Sidney DCunha moves up the ranks and gets appointed as Director of Food & Beverage and Culinary at the Sofitel Mumbai BKC.
Since meeting Sidney in 2022 as a member of the team at the Sofitel Mumbai BKC, the gentleman has played a significant role in enhancing the hotel’s highly expressed and well-established gastronomic segment. Sidney has ensured that through a series of innovative food festivals, guest chefs, and immense interest in progressively improving the hotel’s various restaurants and bars, Sofitel Mumbai BKC has created its own special place on the map of the rapidly developing restaurant scene in Mumbai. Besides, after his appearance, additionally, during his tenure, and, moreover, since he joined, depending on his presence, additionally, with his contribution, thus, so on and so forth. Sidney and his team have received many awards for the options of the hotel eateries and bars, awarded by some of the best print and online media in the country or by reputed organizations.
Sidney DCunha has also contributed to the hotel’s adoption of Winnow, which is a food waste management solutions business that creates an AI technology to assist chefs to better manage their kitchens, reduce their food waste, and hence improve their profitability by cutting waste levels in half.
Born and raised in Mumbai, Sidney has always been fascinated with food, thus the Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai. After this, he went on to work with one of the biggest luxurious hotel chains for some time and improved himself. His thirst for further specialization propelled him to pursue Food Service Management from Cornell University (E-Cornell, 2011), Hospitality Management (E-Cornell, 2012), and Food Safety: Managing with the HACCP System by the American Hotel & Lodging Institute (2012).
Sidney brings nearly two decades of expertise to the culinary world, having worked in some of the reputed Michelin-starred restaurants in New York and in India under celebrity chefs including Michel Roux Snr., Floyd Cardoz, and Hemant Oberoi. His last posting was with The Conrad Hotel in Pune as the Executive Chef, who was promoted to Culinary Director in January 2022. He was recently ranked third in the Power 25 Culinary, 2022, by Hoteliers Web.
Probably the first time that he stepped into the kitchen was in 2002, when he was trained at the ITC Grand Maratha Sheraton and the The Oberoi Mumbai Taj Management training program, where he worked in the Taj hotels in Delhi and Chennai.
Sidney DCunha later worked with The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower-Mumbai as Junior Sous Chef at Masala Kraft Kitchen, promoted to Sous Chef, and was Senior Sous Chef at Asian Specialty Kitchen in 2006. He then moved to the The Taj Pierre New York and The Taj Boston for a year, where, as a specialty Indian chef, he incorporated Indian food into the hotels. In 2008, D’Cunha opted for The Taj Mahal Palace & Towers Mumbai again but this time as Sous Chef (CDC) of the restaurant named Masala Kraft. In this new year and particularly in March 2012, he changed his culinary interest of career and became a Sous Chef in Golden Dragon.
Sidney DCunha relocated in 2014 to Bangalore to work with The Ritz Carlton in Bangalore as the Chef de Cuisine when the hotel was being established. He had the opportunity to swiftly transition to the position of Executive Sous Chef, managing the restaurants, banqueting, and events. In 2015, he was transferred to Pune and worked as the executive sous chef at JW Marriott Hotel. He then moved to the brand’s Mumbai property from 2017 to 2019 and then joined
Sidney has many years of experience in terms of culinary arts and the skills of accommodating Indian as well as international taste buds. He also comes to the hotel with vast experiences in organizing culinary staff, introducing new ideas in the culinary field, and operating large banquets’ services and culinary concepts, as well as ensuring control over costs.
If Sidney DCunha is not preparing something in the kitchens of Sofitel Mumbai BKC, then he is either fueling his guests or just telling them stories from across the seas. He also likes to watch football matches when he is not working and spending quality time with his family.
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