PHDCCI concludes the West Zone round of National Young Chef Competition in Mumbai
The West Zone round of the PHDCCI National Young Chef Competition (NYCC) was organized on 1 December 2025 at Institute of Hotel Management Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition, Mumbai. The event brought together 10 leading hospitality institutes from across West India, competing in a live culinary challenge under the theme ‘Celebrating Indian Culinary Heritage: Blending Tradition with Innovation’.
Participating institutes included: Chef’s Kitchen Institute of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management, Kolhapur; IHM, Aurangabad; IHM, Bhopal; IHM, Goa; IHM, Gwalior; IHM, Mumbai; Maharashtra State IHMCT, Pune; MGV´s SPH College of Management and Technology, Nashik; State IHM, Jabalpur; and Symbiosis School of Culinary Arts and Nutritional Sciences, Pune.
The jury panel was chaired by Chef Anil Grover, Certified WorldChefs Judge and included Chef Nitin Shende, Professor – Food Production, GIHMCT Nagpur; Chef Altamsh Patel, Director of Culinary, Hilton Mumbai International Airport; Chef Tushar Malkani, Executive Chef & Culinary Director, The Yellow House – IHCL SeleQtion; and Chef Vivek Kadam, Executive Pastry Chef, ITC Maratha.
The event was graced by Chef Manjit Gill, President, Indian Federation of Culinary Associations (IFCA).
Three teams were selected to advance to the Grand Finale scheduled in New Delhi in January 2026, while one team was declared runner-up:
The event was supported by partners – TATA Consumer Products, Lee Kum Kee, Nestle Professional, Cremica Food Industries, Venus Industries, Hospitality & Kitchen Solutions (HAKS), Wagh Bakri Tea Group, Welbilt India (Merrychef & Convotherm), McCain Foods, Chefs Unlimited, Western India Culinary Association (WICA) and Purchasing Professional Forum – India (PPFI).