Teacher’s Day is one of those occasions that instantly takes us back to childhood— standing in decorated classrooms, presenting handmade cards, and trying to express to our teachers just how much they mean to us. But as we grow older, we realise that learning doesn’t end with school or college. Mentors come into our lives in many forms: a guide, a senior, sometimes even a colleague. In the world of food and drinks, this idea becomes even more special. Behind every chef’s craft or a bartender’s perfect cocktail, there is someone who taught them the ropes. This Teacher’s Day, we decided to look at the celebration through their eyes, to learn how these shishyas pass on everything they learnt from their gurus. We asked Indian chefs and bartenders to tell us about their mentors and what Teacher’s Day means to them, and they gave us heartfelt and thankful responses.
Indian Chefs And Bartenders Pay Tribute To Their Mentors This Teacher’s Day
1. Chef Vijay Thapliyal, The Lodhi New Delhi
“The person who truly taught me how to cook was my mother. Her secret ingredient was always love and care,” Chef Vijay Thapliyal shares. For him, her greatest lesson was that food isn’t merely a technical pursuit; it’s a language. “She showed me that food has a language of its own. A grill will tell you its temperature if you place your hand close enough, and a simmering pot will let you know when it’s ready. You just have to listen.” Naturally, with such grounding, failure never became something to fear. For him, every burnt dish or broken glass carries a hidden lesson. Being composed is the most crucial lesson he has learnt.
So, what advice would he pass on this Teachers’ Day? His answer is as philosophical as it is practical. “Change is the only constant. In the kitchen, as in life, you have to stay open to new skills, new ideas, and new techniques, but always hold on to authenticity. That balance is what keeps food alive and meaningful.” For him, Barnyard Millet Risotto served with spiced hemp seed buttermilk is the perfect way to say thank you to all those who shaped his journey.
2. Chef Parth Gupta, Cicchetti Italiano, Bloom Café & Cakery, The Lavender Flavours
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For Chef Parth Gupta, the story of his first teacher is also rooted in the warmth of home. “My very first teacher in the kitchen was actually our home cook; he still works with us and continues to inspire me every day. The most important lesson he taught me is simple but powerful: practice makes perfect.”
As he grew, the lesson deepened into a philosophy of cooking. Food became art in his eyes; not just nourishment but storytelling. “He also showed me that food is art; it tells stories, evokes nostalgia, and brings people together.” Failure, in his opinion, is inevitable but never definitive. When you can’t afford to break under pressure, he says it’s all about how you react. A resilient mindset, in his opinion, is what separates good chefs from great ones.
His ultimate advice to aspiring chefs is the mantra he himself lives by: “Cook the food you want to eat. That’s where passion starts.” As he puts it, the best chefs are “learning sponges,” drawing inspiration from everything and evolving all the time. And his thank-you dish, paneer bhurji served with butter-toasted brioche, comes from a place of deep comfort. “I first learnt it from our home cook, then tweaked it into my own version and served it to countless people,” he says.
3. Chef Richa Johri, Culinary Director, UNICO
“My very first teacher was my mother, Mrs. Upasana Johri. She owned her own catering kitchen from the 1980s to the early 2000s,” Chef Richa Johri shares about the remarkable guidance of her mother. “From creating the first designer cakes in Bhopal to catering for governors, chief ministers, and senior bureaucrats, her kitchen was a landmark in itself. Beyond her professional work, she taught nearly 2,000 women, along with juvenile prison inmates and underprivileged children.”
Failure, too, came wrapped in lessons. She recalls a college memory vividly. “During my college days, I had my first brush with South Indian cuisine when I attempted a Kori Gassi. It turned out to be such a disaster that my teacher, Chef Ramesh, half-jokingly told me, ‘Stick to North Indian food, and don’t try your hands at South Indian cuisine again!’” Turning the remark into motivation, she not only mastered coastal cuisine but also made history at Taj Bombay by scoring a perfect 100 in her training program.
Her advice on Teachers’ Day is true to her upbringing. For her, the most important thing is to cook from the bottom of your heart; methods and recipes follow. And when it comes to gratitude, she has multiple thank-you plates. For her mother, it would be a hearty bowl of Prawn Thai Curry; for Chef Ramesh, it would be the same Kori Gassi he used to make fun of her for. And since Chef Ishan enjoyed everything she prepared, it would be anything she touched.
4. Chef Vedant Newatia, Founder & Head Chef, Atelier V
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For Vedant Newatia, mentorship came from one of the most celebrated names in modern pastry: Dominique Ansel. “My first true teacher in the kitchen was Dominique Ansel. Working under him, I learnt that creativity isn’t about reinventing everything at once but about refining the details until they become extraordinary.” Beyond the technical skills, Dominique made him see food as emotion. A push to look beyond the ingredients, he helped him see how textures, aromas, and even nostalgia combine to create a moment.
Failure, too, took on a different shape in his mentorship. “He made it clear that failure is not just acceptable; it’s necessary. Burnt sugar, a fallen soufflé, or a service gone wrong are not disasters but lessons. The real failure is not showing up the next day to do it again, better.”
5. Fay Barretto, Head Of The Beverage Program At Scarlett House
Bartending was never just about mixing drinks for Fay Barretto; it was also about learning the stories behind them. Christopher, the bar manager at Woodside Inn, was his first instructor behind the bar. Many people influenced her path: Eleni Bock helped her hone her technical skills and foster her creativity, while Alex at Mahe taught her discipline and smooth bar management.
“One of the few pertinent things I learned from Simone Caporale, Federico Pasian, and Eleni is to move past just the ‘how’ of making a drink and focus on the ‘why.” With this new perspective, she was able to see menus as stories.
“Dhaval has been my biggest mentor in understanding that failure isn’t about what goes wrong, but how you respond to it. He taught me to stay calm under pressure,” she adds. Fay believes mastery lies in discipline and advises, “Keep a checklist and follow the process. Mistakes will happen, but repeating them is what holds you back.”
To honour all those who have shaped her journey this Teacher’s Day, she says, “I’d probably write my thank you note with a frozen three-sip martini. The martini, for me, represents clarity, honesty, and restraint – there’s no room for shortcuts, just balance and precision.”
6. Chef Jatin Mallick, Chef & Co-Founder, Dos Delhi
“My first culinary mentor was Chef Julia Carmen Desa, with whom I co-founded Dos Delhi and also worked alongside at Tres,” Chef Jatin Mallick shares. From her, he learnt that cooking is built on discipline, honouring ingredients, and treating every plate with consistency.
Julia’s biggest gift was teaching him how to see food beyond the technical. “She showed me how textures and flavours can trigger memories and emotions, making every dish more than a taste but a moment felt.” Even failures were turned into valuable lessons under her guidance. “Watching Julia handle pressure with grace and quick improvisation made me embrace a resilient mindset: in the kitchen, composure and adaptability are just as critical as skill.”
On Teachers’ Day, his advice mirrors his own journey. “Keep your curiosity alive. Whether you’re cooking at home or at high-paced restaurants like Dos Delhi or Tres, never stop learning—from ingredients, from mistakes, and from collaborators.” And his thank-you note would be a dish centred on seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.
7. Vardaan Marwah, Chef Partner At Farro
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For Vardaan Marwah, his very first teacher was right at home: his mother. “She taught me that good food is always made with heart. However long the hours or however tough the shift, food cooked with love will always be delicious.” Beyond technique, she gave him a deeper truth about food. “She showed me that food is more than ingredients.” For Vardaan, cooking became a way of preserving and passing on moments, much like his mother did.
But it was Chef Suvir Saran who shaped his understanding of failure. “My mentor, Chef Suvir Saran, taught me that failure in the kitchen is just like failure in life. A burnt dish, a broken glass, or a night that goes wrong is bound to happen. But none of these means the end. They are reminders to learn, move forward, and treat every setback as a slice of life.”
For all budding chefs and bartenders, he says, “Enter this industry only if you truly love it. To be a good chef, you have to think, breathe, and live food. Above all, do it for the joy of feeding people and creating experiences.” His thank-you toast is as heartfelt as it is personal: “If I had to, it would be a cocktail with Lillet Blanc for my mentor, Chef Suvir Saran.”
Also Read: 16 Indian Sweets Without Which Teacher’s Day Celebrations Seem Incomplete; Recipes Inside
8. Chef Vanshika Bhatia, Owner & Chef, Petite Pie Shop
“Chef Julie from Le Cordon Bleu London and Chef Davide Cananzi at JW Marriott Mumbai were my first teachers. They taught me how to be strong, practice my skills and not get flustered and overwhelmed with work pressures,” Chef Vanshika Bhatia revealed. From them, she learnt that resilience and composure are just as important as technical mastery.
Her view on failure is equally pragmatic. “Every day is a new opportunity. Every table that comes in is a new opportunity to do better than the last.” On Teachers’ Day, she has one reminder for aspiring chefs. “Don’t discount your talent. Work hard and make sure that you are giving your best. Sometimes you will fail, but if you have trust in your talent, nothing can stop you.” And her thank-you dish would be a lasagna, a perfect meal that provides the best comfort after a busy day.
9. Chef Sanket Joshi, Head Chef, Avatara (Mumbai)
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When asked about his first teacher, Chef Sanket Joshi shared a line that has stayed with him throughout his career: “Hard work will always beat talent.” He explained that his first true mentor was Chef Prathmesh Gawde at Sofitel BKC, Mumbai, who not only shaped his work ethic but also instilled in him the kind of discipline that continues to guide him today.
For him, food has the power to spark nostalgia. And when it comes to failure, his outlook is refreshingly practical: “I was taught that failure is inevitable, but it’s also your greatest teacher.” Whether it’s a burnt dish or a service gone wrong, what matters most, he believes, is how you respond.
On Teachers’ Day, he circles back to his mantra: “Hard work will always beat talent.” And if he were to write a thank you note through food, Chef Sanket said it would be with “a warm serving of Puran Poli with ghee.” To him, this humble, nostalgic dish embodies a heartfelt thank you to those who shaped his culinary path.
10. Chef Saurabh Sharan, Head Chef At Guppy
For Chef Saurabh Sharan, his first real teacher came during his hotel school days. “For me, it was one of my instructors at hotel school who truly opened the door to the professional culinary world. While I have continued to learn and evolve since then, the most important lesson I took away was that the culinary world is ever-changing and dynamic.”
When speaking of taste, he went beyond technique to talk about the soul of food. “My teacher taught me that it’s vital to understand why certain combinations work, not just how.” For him, it’s that balance of tradition and reinvention that makes food truly memorable.
“What truly matters is not avoiding mistakes altogether, but ensuring you don’t repeat the same ones,” he says about failure. This Teacher’s Day, his uplifting advice to aspiring Indian chefs and home cooks is that mastery requires repetition, patience, and time. And his chosen “thank you” dish is a bowl of ramen or a simple mushroom rice. “To me, they reflect what a ‘thank you’ should feel like: honest, heartfelt, and memorable without being extravagant.”
11. Heena Kewalramani, Bar Consultant At Naarma
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“I don’t think it was a person in particular, but more a philosophy: mise en place,” says Heena Kewalramani. “I still remember my first day at Tickets, the level of organisation completely blew my mind. That discipline and respect for preparation eventually came with me into bartending, shaping how I work behind the bar to this day.”
“Everything is about layers, and I can’t credit just one teacher for that — it came from my mentors at Two Schmucks ‘Moe, Juliette and Pom.’ They taught me that every drink should evolve, reveal itself in stages.” She also considers a book called ‘Neuroenology: How the Brain Creates the Taste of Wine’ as one of her sources of inspiration.
Failure, for her, was fuel for creativity. She actually got to put this philosophy to the test and recalled, “One of Naarma’s drinks came from exactly that; we were trialling an ice cream–based drink that accidentally shifted into a milk punch with a foam. With Philadelphia cream cheese, gin, and rum, it ended up tasting like lemon pie. That’s how the ‘Lemon Pie Smash’ was born.”
Her advice for Teachers’ Day is direct and powerful. “Just do it. Yes, it’s cheesy and yes, it’s Nike’s line, but it’s also my favourite quote.” “If I had to write a ‘thank you’ note through a cocktail, it wouldn’t be a specific recipe; it would be any pre-batched drink. For me, that represents what I value most: preparation,” she says, honouring the organisation, discipline, and the value of preparation her mentors taught her.
12. Chef Suman Sharma, Tonino
When asked about his very first teacher in the kitchen, Chef Suman Sharma revealed that it was her mother. She taught her that cooking is about love, respecting the ingredients found in nature, and realising that food can unite people. Moving beyond recipes, he added, “She showed me that food is deeply emotional. A single flavour can take you back to childhood, and one aroma can instantly remind you of home.”
Of course, no culinary journey is without setbacks. He recalled the words of his first professional mentor: “My first mentor in a professional kitchen once told me, ‘A broken plate is just tuition.’ You can’t learn without mistakes—just don’t repeat the same one.” He described an incident from Dubai in which he managed 150 people at an embassy. They were running several live stations, but suddenly it began to rain. They hurriedly brought whatever they could inside and managed to pull it off somehow. It’s a lesson in resilience that anyone in hospitality can relate to.
His advice for Indian chefs this Teachers’ Day is to never stop learning and pursue depth, instead of following fading trends. A great cook, in his opinion, cooks from the heart and listens with the palate. And if he had to write a ‘thank you’ note in the form of a dish, it would be a plate of handmade spaghetti with fresh tomato, basil, and buffalo mozzarella, finished with a drizzle of pesto oil.
13. Denzil Franklin, Head Mixologist, Sixteen 33
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“I found my first teacher in this industry during my first job, and the most important lesson he taught me was to keep your area clean so that you can work efficiently,” says Denzil Franklin. When asked about taste, he explained, “My mentor taught differently. We used to always try different flavour profiles and learn about them so that we got an idea as to which flavours will match together, keeping in mind the profile of a particular ingredient/spirit.” Failures too, he takes in stride: “I got to learn that one always learns from their own mistakes, always keep moving forward, learn from the mistakes, and move forward.” For him, errors are never final; they’re stepping stones toward mastery.
Learning and focusing on the fundamentals of the trade is the only way to develop yourself, he advises all budding bartenders. He believes that without strong foundations, fancy tricks and intricate drinks are meaningless. In cocktail form, his thank-you note would be a daiquiri, which exemplifies what his mentor taught him: balance is the key to a good cocktail.
14. Harish Chhimwal, Head Mixologist, Monkey Bar
“My very first teacher behind the bar was Arijit Bose, one of the top mixologists in the country and later a brand ambassador for Bombay Sapphire. He taught me that lime juice must be measured exactly according to the recipe, that the counter should always be kept spotless, and that bottles in the speed rail must follow a consistent sequence, so you can grab them without ever looking down,” says Harish Chhimwal.
Later, he credits Mohit Balachandran, who played a very important role in his growth. On failure, Harish has a refreshing perspective: “My mentors taught me that failure is not just inevitable; it’s essential. It reminds you that you don’t have to win every time.”
And for budding bartenders, his Teachers’ Day message is powerful: “Consistency plus humility equals success. Remain humble no matter how far you go, because humility keeps you open to learning and connected to others.” “My ‘thank you note’ would be an Espresso Martini,” he says. For him, that cocktail is the perfect way to thank all those who taught him.
This Teacher’s Day, these stories from Indian chefs and bartenders remind us that behind every great artist stands a teacher whose lessons go far beyond recipes.
Cover Image Courtesy: Supplied
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