Indian Chef Aarthi Sampath wins popular reality cooking show 'Chopped'

Aarthi Sampath, the head chef of  Vikas Khanna’s Michelin-star winning restaurant Junoon, has won the American competition based reality show Chopped on 9 August 2016. The show has four chefs competing to create a three course meal using random ingredients provided to them to test the contestants on speed, creativity and presentation. Reacting to her victory, Sampath said in a statement : “Firstly, I feel relieved. It was one of the toughest things I have done in my life. Cooking a dish in 20 minutes and then being subject to criticism is not easy.I feel accomplished and I am so excited for this new journey I am going to start. I feel like I am one step closer to my goal of inspiring women in India and across the globe.” Sampath, who is currently the Chef de Cuisine at Junoon, has come a long way. She started off as a trainee in the Taj Hotel Group Management Programme, and spent the next 5 years with Taj in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Chennai. After this, she moved to the US to attend Johnson & Wales University and landed up in Junoon as an intern. Her role was elevated to Chef de Cuisine in recognition for her culinary skills, as well as her ability to combine modern techniques with traditional Indian cooking. Sampath was also featured in the pictures from Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US last year. Sampath was part of Khanna’s core team for The Billionaire’s Club Dinner. Here’s some of the scrumptious food she whips up at Junoon:Here’s more, only this time its fusion food:

Aarthi Sampath’s casual meeting with her boss and mentor, Vikas Khanna: