Kishan Singh

Four Seasons Tenure

• From 2016 to 2019; now since 2021
• First Four Seasons Assignment: Junior Sous Chef, Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru

Employment History

• Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach Phuket, Thailand; Shangri-La hotel Jakarta, Indonesia; Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru; Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach, Mumbai, India; Sofitel Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Novotel Ibis Bengaluru Techpark, Bangalore, India; The Leela Palace, Kempinski, Bangalore, India; ITC hotel Bangalore, India; Le Meridian Hotel New Delhi, India (training)                            

Education

• Diploma in Hotel Management & Catering Technology from Govt. Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology & Applied Nutrition (G.I.H.M) Dehradun, (affiliated to Board of Technical Education Roorkee, (Uttrakhand) and recognized by AICTE, New Delhi

Birthplace

• Almora, Uttarakhand, India

Languages Spoken

• English and Hindi

It’s said that creativity is born of necessity, and someone who knows this better than most is Head Chef Kishan Singh at Baraabaru restaurant at Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa. Just 13 years old when his father unexpectedly passed away, young Kishan supported his elder brother running the family’s North Indian restaurant in the hills of Almora – when his studies allowed. By the time he’d finished school, he had “fallen in love with cooking for a living,” as well as the flavourful organic products of his hill station home. Not long after completing his three-year hospitality management diploma, he landed a coveted role at The Leela Palace – in one of India’s top restaurants, Jamavar – and his path was set.

The Leela offered Chef Singh the opportunity to elevate his cooking and enhance his knowledge of Indian cuisine as a whole. “There is no end of learning with Indian food,” he muses. “Every town, state or province you visit you’ll find a different food culture and food habits, not to mention distinct spices and techniques.”

His learning curve continued in Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives, where he set out not only to further his own experience but educate others. “People think Indian food is all about the spices but that isn’t the case,” he explains. “They should be there to enhance the dish, not overpower it.”

Coriander is his go-to herb – “without it you have 50 per cent less flavour” – but it’s his passion for the natural flavours of the food that underpins his signature style. “At Baraabaru, named one of CNN Travel’s top ten “Maldives’ Finest Tables” for 2022, not only is every dish cooked to order for optimum freshness, it’s also tailored to each guest: “Dairy- or gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, Jain, individual spice levels – the way we customise dishes to exact tastes and dietary requirements is one of the things that makes Baraabaru so special. It creates so many options – an almost limitless menu of choices.”

From the kebabs and charcoal tandoors of North India to the curries and spices of the South, Chef Singh’s focus is on making fresh, authentic dishes – and making them well. His favourite? Dal Makahni. But this is Dal Makhani like you’ve never had it before - taking 48 hours to prepare, it’s a recipe he’s been lovingly perfecting since his days at The Leela, aided by his first ever mentor. He takes this same inclusive approach with his own team: “If my team do well, the restaurant does well, the guests are happy and I am doing my job properly.”

Chef Singh is still so dedicated to cooking – “the purest part of my role” – that it remains his favourite pastime, especially when accompanied by Baraabaru’s nightly live sitar band. The same classical musical creates the backdrop to his downtime but the kitchen is never far from his mind: “I always like to be a good human being with a great sense of humour and respect for others but other than that, to me, it’s all about cooking.”