Podcast Interview with Swati Zunzunwala

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A trained engineer with Bachelor of Engineering in Industrial Electronics, I surprised everyone and myself when I decided to pursue my passion for cooking almost immediately after my graduation. Baking was always an integral part of me and I enjoyed helping my mother with the meals almost every day. It was while pursuing my bachelor’s that one summer, I participated in a baking and pastry arts boot camp being conducted by a reputed bakery in the city and really loved it. This awakened me to the fact that I did not want to work as an Engineer. After I graduated, I decided to pursue a career in baking.

Though I knew that I wanted to be a chef, my knowledge and skill sets were very limited. I was determined to get better at it and was looking for best baking courses in India. I studied and interned in one of finest bakery schools in India. After working under the head chefs for one month, I had grown as a chef and was even surer of my choice. Soon I took a job with another well-known bakery in the city. After a year’s experience, I moved back to my hometown and started my custom cakes business. I started my own venture under the name of ‘Cake N Bake. I used time to experiment with designs and mastered in cake decorating.

After the course, work experience and having run my own cakes business, I had a much more rounded view of my art but I knew that I still had a long way to go. I started searching for good culinary schools, and came across the Culinary Institute of America-Hyde park, New York. Soon after graduating from the CIA, I joined renowned chef Antonio Bachour as an intern at his new restaurant in Coral Gables, Miami, Florida. Here, I moved up the ladder quickly and within a few months, I became the Chef at the restaurant. Now, my typical day involves managing production and scheduling at the restaurant. I spend most of my time in the Kitchen making delectable French deserts while also training and supervising the work of 10 other chefs. I do all of this with the same zest that got her here in the first place.

Having this degree would ensure better employment opportunities and successful career back home. I would like to take what I have learned from these experiences in order to run my own successful bakery in my country and to create my own cookbook so that other aspiring chefs can learn from my experiences. I would like to teach young cooks to become great cooks and chefs of their own. Culinary Institute of America is the first and most important step in a journey that will take me through a lifetime of achievement.