Listening to Hemant Kishore narrate his tale, something he calls ‘a lil bit about myself’, several films may cross your mind, if you are a film buff. Ustad Hotel most definitely, because that’s the most relatable, and then perhaps a little bit of Ratatouille as you read further. Hemant, like Dulquer (in Ustad Hotel), found his passion in baking and he could make you fall in love too with food by his descriptions — ‘baked goods-something that I always enjoyed smelling and eating — the smell of freshly baked bread, the process of melting chocolate to make desserts-decorating cakes etc, was euphoric’. No wonder then that he is now making it big in Las Vegas as a six-pack chef, or to be specific ‘the six-pack chef’ as that is how he is known there, and that is what his brand name shall be.
“The first name I had in mind was Jambakka for the meal service I formed, based on local and seasonal produce — all organic, from nearby farms and markets. It is a name dear to me because it is an exotic fruit you find in your grandma’s backyard. But then I am known as the six-pack chef around here, so I thought I will stick to that,” Hemant writes in an email from Vegas. The six-pack part of it had developed after a certain medical report of his. It was during the time he spent in his hometown in Thiruvananthapuram, trying out different stints as a chef. “My doctor, in this case, my father, told me I’m in the beginning stages of all kinds of lifestyle diseases and should do something to reverse it. Working 18+ hours in the kitchen and not eating clean took a toll on my health — fatty liver, high triglycerides, cholesterol levels were off the roof.”
That report made him take fitness seriously. “I researched and learnt the importance of nutrition, implemented it in my routine and a year later, I find myself doing photo shoots with photographer Anjali Gopan in Thiruvananthapuram and Canadian photographer Andrew Adams of Men of India.” But before this he had worked in NYC at various restaurants, it was visa problems that brought him back home.
“I had moved to New York in 2007 to attend the Baking and Pastry arts degree at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA), Hyde Park. This was after graduating from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration (WGSHA), Manipal and taking up a sales and marketing job with Taj West End Bengaluru. It was a great job, great networking opportunities and good social life and all that jazz. But I was creatively handicapped and this was making me suffocated. I quit that job with the hope of convincing my parents that my passion lied in baking.”
His parents were convinced but everyone else thought he was a loser for not doing what the society expected him to. “It has been a long struggle. Long working hours, extremely low wages, no social life, no sleep, struggle to get visa, people taking advantage of you when they know you are desperate. Bosses who got threatened when someone new is trying to think out of the box etc.” But he refused to let go of his dreams. So when he got another chance to be in the US, he didn’t think twice. Hemant was visiting his sister and used the opportunity to land a job. “I worked with a catering and consulting company, Cut&Taste, as their executive pastry chef, making desserts for thousands. My work there received a lot of appreciation from food critics. I started getting noticed and had the time of my life baking bread, pastries and playing with chocolate. It was also during this time that I got offers to do photo shoots with some of the top photographers here and I did some runway modelling for Brazilian designer Aldo Mencatto.”
He moved on from there, and while in between jobs, got enquires from friends about preparing meals for a fee. “I started cooking meals for them, who posted on their social media about my new ‘service’ and got enquiries.” At an event called Culinary Odyssey at the Forte European Tapas Bar and Restaurant, he took over the kitchen and cooked dinner. More projects are coming his way. He also does demos at local farmers markets, to create awareness about eating healthy.
