Khalda Choudhary
Winchester,Hampshire
Summary
Innovative Culinary Professional specialising in gourmet cooking, menu planning, and food cost management. Leads teams to meet organisational goals through effective coaching and mentoring. Committed to exceptional customer care, conflict resolution, and upholding HACCP standards. Skilled in food presentation and recipe development, with a focus on creative event menu design.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work history
Chef Instructor, Logistics Chef Manager
Worthy Down
Kings Worthy, Winchester
2019.01 - 2024.01
- Assisted in delivering competency-based education aligned with organisational curricula.
- Supported class instruction by developing courses and activities to meet course competencies and learning objectives.
- Helped promote student success through compassionate engagement and flexibility in teaching style and work schedule during the learning process.
- Encouraged student interaction to break the monotony of training by relating personal and professional experiences.
- Served as a Highfield accredited instructor for food safety standards up to level 4.
Chef Supervisor
Royal Air Force
Honington, Suffolk
2013.01 - 2014.01
- Guided section staff in achieving high performance standards in food preparation and service, focusing on menu planning, costing, ordering, and execution to ensure quality and consistency.
- Oversaw diverse team of service and civilian chefs to deliver successful events, including trainee Christmas dinner and Burns Night, enhancing team collaboration and event execution.
- Managed shift schedules and rotas for service and civilian staff, optimising staffing for seamless operations.
Logistics Chef
3 Mobile Catering Squadron, Royal Air Force
Wittering, Peterborough
2011.01 - 2013.01
- Coordinated food ordering and transport logistics, facilitating seamless operations and timely service.
- Led team of chefs and air ground stewards in successful UK deployments, ensuring high standards of service delivery.
- Oversaw site reconnaissance, confirming readiness and availability of essential equipment for operations.
Logistics Chef
Royal Air Force
Lyneham, Wiltshire
2009.01 - 2011.01
- Prepared and frozen in-flight meals for passengers and crew members.
- Facilitated in-flight catering by managing meal distribution across multiple aircraft.
- Coordinated delivery of in-flight rations to aircraft, ensuring smooth communication with transport drivers.
- Collaborated with flight crews and passengers to fulfil meal preferences and requirements.
- Ensured adherence to safety processes for staff and consumers.
Education
NVQ Level 2 - Catering and Hospitality & Food and Beverage Service
City & Guilds
Aylesbury, BuckinghamshireSkills
- Driven, motivated, flexible and determined to proactively meet organisation targets
- Excellent analytical and writing skills with a dedicated approach to working in a high tempo working environment
- Proven customer care skills, dealing effectively with queries, complaints and disputes resulting in amicable resolutions
- Able to inspire and get the most out of people for progression and development through effective leadership, coaching and mentoring
- HACCP certification
- Communication with waitstaff
- Menu planning competence
- Experience with sous-vide cooking
- Food cost calculation
- Knife handling techniques
- Gourmet cooking proficiency
- Recipe development expertise
- Creativity in dishes
- Seafood handling experience
- Meeting tight deadlines
- Team leadership in kitchen
- Passion for food presentation
- Recipe modification
- Training and mentoring talent
- budgeting acumen
- Dedication to cleanliness
- Quality assurance understanding
- Nutrition knowledge
- Food hygiene standards
- Butchery techniques
- Multitasking efficiency
- Event menu design
Affiliations
- walking my dog
- food
- socialising
- outdoors
Accomplishments
Queens New Years Honours list 2019
Training and Continuous Professional Development
- Continuously looking to improve my professional skills through seeking the expertise of others that excel in that particular field.
- Highfield Lvl 2 in Customer Service
- ASLS Lvl 2&3 Mentoring.
- RSPH Lvl 3 in Nutrition for Health
- Highfield Lvl 4 Managing Food Safety in Catering (with distinction)
- CACHE Lvl 2 Understanding Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health Advocacy in the workplace.
Timeline
Chef Instructor, Logistics Chef Manager
Worthy Down
2019.01 - 2024.01
Chef Supervisor
Royal Air Force
2013.01 - 2014.01
Logistics Chef
3 Mobile Catering Squadron, Royal Air Force
2011.01 - 2013.01
Logistics Chef
Royal Air Force
2009.01 - 2011.01
NVQ Level 2 - Catering and Hospitality & Food and Beverage Service
City & Guilds