Top female Michelin Chefs to train underprivileged Indian girls

CSSG kicks off initiative to give 40 underprivileged young girls a career in the Food Industry

~ Rohit Bal and Emmanuel Balayer part of the initiative ~

Mumbai, 20 August 2015: Nine celebrity Michelin starred female chefs will be travelling to India this September to participate in a new initiative‘40 Girls to 40 Chefs’ that aims to support and provide opportunities to underprivileged young women into a career in the food industry. This is part of Creative Services Support Group’s (CSSG) second initiative of 2015 focused on women empowerment – the Hospitality Training Project (HTP) - to provide underprivileged young women the chance for a meaningful career in the Hospitality sector. Currently CSSG has placed 53 young women on a training course at IHM Pusa.

The chefs will be part of a series of Charity Dinners to be hosted in Delhi and Mumbai between the 3rd and 14th September 2015. Over the last three years, CSSG has curated a series of high profile charity fund raising events bringing together the best talented Michelin Chefs in the world. This year too, CSSG has collaborated with chefs from across the world including USA, UK, Germany, and Australia – all women – to focus on its efforts on the imbalance of opportunities for women. This year, the dinners will be hosted at the Four Seasons in Mumbai and The Leela Palace in Delhi.

Anand Kapoor, President, Creative Services Support Group said,“There are few opportunities for underprivileged young women in India and the ones available are not always utilized due to the restraints many women face in their societies. There is an ongoing need to raise awareness and for female role-models to change this perception. It is important to show young women that there are opportunities beyond the conventional roles in society; we need to create avenues that will empower them to make choices that can dramatically make a difference in their lives as well as in their communities.”

As part of the program, young women have been enrolled in a set of culinary courses at IHM PUSA and will be subsequently employed in the industry through partners such as Ritu Dalmia, Sabyasachi Gorai, Julia Carmen Desai (Tres) and Thomas Blanchard to name a few. Kapoor added, “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that is certain to encourage underprivileged young talented women to take a step forward in their lives, strive for new career opportunities, and become inspiring role models for future generations of young women.”

In addition to curating the dinners, the celebrity chefs will also be involved in a series of activities including special Master Classes supported by Zomato, for aspiring chefs and food lovers. The chefs willintroduce the 40 girls to a culinary career by exposing them to the farm to plate process at an interaction planned at an organic farm in the national capital in association with CAARA / Farm Love by Ambika Seth.

CSSG has also received support from the renowned Rohit Bal and Emmanuel Balayer who will design the charity dinners. Revered contemporary Opera Group Divine which gathered much acclaim after their performance at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm, will render some of their best performances at the charity dinners in Delhi and Mumbai to raise funds for supporting the 40 girls to 40 chefs initiative. The dinners will witness an auction of artworks from Nanda Hobbs Contemporary, Australia, for patrons of this very noble initiative to support underprivileged girls. Proceeds from the auction will go towards building a rock solid future for the girls.

Guests will also be seen bidding for a very special and an exquisite experience: an exceptional 2days/2nights trip to the roots of Villeroy & Boch in Europe, and a luxury get away at the exclusive resort of Soneva Kiri in Thailand. The Villeroy & Bock experience will see the winning bidder being hosted by Nicolas Luc Villeroy himself. The winning bidder shall get a chance to visit the company’s discovery center, the ceramic museum and the Flagship Store in Luxembourg; not to mention private dining with with Nicolas Luc Villeroy.