Santosh Shah on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Santosh Shah is a
Nepalese chef based on
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, known for competing in the UK’s reality cookery TV series
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in 2020.
Declared second runner up, Santosh is credited for popularising Nepalese cuisine in the UK.
In 2021, Santosh once again, competed in the UK’s BBC MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch and was declared the winner.
Early life
Santosh grew up in Karjhana, a small village outside of
Kathmandu
, pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia
, coordinates =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name =
, subdivision_type1 = Province
, subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
.
When he was nine, he started working as a labourer digging canals to support his family’s financial needs.
When he was 14, he travelled to
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
for his first culinary job as a dishwasher in a
five-star hotel
Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experie ...
. It was at this point that Santosh realised his dream of becoming a chef. He worked under
Executive Chef
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads and manages the kitchen and chefs of a restaurant or hotel. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is ...
and CEO
Vivek Singh for over two years, rising through the hospitality ranks in India.
Santosh received his
Diploma in Hotel & Catering Management from the Institute of
Baroda
Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...
, India before travelling to London in 2010.
Career
Santosh worked at some of famous Indian restaurants in London including
Dishoom
''Dishoom'' () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language buddy cop action comedy film directed by Rohit Dhawan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. It stars John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshaye Khanna and Saqib Saleem and feature ...
and
Michelin-starred
The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...
Benares,
before becoming a
sous-chef
A sous-chef is a chef who is second in command in a kitchen; the person ranking next after the head chef, usually the more hands on manager with regards to training staff and organising the kitchen.
Duties and functions
The sous-chef has many re ...
at Chef
Vivek Singh’s Westminster hot spot, The Cinnamon Club.
Santosh worked at The Cinnamon Club for several years, before eventually becoming Head Chef at its sister restaurant, Cinnamon Kitchen, in the City.
In 2018 Santosh was appointed at Executive Chef of the five-star LaLit Hotel in London, where he worked until his appearance on MasterChef in 2020.
He is currently working as the Head of The Cinnamon Collection.
Media appearances
Santosh first appeared on the UK’s reality cookery TV series
MasterChef: The Professionals in 2020. He was runner-up in the series and was dubbed as the "People’s Champion."
In 2021 Santosh competed in MasterChef: The Professionals re-match, where he was declared the winner.
Awards and achievements
* Runner up: BBC's UK
MasterChef: The Professionals 2020
* Winner: BBC’s UK MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch 2021
* Presidential award from Nepal President for promoting Nepali food to the world 2021
*
The British Curry award for Restaurant Baluchi 2018
* Conde Nast Award for best fine dining 2018
BBC’s UK MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch
Santosh won the UK’s BBC MasterChef: The Professionals Rematch on 28th December 2021.The show was judged by
Marcus Wareing
Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who is currently Chef-Owner of the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus (formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) in Knightsbridge. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on '' Mast ...
,
Monica Galetti
Monica Galetti (née Faafiti, born August 1975) is a Samoan-born New Zealand chef. She is a former judge on the BBC competitive cooking programme '' MasterChef: The Professionals'' and chef proprietor of Mere in London. She was senior sous-chef ...
, and
Greg Wallace. Santosh defeated three other contestants, two of them Philli Armitage-Mattin and Bart van der Lee, who also appeared on BBC’s UK MasterChef: The Professionals in 2020 with Santosh. Santosh won the title by creating an 18-dish vegan feast inspired by the Dashain festival in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
.
Cookbook
* ''Ayla: A Feast of Nepali Dishes from Terai, Hills and Himalayas'', DK,
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Santosh
Living people
People from Siraha District
1985 births
Nepalese chefs
Nepalese emigrants to the United Kingdom