“This isn’t a profession, it’s a passion and an art of creating experiences”, says Tudor Park’s new executive head chef, Susanto Bhattacharya, who now heads up a 13-strong team of chefs at the four-star Marriott Hotel & Country Club in Bearsted, near Maidstone.
Known by friends and work colleagues as Sunny, the 38-year-old has been cooking from the age of 12 when he took over the making of the family meals at home in Kolkata, India, because his mum worked long hours.
“I couldn’t let my dad do it as he was a terrible cook,” says Sunny. “And from a young age, I knew I wanted to eat good quality food, so I was happy to take control of the kitchen.”
His desire for the best has been rewarded by a career that has allowed him to work in some of the finest kitchens around the world including Raymond Blanc’s first Brasserie Blanc restaurant in London, the iconic only 7-star hotel, Burj Al Arab in Dubai, as well as The Berkeley in Knightsbridge. Even his very first post after culinary college was the opulent, five-star Oberoi Udaivilas in Rajasthan – twice voted the best hotel in the world.
While there, he trained under a French chef and says he learnt all the basic skills and flavours – “once you have mastered the basics, you can create everything else”.
Later in his career, he went back to India where he worked “under an Indian master chef”.
“Surprisingly, despite being from India, I knew little about real Indian cooking at that point, but under him I learnt so much about the different spices and amazing food regions of my home country.”
“I now love to infuse flavours and spices to create the magic but have to admit, if I was only allowed one, it would be lemongrass – I absolutely love it as it brings out the best in other ingredients.”
His arrival at Tudor Park is also his first time in Kent, although he is familiar with the county’s amazing produce.
“When I was working in the kitchens in London, Kent was the biggest herb garden for us, with lots of ingredients coming from the county.”
In his new role as head chef, Sunny will oversee the menus of the hotel’s new Cast Iron Grill restaurant and Brew Bar Lounge, as well as catering for up to 250 people at any one time at business banquets, golf events, private functions and around 50 weddings a year. A key focus will be seasonal ingredients sourced from British and Kent suppliers where possible, but there is sure to be a few Sunny twists with the occasional outbreak of lemongrass!