With a global reputation for redefining Indian fine dining, Vivek Singh, Executive Chef and CEO of The Cinnamon Collection, brings his signature fusion of modern flavours to diners around London and beyond.

In a partnership with Park Hyatt Dubai, Singh launched The Cinnamon Collection’s first international outpost, The Cinnamon Club Dubai, marking a significant milestone for the restaurant group. Showcasing the epitome of contemporary Indian dining with a twist, he created a menu that spotlights regional dishes as well as cross-cultural flavours.

Overseeing a portfolio of six restaurants, including The Cinnamon Club in Westminster, Cinnamon Kitchen in Battersea and the City and Cinnamon Bazaar in Covent Garden and Richmond, Singh is also an author of six cookbooks and a familiar face on both television and live cookery stages. His philosophy celebrates bold combinations, imaginative techniques and the evolution of Indian cuisine in a modern context. Here, he shares his journey with The Cinnamon Collection, his favourite food memories and the chefs that inspire him.

When did you first fall in love with cooking?
Most of my childhood memories are about food or lots of people around food – whether it was small family meals cooked from scratch, packed meals to school or larger community feasts, food was always at the centre of it. The love of food certainly came from my mother’s home cooking.

How would you describe your culinary style?
I would say my signature culinary style is contemporary Indian. I tend to draw experience from Indian spicing and cooking techniques, marrying this with local British produce, we basically bring together the best of both worlds.

What is your culinary vision for the menus across The Cinnamon Collection?
Each restaurant reflects an aspect of me. Being slightly contrary and cheeky to tradition and customs, we are forever looking to challenge perceptions and push boundaries. All of the Cinnamon restaurants in some way carry this ethos of challenging the status quo.

Our continuous search for the finest new ingredients that we may or may not have used before from our land, shores, or skies is the starting point of our menu development process. Once we have the hero ingredient in mind, we dive into our pan-Indian search for inspiration around the correct spices and cooking techniques and in doing so we come up with the final dish, which, even though it may be rooted in years of cooking history, still seems modern and current.

The most important considerations when crafting a menu include the availability of good quality, locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, the variety of cooking techniques and spicing and ensuring there is a fair balance between familiarity and challenge, so there is something on the menu for everyone when dining at one of our restaurants.

Do you have a favourite dish on the menu?
We always encourage feasting. At The Cinnamon Club you’ll always be advised to try one of the game dishes, it could be in the form of venison or grouse when it’s in season – you won’t find anything else like it! At our Cinnamon Kitchen restaurants, try a couple of dishes from the grill, you can’t miss the 15th anniversary special menu at our City site, opt for the pork ribs or if you’re veggie, then the grilled pink aubergine with sesame tamarind and peanut crumble. However, if you’re heading to one of our Cinnamon Bazaar restaurants either in Covent Garden or Richmond, then you must try one of our renowned chaat dishes.

What is the most important lesson you’ve learned during your career?
Important as it is to love what you do, I feel it’s equally important to preserve yourself, so you don’t fall out of love

What are the biggest challenges faced by the hospitality sector at the moment, and how are your tackling them?
There are a number of challenges being faced by the sector, depending on who you speak to from wages to rising food costs and business rates etc.., which can affect everyone from those working directly in a hospitality business to consumers dining out. However, if you want to eat out and enjoy good quality produce, I think people accept it is more costly and are accustomed to paying that bit more.

Which chefs have inspired you?
When I was much younger reading books by Marco Pierre White and Raymond Blanc really influenced my thinking of a chef and inspired me. Other people I was greatly influenced by, include Vikram Oberoi during my time working with the Oberoi hotel group, as well as Paul Jones, who was the F&B director at the Oberoi Rajvilas hotel. During my early days at The Cinnamon Club, I was influenced by Iqbal Wahhab, who I co-founded The Cinnamon Club with, as well as Chef Eric Chavot, who I was speaking regularly with during those early days at the restaurant.

What is your approach to sustainability in your cooking?
We were recently awarded three stars in The Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good Standard and have an ongoing commitment to operate sustainably. From evolving our vegan offering to minimising our carbon footprint across outlets and supply chains, where possible, we are striving to make a positive impact on our environment whilst enjoying delicious and responsible dining experiences.

Sustainability in my mind is a continuous journey and ongoing quest for better ingredients, better energy, better work practices and better consumable items. It’s incorporated into every aspect of our business, and we’re always conscious on how to be more sustainably minded. We’ve covered a lot of different aspects across our restaurants, but are currently reducing the use of paper and printing by limiting the ways we use our menus and promotional collateral. Sustainability isn’t about one thing one day, but about every single thing, every day.

What would you like your next project to be?
To be honest, we never plan the journey so far, we just like to try and create new dining experiences for people and push the boundaries of Indian food, then along came our books, the restaurants and my television appearances. My plan for the future is not necessarily about opening more restaurants or publishing new books, but to create a workplace and environment that attracts more and more young people to join the industry. We are and have been over the last 20 years, a place of ideas and talent.

What is your favourite dish, and who cooks it?
My favourite dish has to be the butter chicken from the Babur restaurant in South East London, the restaurant has been going for over 38 years and the Chef Jiwan Lal knows just how I like it!