Large-scale competitions in the hospitality industry are few and far between which makes the existing handful even more exciting for hospitality professionals. The Association of Hospitality Professionals, a non-profit organisation aimed at promoting this particular sector, organised three competitions recently which saw the participation of over 100 young hospitality professionals from across Delhi/NCR.

This was not surprising considering the interesting themes of the competitions. The first one, ‘The War of Spirits’ had experts utilise their skills of Mixology to prepare the finest mocktails and cocktails. The second day heralded the ‘Biryani Competition’ and the last day saw professionals slug it out in the ‘Art of Bedmaking’ competition.

The finest of chefs and hospitality professionals from prominent hotels presided
at the event as the honorary jury. These included Rohan Kichlu of The Park, Surender Singh Thakur of The Imperial, Rahul Vasudeva (Armstrong), Kumar Sambhav (The Grand), Sanjay Pandita (Crowne Plaza), Manish Kumar (Vivanta By Taj), Andrew J Ryder (Hotel Siddharth) and Sanjay Singh (Hotel Samrat) to name a few.

Devipshita Gautam, general secretary, Association of Hospitality Professionals, said, “We are extremely overwhelmed with the enthusiasm of our young participants. The creativity and
efforts of the participants are beyond one’s imagination. Hospitality professionals have always been an integral part for the hoteliers’ industry and it is, therefore, important to give them an
opportunity to show their creative edge.”

The first day had these young mixology experts try out various mocktails and cocktails – fruity, alcoholic, non-alcoholic – to beat the summer heat. The second day saw the venue Orient Room, Asian Games Village, redolent with the fragrance of biryani which brought
together flavours from Lucknow, Hyderabad, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The last day saw participants struggle to prepare the ‘perfect bed’ in a limited time.

A participant, Pradeep Gupta of Plaza Premium Hotel, T3 Terminal, exclaimed, “I was really nervous as the beds that we have in our hotel and the beds given here were completely different in size. Plus, the logo of the hotel on the quilt’s runner had to be placed exactly in the center, failing to do so we could lose marks.”

Another participant, Sumer Singh of The Leela Ambiance, expressed, “Retaining focus was my agenda, the duration was four minutes and it was important to ensure that we do not lose focus seeing other competing contestants. The task at hand was to be completed effectively and efficiently.”

The award ceremony to announce the winners of the competition will now be conducted in the month of July.