Advisory Board

Ram Vittal Rao Founder & Director,
Vital Concept Design Pvt Ltd, New Delhi Ram Vittal Rao belongs to the "now" generation of highly qualified and sought after Hospitality Operations Design Consultants. A Sciences graduate from Mysore University and an Oberoi School of Hotel Management product he has had the opportunity to do high quality and innovative hospitality designing for over 35 years. Having worked with the Oberoi hotels group for over two decades, he has to his credit designed International & National branded hotels, restaurants and flight catering projects. He is the only Indian Consultant to have designed the Rastrapathi Bhawan (The residence of the President of India) & the residence "Antilla" of Mukesh Ambani, as a Hotel Design Consultant. He has to his credit completed & ongoing projects in India, U.A.E., Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Maldives, South Africa, Bhutan and Mauritius. His contributions and knowledge go way beyond the aspects of Hospitality facilities designing. He is also well experienced when it comes to the development of food and beverage concepts and hospitality spaces programming.

Sunny Sriram Director,
ARROWROOT Hospitality Incubation Pvt. Ltd. Sunny Sriram has an illustrious career spanning India, Japan and New Zealand. Credited for launching nearly five dozen F&B entities and turning around 11 hotels, he relishes the tag of a 'hardcore operations professional'. He specializes in conceptualizing unique dining concepts, realizing ROI faster than expected, and chain-store strategizing. Now as Director of the hospitality arm of a Global company, he reaches out to ambitious restaurateurs and entrepreneurs to realize their dreams.

Udaya Tara Nayar Senior Journalist and Former Editor Screen Weekly Mrs. Udaya Tara Nayar has served in the specialised area of film journalism and film criticism for 50 years making her the senior most cinema journalist in the country. Her singular achievement is her contribution to serious film journalism which stands out in a profession which thrives on scandals, gossips and cheap sensationalism. In 1995, Udaya Tara Nayar launched the 'Screen awards', the first awards of the cinema industry judged by a jury representing all the sectors and crafts of the Hindi cinema industry. She has won numerous honours, recognitions and awards for her contribution to healthy and clean cinema journalism. She has authored the autobiography of Dilip Kumar titled 'The Substance and The Shadow'. Presently she is writing the biography of Ramanand Sagar.

Saba Gaziyani Food Stylist Saba Gaziyani is one of Asia's leading food stylist and perhaps the only food photographer - cum -stylist, based in Mumbai, India. Saba's professional career as a food stylist began in 1994 when she was still a junior chef with The Leela, Mumbai. A food styling assignment for an advertising campaign happened purely by chance. The Chappatis looked fabulous in the ad film and Saba kept gaining more skill and confidence. She has now been in the food styling profession for over a decade and is instrumental in raising the bar for food stylists across the country. The fact that she belongs to the illustrious alumni of IHM Mumbai (locally known as Dadar Catering College) has given her the strong foundation required in creating what she calls a 'brilliant food shot'. Her foray into food photography in 2004 was a natural progression for one who had worked for more than a decade with some of the most respected photographers in India and abroad. Saba's studio in Mumbai, the only exclusive digital studio for food photography in India, is really her canvas.

Shatbhi Basu Bar & Beverage Consultant and Freelance Journalist Shatbhi has been a part of the hospitality and alcobev trade for 36 years. From bartender to Food & Beverage Manager and now Bar & Beverage Consultant to many international brands & bars; a freelance journalist writing on spirits, wines & beers in mainstream, niche & trade press. She also spends a lot of her time educating both trade and direct consumers, on all things liquid. Taking them through the hows & whys, introducing them to taste profiles, nuances and the art and science of mixology. Her easy style, wit and irreverent approach makes even the most difficult to understand subjects, simple! She established the first ever platform for bartenders in India, STIR - The Official Meet For Bartenders, a seminar cum competition for professional, student and amateur bartenders.

Roxanne Bamboat Food & Travel Aficionado Roxanne is a freelancer writer based in Mumbai whose main interests are Food and Travel. She expresses her love for all things edible along with all her travel tales on her blog - www.thetinytaster.com . Apart from her own website she writes for various publications and lifestyle websites as well about food and Travel. Her dream is to explore the world and write about her culinary and travel tales. She's hosted many food based events. She's the co- curator of the Food Section at the Kalaghoda Arts Festival which is a massive festival Mumbai and has a great interaction with chefs and well known personalities from the food industry. Roxanne has won an award for the Best Culinary Travel Blog 2014 by popular vote as well as Jury of her peers.

Vicky Ratnani Celebrity Chef Vicky Ratnani is famous for many reasons. His popular television show Vicky Goes Veg on NDTV Good Times and a book of the same title have won him fans all over India. He is currently being watched on Living Foodz. Traveling to the most exotic places, working with 37 nationalities and cooking for Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela, Rod Stewart have made him open his mind and think out of the box. He has developed a style of his own cooking where produce is king. Global influences, local ingredients and modern techniques are the trinity of his cuisines.

Chef Sudhir Pai F&B Consultant, Founder - Pai & Associates Sudhir Pai has worked with some of the best brands in the world, conceptualized several restaurants as well as designed menus for various bistros and lounges and has hosted several television cookery shows. Chef Pai has amassed an array of valuable skill-sets and has gained the experience of tackling several demanding responsibilities. He has travelled across continents and across the country to pursue innovative and diverse food ideas and he aspires to bring out these flavours, textures and colours on the plate. He is also one of the core committee members of the Western India Culinary Association (WICA). Chef Pai is featured in Fortune's book of India's Fifty Master-chefs and Top Ten Culinary Experts of India.

B.P. Sahni Principal Emeritus B.P. Sahni has graduated in Science from the University of Kerala and completed his Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology from the premier Institute of Hotel Management in Mumbai. He epitomizes the ability to put theory into practice by his vast experience of more than three decades in the Hospitality Industry. In a dedicated attempt to recompense the industry in which he has worked, he has been a Principal in various Hospitality Management Institutes of repute for twenty years and over three decades in the Hospitality industry. He has the distinction of chairing the ad-hoc board of Hospitality Studies and has served on the Academic Council and various other positions in the University of Mumbai since 2004.