Chef Jerson Fernandes has worked up his career from being a dishwasher on a cruise liner to being an executive chef with a huge following on social media
After completing his BSc in Hotel and Hospitality Administration from IHM-Hyderabad, Chef Jerson began his career as a management trainee with the French chain-Accor group of hotels under the brand Novotel (Hyderabad) and HICC. He has risen from the ranks of a dishwasher to an Executive Chef in just 12 years.
“My passion for cooking and love for food drew me to become a chef. I was always inclined towards food since my early days,” he says enthusiastically.
His culinary journey boasts of applauded hotels and restaurants including P&O cruise liners, Taj, Accor, Los Angeles based Berggruen (Keys) hotels, Ritz Carlton-Marriott’s and now back to Accor at their South Goa beach resort – Novotel Goa Dona Sylvia Resort.
His favorite genre of cooking is live cooking. “I just love live cooking the most. Conversing with a guest and cooking live in front of them, you just can’t go wrong. I specialise in European and Trans-Atlantic fusion cuisine.” His strength lies in ‘plate presentation’ and off late, Vegan cooking has captured his interest. He has recently launched the first vegan bar of Goa in the resort.
Jerson first started as a dishwasher on a cruise liner. “I was awarded the ‘best dish washer’ certificate thrice on P&O cruises in 2003-04. I later worked with brands such as the Marriott-Ritz Carlton, Taj, Accor-Novotel, and Los Angeles–Berggruen hotels,” he added.
He has been involved in initiating diverse food fiestas around the globe, conducts various cookery shows and judges competitions across the country. He has been invited as a guest judge at various culinary events across the globe, invited as a guest lecturer and examiner at some of the most well-known institutes of the country including IHM-Mumbai and Le cordon Bleu where he has demonstrated few of his skills and techniques. His core strengths lie in his ability in handling people, plate presentations and creative live cooking.
Chef Jerson is passionate about meeting guests and creating memorable moments for them. “For me there is only one boss – the guest. I can do almost anything to ensure they’re happy and come back to dine with us again.”
Jerson has many accolades to his name. He was awarded the youngest most talented sous chef in the Middle East for Marriott in the year 2011 by the Emirates Culinary Guild; the most Creative budding Chef of India award in 2014 by FHRAI; The emerging Executive chef of the year award in July, 2018 by FBCAI; and The Executive chef of the year in 2019 by FHRAI. He was recognized with a gold medal by the president of IFCA (Chef M. Gill) and the president of World Chefs Association (Chef T. Googler) for his contribution to the culinary field, in Oct-2018 at Amritsar. He was recently awarded the Star Chef of India by IFCA at Pullman Delhi in Oct-2019.He has also been awarded with letter of appreciations and certificates of merit from IHM-Hyderabad, IHM-Goa, IHM-Mumbai and several other colleges for mentoring and visiting colleges to train their budding young chefs.
When asked about his hobbies and interests, Jerson says, “I enjoy photography and travelling, mostly to explore new food destinations”.
Chef Jerson is also very active on social media. Having more than 40,000 followers on social media, he was also awarded the most active social media chef of the year 2018 (Influencer, Young Chef category) by Times Group in 2019.
Being a popular face in the newspapers for his food articles in Mumbai Mirror, DNA, Mid-Day and various food shows on TV, he is also very popular in Mumbai for his celebrity cook-offs.
Chef Jerson is a core committee member of the Western Indian culinary Association (WICA), Member of Young Chefs Association of India (YCAI), Member of Indian Federation of Culinary Association (IFCA), World Association of Chefs’ Society (WACS), and is a HACCP certified chef
