560 
And that got GG to wondering – just what is a typical day for Chef
Afterwards I go for a walk and clear my head, and think about my family and our conversation.
12pm: I arrive at the restaurant, switch on the ovens, start my shift with a nice hot elaichi (cardamon) chai. I get into my chef’s gear and make a checklist of what we need to prep for our menu for the coming night. Every day I allocate a station to each of the chefs – some go on starters, some on tandoor, some deserts. We try to mix them
1pm: Deliveries come in and I personally have to check them all, from meat to fish to
4pm: Just like with our customers, the best way for our staff to get to know each other and to experience our menus is to eat together, whilst maintaining social distancing at all time. The kitchen preps a meal – biryani and dal are the team’s
5pm: Service starts and the madness begins. Every dish is individually prepared by order. Some have special requests, some have allergies and some are not even on the menu, but we cater for all of our customers’ many tastes. It is my job to ensure that all orders match the meal that is prepared. It is also my job to
During Covid, even though the restaurant is closed,
Hail to the Chef
or pretty much all of us, these are strange and sometimes 
Before becoming Head Chef at the much-loved Greystones restaurant, the Delhi-born Dinesh trained at the Pusa Institute Of Technology, making his way here via the kitchens of some of India’s most-renowned hotels – including The Oberoi, The Imperial, The Vatica and The Hyatt – as well as a stint in chilly Norway.
Where the bitter cold helped aclimatise Dinesh for his move to Ireland, joining Jaipur in 2003. With his wife and 2 children – aged 4 and 6 – back in India, Dinesh dedicates pretty much every day of his life here to Chakra’s latest menu.
Dinesh in these lockdown days…?
around so they learn all the different functions and dishes of the kitchen.
veg, making sure that they are compliant with health and safety and they meet our own very high standards in freshness and quality. If it doesn’t, it goes straight back onto the truck.
2pm: All prep for the starters – such as making our batters, our doughs, our marinades, our deserts – needs to be done before the service begins at 5pm.
favourites – and we sit together to eat and discuss the world around us, what’s happening in our lives and, most importantly, our shared love of food. After we clear our meal away, we start on the evening.
ensure that each dish meets the very high standards that we have worked so hard to achieve. I am the last person to check the order before it leaves the kitchen.
the kitchen is as busy as ever, with deliveries and the click-and-collect service ensuring all orders meet the same high standards as we would if the restaurant was open.
