Cooking For Life: Vikas Khanna

By JULIETTE ROSSANT There is singles tourism, gay tourism and family tourism. Chef Vikas Khanna wants to make sure that there is also disabled tourism, that is access for the disabled at historical sites around the world. Vikas was the executive chef at New York's Salaam Bombay Restaurant and is currently a consultant to restaurants like Tamarind, Tandoor Palace, Saffron among others. Several years ago he set up a non-profit foundation called New York Chefs Cooking for Life three years ago to help raise awareness and funds for relief efforts around the world. It has spread nationally and internationally. Cooking for Life has helped organize events for Hurricane Katrina relief, Tsunami relief, and is publishing a cookbook to benefit Save the Children. Together with the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH) he has organized an ambitious series of celebrity chef dinners in premier tourism locations. The first, scheduled for July 20th, is in Cairo at the great pyramids. The dinner will bring together New York chefs from restaurant groups like B. R. Guest, Myriad, and Chanterelle for a dinner at the Oberoi Mena House, located next to the pyramids and built in 1869, now part of the Dehli-based Oberoi Hotel Group. "We are going to have a series all over the world: the Taj Mahl next year, China, and in all these places we are helping to create accessibility and awareness," says Vikas. "I am not Bono. I can't do everything. But we have bigger voices than just our local customers." Vikas is planning on making the most of the event by creating a cookbook and video to raise further funds. Of funds raised, 100% goes to charities; everyone in Vikas' organization is a volunteer. Vikas' connection with SATH is personal. He was born lame and then lost sight in one eye after an accident in 1990. He teaches workshops designed for people with visual disabilities to understand the sense of taste and aromas. He also has a separate non-profit called SAKIV to reach out to different EYE foundations around South Asia. SAKIV-world was established in 2005 to host vision expos all around the world. Previous articles: Cat Cora: Chefs For Humanity Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging, charity, philanthropy, Egypt, India, pyramids --> back to superchefblog