Kalesh Kamal Cooking for Stars Interview

Cooking for Stars around the World - Plaza Premium Lounge's Kalesh Kamal

Growing up in South India, Kalesh learnt to love the art of cooking through his mother's traditional home cooking. Taking his passion to the next level, Kalesh went onto to study and graduate from The Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology, the best hotel management school in India at the time.

Moving into the professional chef world, Kalesh went onto gain global experience in the luxury travel scene, working on private jets, 5* hotels, exclusive lodges, cruises and lounges granting him with once in a lifetime opportunities, such as cooking for A-list celebrities such as Justin Bieber and ACDC and Presidents from around the world!

His recipes are inspired by his adventures in India, Australia, New Zealand and Miami, with many of his dishes incorporating these countries flavours and cultures. He is also deeply influenced by the people and chefs that he has met throughout his career. His love for travel has encouraged an understanding for the importance of fresh, balanced nutrition when people are on the move – so all of his cooking uses fresh and healthy ingredients.

Kalesh explains his food philosophy as being "shaped around feeling a strong responsibility for anyone he cooks for." His favourite guest to cook for however is his wife and kids, who are his harshest critics!

When he created Plaza Premium Lounge's menu, he curated the food and drink offerings to counteract the dehydrating effects of travel and airports, with plenty of fresh, light food and vitamin-restoring juices. He also crafted a special coffee menu to help pick people up when they are fatigued.

All dishes at Plaza Premium Lounge are prepared from scratch in the lounge kitchens, which is unique for an airport food facility – this is because Kalesh is passionate about giving his guests the best food experience he can. In line with this, when he thinks up new dishes, he puts it through a rigorous approval system. He first cooks at home, trying the recipe on his kids who are Aussie and his wife who is Indian, to get the global tastebud approval, then he tries out his kitchen team, a group of guests and finally, if passes all of that, it makes it onto the menu!

Current features on the PPL menus include the delicious arancini balls, espresso martini cocktails as a part of the coffee inspired menu, and fresh pies made daily.

Next up, Kalesh is working on creating a fermented station for the lounges in Australia, focussing on foods rich in good bacteria to aid digestion to make travelling more comfortable for everyone. He is also looking to incorporate more unique Australian ingredients into dishes.

Question: Can you tell us about Plaza Premium Lounge?

Kalesh Kamal: Plaza Premium Lounge is the world's largest award-winning independent airport lounge network. In Australia, we have Brisbane and Melbourne lounges, you can find out more here. 


Question: Which cuisine is your favourite to cook, at home?

Kalesh Kamal: The best cuisine of all for me is Italian - I was trained in it and you can do a lot with four or five ingredients. An Italian dish currently on the Plaza Premium Lounge menu was born in my home kitchen -arancini balls; they are so simple, but delicious and my family love them too!

Question: What inspires you when creating dishes and menus?

Kalesh Kamal: Travel is a passion point of mine, so my holidays and various jobs I have held around the world have all inspired my dishes. I also love to see others travel, so the airport is the perfect place for me! Watching people getting excited for their trips and seeing a diverse group of people from all over the world enjoy my menus inspires me every day.


Question: What five ingredients could you not live without?

Kalesh Kamal: Olive oil, Tomatoes, Parmesan cheese, garlic and butter.


Question: What's it like to cook for celebrities like Justin Bieber, ACDC, Roger Federer and even the Prime Minister of India?

Kalesh Kamal: To be honest, they made me realise that people are all the same whether it is the Prime Minister of a country or families getting ready for a holiday at one of our Plaza Premium Lounges. The common theme is that they just enjoy simple, good food. Food unites people!


Question: What is your signature dish that you cook for celebrities most often?

Kalesh Kamal: That would have to be the Kung Pao Chicken, a light option, which everyone can enjoy in Plaza Premium Lounge Brisbane and Melbourne.


Question: What's next, for you?

Kalesh Kamal: Next up, I'm working on creating fermented stations for the Plaza Premium lounges in Australia, focusing on foods rich in good bacteria to aid digestion to make travelling more comfortable for everyone. I'm also looking to incorporate more unique Australian ingredients into dishes.

Interview by Brooke Hunter