Vijay Bist : CEO & Chairman, Amber India Corporations
Vijay is a well-known restaurateur and entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. His noteworthy success, branded as Amber, represents Indian cuisine at it finest level and on par with other global standouts. The Amber group of award winning Restaurants in Northern California therefore represents a class of distinctive and innovative culinary offerings. In addition to the overseeing of the restaurants, Vijay devotes his time to continually study and engage in the innovations in the Indian cuisine, with the objective of articulation in North America and elsewhere.
Vijay received his early culinary education in India. This was followed by advanced education in Switzerland, Germany and France, and a MBA degree in the US.
Bist lives by what he loves, which in the simplest terms is cooking and food. While he continues to build on his restaurant. success, he helps improve the worlds perception of Indian cuisine prepared in the United States.
For Bist, preparing dishes to perfection is his long-standing goal. He says “Is a constant obsession to keep the dishes perfect all of the time”
He is a Charter Member of TiE and is affiliated with culinary and hospitality professional groups. He is engaged in mentoring of aspiring entrepreneurs and devotes considerable time and resources to social, charitable and political causes.
Vittal Shetty : Corporate Executive chef
Vittal Shetty has been with Amber Restaurants, since 2003, during his 9 years tenure he has pioneered critically acclaimed menu for the restaurants & caterings.
Vittal’s menu has been recognized as one of the best Indian restaurant menu in bay area, with innovative dishes first time featured in an Indian restaurant. He presents the menu with “think out side the box “approach, by marrying traditional & authentic cooking techniques with modern day trends & experimenting with new versions of contemporary styles.
His modern approach to the cuisine has earned reviews & praises from crtics and our guests, he says his goal is to establish Indian food as world-class cuisine.
A graduate degree holder in bachelors of hotel management from Bangalore University was selected for kitchen training programme of the Oberoi Center Of Learning And Development, rated as the best hotel schools in Asia, After which he spent his culinary days in various hotels of Oberoi group including, Oberoi Bangalore, Rajvilas, Oberoi Mumbai & Oberoi Maidens in various positions and kitchens
He Started his culinary career in The Oberoi New Delhi, during his tenure there he headed the French restaurant “la Rochelle” & Banquet section as sous chef, here his guest list included prime ministers of India & Sri Lanka, Chancellor of Germany, high profile media, political & corporate guests, He also headed the coffee shop & gardemanger kitchens.
In 2002 he moved to Tiffin room Indian restaurant in Raffles hotel Singapore, during his stay for a year Vittal got hands on training on the hundred year old restaurants recipes & south Asian cuisines
Vittal now is responsible for all units culinary operations.
Vittal currently is involved in opening & setting up of kitchens at Amber Dhara in palo Alto & valencia St, San Francisco
SANDEEP BASRUR : Executive Chef, Santana Row
A graduate of Institute of Hotel Management, Mumbai, Sandeep began his culinary career with Taj Hotel Group in Mumbai strong desire to gain international exposure led him to earn a Bachelors degree in culinary arts from the prestigious Johnson & Wales University, Rhode Island. He won many academic awards including Banfi’s Scholastics Wine & Gastronomy Award.
Sandeep Joined Amber Group in 2003, he has led the kitchens at all their units at San Jose, Mountain View & San Francisco. He has a great passion for pastry arts, he believes in modern Indian food with Californian touch to it
Kirti Pant : Executive Chef, San Francisco
Having refined his skills in well known restaurants such as award-winning Cinnamon Club in London, Tamarind in New York City, Junnoon in Palo Alto, Kirti Pant is excited to have the opportunity to introduce modern Indian cuisine to his guests at Amber India in San Francisco, California.
Kirti passed out of Institute of Hotel Management in New Delhi. He began his training at properties in the Taj Group of Hotels, a luxury hotel group in India renowned for its distinctive service and outstanding cuisine. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Osmania University in India.
After three years in London, Kirti moved to New York City to head the kitchen at Tamarind. While there, he won the grand prize in the annual J. Moreau & Fils Chablis Fish Dish contest. Judged by a local panel of seafood and wine experts, Kirtis halibut with curry leaf semolina and coconut-ginger sauce was deemed the best.
Kirti explains that most Americans are accustomed to a more commercial version of Indian food, in which meats are cooked in a sauce until well done, and the same sauce is often served with different proteins. At Amber India, meats are seasoned and cooked to order before being finished with a flavorful sauce, he says. This means that items such as salmon, duck and lamb can be prepared to any doneness a guest prefers.
Kirti is committed to using the finest raw materials, and he selects organic items whenever possible. Kirti can often be found scouring farmers markets for inspiration, and he looks for new ways to apply modern techniques to long-standing traditions.
Shiv Singh, Chef
Shiv Singh is the newest addition to Amber culinary team.
He specializes in regional Rajsthani, Awadhi & Maharastrian cuisines and has an culinary experience from working with well known masters of Indian cooking at some of the best five star hotels and restaurants all across Northern India. He is a graduate in Bachelors of hotel management from Delhi University.
He started his career in Conde Nast Traveler’s best resort hotel The Oberoi Vanyavilas; he later moved on to work in other Oberoi Hotels such as Oberoi Rajvilas & The Oberoi New Delhi. He also trained young chefs at B.C Institute inDelhi. After a 2 year stint at The Claridges Hotel in Delhi Shiv moved on to become sous chef at Taj Hotel Aurangabad.
