Hometown
St. Louis, Missouri
Chef Bio
Chef Ashok will delight you and your friends with his custom designed, Modern Fusion Cuisine. Chef Ashok is a certified culinary professional who graduated from the world’s oldest culinary school Le Cordon Bleu with high honors and distinction. He has gained a specialty experience in Spanish cuisine from Spain working with chefs from Michelin starrers in Bilbao and San Sebastian. He has also worked in some of the best restaurants in Australia under eminentaward winning Chefs. An experience with Ritz Carlton and its restaurants allowed him to explore new concepts and new style dining. Working with Top French Chefs and with the top Italian restaurants in Australia has taught him the art of perfection and culinary discipline which hepractices. Ashok enjoys themed fusion dinners which is a first of its kind in St louis, hosting culinary classes, food tours and has live sessions on many social media platforms and contributes to many culinary magazines. He also works with restaurants in menu development, F&B management and Recipe Creation and also works as a consultant to many Food related startups helping them with strategy and brand development. Prior to being a Chef, Ashok has wide experience in handling marketing/branding for Luxury brands, Global Consumer companies in Asia/ Europe and NA.
How long have you been working with Big City Chefs?
Since 2016
If I were a spice, I would be…
Pepper – Versatile, different shades yet provide a nice zing. Adds flavor instantaneously. Although some people can find me off-puttingly fiery, others think I am the life of the party. Friends crave for my visit and food. And even those who aren’t fond of me think that I am exciting. probably travelled a lot, loves history.
My favorite local purveyors, artisans, and farmers:
Castor River Farms, Thies Farm, Tony s family Farm, Terripin Farms
What I love about cooking and hospitality…
My craft is not just about food, a menu, or about catering, it’s about the experience. It’s about everything around that makes the experience linger in your mind/soul for ages. It’s what we strive for. We are not just selling food — there’s a relationship that’s happening. This is about the relationship that happens during this experience. This is not about a set menu we offer to clients be it a couple or be it a large group. We talk about food, they talk about food, we exchange information about ingredients, the expected outcome, and what is expected out of this outcome. It can be a wonderful exchange of information resulting in a memorable dining experience. It’s about flavors that make life exciting, and sharing these makes life exceptional. In this age of both intense interest in cooking and hurried, busy lives, we believe the need is to fully and deliberately engage ourselves in cooking to regain the connection that we’ve lost over the years in our craving for short cuts, quick fixes and processed ingredients. To respect the food, we believe we have to take more time and greater care in cooking. The way to keep the experience memorable and fresh is not merely by adding flavors but by focusing more on specific flavors making them intense. Only then can the final product or experience can be as delicious as the soul can consume. We go across the globe for interactions with different chefs or locales in different regions to know more about ingredients or the stories behind the food and create unique menu for each experience. We have workshops and have fun narrating the food stories to the audience. To maintain the freshness, we consciously choose limited clients so as to provide a unique experience every single time. Welcome to a Unique Dining Experience. Let s talk FOOD…. Let every ingredient tell a story…
What are your top three go-to pantry items?
Spices, Lemon, Rice
