Right out of cooking school, chef Parvez Khan joined the Taj Mahal Palace Mumbai as a hotel operations management trainee under chef Hemant Oberoi. For two years, he honed his skills in Lebanese, European and Chinese kitchens. One day, Oberoi, who was then corporate chef, told him he was assigned to a new kitchen. “I had no idea that they had hired me for Wasabi by Morimoto. I was chuffed. That’s why I always maintain that I didn’t choose the cuisine, the cuisine chose me,” says the 34-year-old chef, who was sent to Japan for training on many occasions and cook alongside renowned chef Masaharu Morimoto and his international team every once in a while. His journey of 15 years began as a chef de parte and he rose the ranks to become a sous chef, and finally landing the head chef position. Last month, he hung his chef coat at the iconic restaurant.

Chef Parvez Khan has launched Wakai, a casual dining restaurant in Fort, with restaurateur Shardul Singh Bayas. Pic/Ashish Raje