Lending a helping hand

Task Force Experience at The Westin Chennai Velachery by Vikram Gakkan

The moment I landed at the sunny yet warm and welcoming city of Chennai, I knew in my heart that I would love this place! A huge part of my wonderful experience comes from my stint at the Westin Chennai Velachery. After being a part of the preopening teams of the Westin Mumbai and Pune, I was so looking forward to being in Chennai and being a part of their team, to contribute whatever I know and have learned, to the brand that I feel so passionate about. They have a fantastic team and their enthusiasm, eagerness to learn and positivity were absolutely admirable.

Helping Chef Pravin Bagali in making Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for Culinary and Stewarding, training the Culinary and F&B teams on the Starwood Hygiene Manual and Superfoods, introducing Starwood Systems to the stewarding team… all this made me nostalgic reflecting back to the preopening days of Westin Mumbai.

It was a complete high to execute 5 theme lunches with the culinary team including Asian, Chettinad, Punjabi, Mediterranean and Mumbai Street Food in kitchens which are still in the process of being set-up. The challenge of cooking in these kitchens for the first time and the satisfaction of successfully executing the lunches was absolutely exhilarating to say the least! Meeting Ms Ruth Elwin again after such a long time was an absolute pleasure and the icing on the cake was the cricket match on my last day with the team…a complete unwind for the body and soul!

All in all, a very talented team led by an inspirational General Manager, Mr.Shrikant Waghakar, I Ieft Westin Chennai Velachery with some beautiful memories; the gift of friendship with wonderful chefs and equally kind hearted people, Chef Pravin and Chef Priya and the love of the entire team!

Complete credit to my mentor Chef Ajay Chopra for giving me this enriching opportunity. I lived Westin in every breath-the personal touch of the entire team who welcomed me with open hearts, the instinctive trainings, brainstorming sessions, idea sharing, dinners, bonding over movies, all helped me renew my spirit!

Wishing The Westin Chennai Velachery all the very best for their opening.