Massive, passion, madness… all
the synonyms for these three words
describe the journey of Team Young
Chef Olympiad. Today, when we
look at the videos of the opening
of YCO 2015, we can see how the
event has grown and matured. It’s
commendable!

The most beautiful part is the liaison
that happens after the competition.
The MoU, or the signing that happens
between participating countries, is
equivalent to the emotional quotient
of this relationship. Wherein we
exchange our students completely for
learning purposes, for internships
and future prospects. There is no
monetary angle.

We’ve had YCO rounds inside our
Bangalore campus. The students are
organised in teams with duties assigned
as though they are managing a hotel,
so there’s the housekeeping team, the
F&B team, front office team, etc. This is
a wonderful, hands-on experience for
students to understand how to handle
an international guest right from
check-in to check out

2018 was my first year of this
mega event. I have never
before seen an event of such
magnitude. The students of
the twin campuses, Delhi and
Jaipur, help in the organisation
of this, the largest culinary
event in Asia

Even the countries who don’t make
it to the Top 10 stay on to cheer their
friends, because by then everyone’s
made friends. I’ve never known a
country to leave after not placing.
As for what’s next for YCO, well, all I
can say is that the sky is the limit!

We never thought YCO would be
such a success when we started with
15 countries in 2015. To see all the
international chefs cooking in the
same space is incredible. In 2018,
we had four times the number of
celebrity judges. The arrangements
are very elaborate but it gives us a
lot of joy to be the hosts for such an
event