for more innovation. I would love to work on food wastage and eradicating the global hunger crisis.”
So says Solanki Roy, acclaimed chef at some of the world’s top restaurants. Solanki is an alumnus of the prestigious Eleven Madison Park restaurant and currently works at The Mark Restaurant by Jean George in New York City. “I have a very rich experience of seventeen years, working across different countries in the world. Cooking in one of the best restaurants in the world has helped me build a very versatile culinary repertoire.”
Solanki is passionate about using her celebrity as a chef for good, and cares deeply about the impact we can have on sustainable food, environmental care, social justice, and more.
Fine dining immediately sparks an idea of luxury indulgence. Rarely do we think the person who is actually cooking your food is not always the celebrity chef who owns the restaurant, but those people who work on 15 dollars an hour basic pay. Rarely do we think the smoked salmon we enjoy on a sunday morning at a brunch is coming all the way flown from Norwegian seas, adding to a lot of carbon footprints. I can go on giving innumerable examples. The whole idea is to be more aware of our surroundings, nature, our planet, our people. Success of all businesses is directly proportional to their social responsibilities.”
Solanki started her culinary journey in India. She was born and raised in Calcutta, but she moved to IHM Trivandrum, Kerala for her culinary studies. This enabled her to earn her first job as a chef with the Oberoi Group of Hotels and Resorts. She was selected as a Culinary Management Trainee with The Oberoi Group from 2010-2012. This began her journey from a kitchen assistant to executive pastry chef and culinary director for multiple brands, restaurant chains and retail concepts in India.
“The list of chefs who inspired me to branch out and venture far in my culinary journey includes like Anthony Bourdain, Dan Barber, Ferran Adria. Alice Waters, Thangam Philip and more and all the chefs who are street food chefs / cottage industry owners. It’s easy to create food with all the equipment, fine ingredients and lavish budgets. The most challenging part is creating food in adverse conditions and limited resources, because that’s when true innovation begins,” she explains.
After working in Paris for several years. She then traveled to different parts of the world doing pop up, collaborations, and more. She moved to the USA in the year 2019 ,working with the world’s best and the three Michelin star restaurant, The Eleven Madison Park.
“I see myself as an artist. Being a chef is another branch of artistry, a form of self expression. For an artist there is no restriction there lies the freedom, yes there are choices one makes as per their calling but the mediums are limitless. The expression of my art will be on your plate, a bite from a dessert I make, a sip from a drink I create, an imaginary escapade I give you from a picture I take of a food / food preparation, the list of innovations I make, the books I write, the entrepreneurial journey I take and more. We are living in the age of expression, so I want to keep reinventing and pushing the envelope with one step at a time.”
“I am a polymath. In five years I see myself at the peak of my game, and most importantly I see myself in a state of flow with all the forms of artistic expression I can portray in this lifetime.”
