Food For The Soul

Hitesh Mulchandani, founder of Le Kitchen, has been leading from the front when it comes to catering for events and creating customized menus. Bindu Gopal Rao finds out more

- Bindu Gopal Rao

Born in a joint family in Mumbai, Hitesh Mulchandani is the younger of two siblings. He graduated from Hill Grange High School, and joined the family business (a chain of budget hotels) at Hotel Landmark, Fort to help with its daily functioning, soon after. Next, Hitesh attended the H R College of Commerce (2003) and simultaneously completed a course in Software Programming from NIIT. “Food was never really an obsession for me, but I’ve absolutely loved to experiment with it ever since I was a child. What fascinated me the most was how the food was served. I have a distinct memory of often asking my mother to give me simple home cooked food in a new type of plate. Being a Sindhi, you can only imagine how many sets of crockery were stacked away for the right occasion!”

After dabbling with varied education streams, Hitesh gave in to his family roots and did a Diploma in Hotel Management from Kishinchand Chellaram College in 2005. “To add more value after those four years, I did my MBA in 2009 specializing in Entrepreneurship from the Welingkar Institute, Mumbai.” After he garnered some work experience and education in both hospitality and business management, it was a lucky coincidence that there was some extra space at Hotel Landmark that allowed him to start Le Kitchen.

Hitesh’s first catering contract was dated 28th October, 2009, a day he remembers vividly as it was his cousin’s pre-wedding function. The initial months saw him cater mainly for family functions but towards the end of the first year, his clientele expanded significantly. Kunal Shah, an expert on the production front and the man who guides their chefs and often brainstorms with them to come up with new twists when it comes to the food, has been a part of Le Kitchen since its inception.