Chef Priya Roy

From the hills of the Nilgiris, in a small town of Coonoor, a girl with her head far above the clouds, chose to dream and dream big. Those were the Doordarshan days of inspiring stories like Udaan, about a woman IPS officer, breaking gender barriers which cast an impression upon this girl. Raised in a staunch Brahmin household, if there’s one thing she was sure of, it was never to follow the tried and tested path in terms of studies and career; to do something that women were not encouraged to do; to tread the road not travelled and mark her presence in the space of the extraordinary. Her father insisted on her becoming a doctor. She did love science and excelled at it; but she deployed her scientific skills towards something that was opposed by her family: to become a chef!

It was the 90s when Hotel Management studies as a discipline was in its nascent stage. It was not only an unknown curriculum and career, it was heavily gendered as well. For boys it was considered contemptuous to hold a ladle and cook; for girls it was cooking in an industrial kitchen, not for the family but for a revenue generating clientele, questioning naturalised roles. The 90s witnessed the opening of our economy with multinational companies making inroads into Indian terrain and along with it, the hospitality industry and its strong arm of Hotel Management Studies grew as well, creating some of the finest chefs in the country. Chef Priya Roy is one of them.

An alumni of the prestigious Indian Institute of Hotel Management,(IHM) Pusa, New Delhi, Priya began her career with Oberoi’s; in fact, she was the only one in her batch to get a placement in all of the three major hotel chains then, ITC, Oberoi and Taj. She believes that the key ingredients to become a chef are a sound knowledge of Maths, Geography and History, a thorough grip over Science, coupled with strong managerial skills. Mere culinary skills are never enough because there’s much more to a dish than its cooking ingredients and process. She has worked with some of the biggest hotel brands in the country which she finally quit to join a cruise liner; first the Royal Caribbean and then The Carnival, making her the first “lady” to join a cruise ship kitchen and that too in a senior position.

Priya’s life and career was dotted with challenges and defiance. In a land where food is heavily inundated with caste prejudice, it was not easy for her to break its shackles, handle and sample food (read meat) considered taboo, join a hotel considered an “inappropriate” place for women in those days, marry someone from another caste and region, become the first woman to join a kitchen in a cruise liner, and live life on her own terms, giving wings to her dreams to make it a reality.

Today, Priya dons the hat of not just a chef but an educator as well. Given her own experience of raising a hyperactive child and the lack of resources in school to help such children, after moving to Trivandrum, Priya started her own pre-school called The Kids’ Place; an inclusive school where parents are able to find the right environment to educate their children, especially those who are neurodivergent. She owes her love for teaching to her mother who inculcated a love for children and teaching in her. In the teaching space she describes herself as a mother (despite having degrees in education) who educates through love and compassion, customising teaching methodology based on every child’s needs, strengths and weaknesses.

If you thought that Priya has hung her culinary apron, you’re wrong. She keeps that fire burning through her SND or Saturday Nite Diner. Every Saturday, the quaint city of Trivandrum witnesses dishes from all around the world, churned in Priya’s home kitchen. From Vietnamese Pho, Italian hand-rolled pasta, Wild Mushroom Risotto, Jerk Chicken of the West Indies, Thai Kaeng Phet, Slow roasted Beef brisket, Miso Ramen, Mexican Grill, Korean Bibimbap, Moroccan Tagine, Greek Mezze, the list is endless!

Priya is a chef, an educator, a parent and a loving partner to her chef husband. But these are not enough to encapsulate a person as dynamic as her. In fact, it is almost impossible to fit her into a particular role or occupation. That would be a disservice to her. Her life is testimony to what a woman can achieve if she is willing to fight for it. To say she has broken the proverbial “glass ceiling” would be an understatement. She has broken many. Negotiating the tight-rope of work-life balance, breaking shackles of her own caste, plunging into a career that was almost forbidden for women those days, diving into oceans in a cruise liner underlined by a male numerical dominance, Priya has travelled through seas, at times unchartered, soaking in the myriad flavours of cultures, cuisines and histories. And today her SND is a glorious example of her adventurous career; where cultures culminate, emanating flavours and aromas from distant lands; taking you on culinary escapades and tantalizing your tastebuds with a global spread, all brought to you by the love and passion of Priya Roy. Not just any chef!