Gurpreet Singh Mehta

At a tender age, when his friends were out playing boisterous games, Chef Gurpreet Singh Mehta was far more interested in the delicacies being produced in his mother’s kitchen. Thus started a deep, abiding interest in Food and it’s many mysteries, which is to date not only his vocation, but also an abiding passion. He believes that in order to be a good chef, one must be dedicated, persevering, creative, and above all, committed. It is a testament to Chef Singh’s talent and hard work, that in a short span of 13 years in the Hospitality Industry, he is considered one of Dubai's leading, internationally rated chefs. Destined to be culinary high-flyer, his initial choice of career was to become a pilot, but optical issues thwarted that goal, so instead he followed his nose into the world of food. Born in Delhi but raised in Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, Chef Singh is a true Punjabi at heart and draws inspiration not only from his family - “both my mum and my grandfather are great cooks” – but from renowned Indian Food Guru Jiggs Kalra and well known chef Manjit Singh Gill.

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The road to culinary success was not an easy one, with pressure to join the family business. His persistence won though, and Singh started work as a kitchen trainee at The Usha Kiran Palace Hotel, a 28-room Heritage property of ITC Hotels in India. This was a part of the original palace of the royal family of Gwalior, an erstwhile state of India before independence. He spent most of his apprenticeship working for the Hotel’s fine dining restaurant under the guidance of Master chefs who were great cooks and had recipes passed on to them from their ancestors. It was during his apprenticeship that he also joined the Indian Institute of Hotel Management where he received his formal training as a chef. He studied during the day, while he got hands on experience working at the Hotel in the evenings. This combination of theory and practice, as well as participating in, and winning several competitions helped him gain a lot of self confidence as a young chef. After completing his formal training, he joined the opening team for the Hotel Cecil Oberoi in Shimla before moving onto another new property in Udaipur, then into international waters with a stint in Cairo. A man with a predilection for restaurant openings, he has traveled the globe, from Sharm El Sheik and Kuwait, to Portugal and the Maldives, before coming to Dubai to open Ushna at the Madinat Jumeirah and later joining Arabian Courtyard as Executive Chef. “It was a natural career progression for me to move overseas and take on new challenges”, he explains. “I have also explored European, Pan Asian, Mediterranean and east meets west cuisines, and that stood me in good stead for this broader role at Dhow palace”. Dhow palace has a wide range of restaurants to choose from, cuisines at dhow palace include Indian, Far East Asian, Italian, Arabic and Steak House “I also read widely about food and cooking, which helped me a lot as an apprentice, particularly when other chefs asked me questions in the kitchen". This on-going learning has not stopped, and Singh says he is always exchanging new ideas with senior as well as younger chefs, and believes as a chef that “learning and evolving is a never ending journey”. And if that is not enough, he plans to write a book on Food never written before.

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