Chef Ram and I have multiple chef colleagues and foodie friends in common, but this is the first chance that he and I have had to work together. I have been looking forward to this opportunity for quite some time.

He will be expanding and strengthening the farm to table program that Chan Chich Lodge started nearly three decades ago. He will work primarily with Amie, whose success with food programming (and places where that food is enjoyed, which has also been widely appreciated) in India since 2010 made sure that the projects got attention. You will see those ideas here, so stay tuned.

Ram spent the last three years working in the Caribbean region, two in Jamaica and one in the waters along the Central American coast line. He had been in Belize once during 2016 and when we offered him the job to be in charge of the kitchen at Chan Chich Lodge it was just a question of logistics. A few months later, here he is.

Prior to his experience in the Caribbean, Ram had worked with one of France’s finest hotel companies during their expansion into India, but what really had my attention was his several years in the kitchen of the Fairmont Jaipur, one of the finest kitchens in India. During his time with Fairmont he was also assigned to the Fairmont in Nairobi, Kenya. So he has been around and is eclectic both in his formation as a chef, and in his thoughts about what’s next.

We are now working on that (what’s next) together at Chan Chich Lodge, where he has taken charge of an excellent team of local women who have already been running a great kitchen. They have been looking forward to his arrival and a new learning opportunity. So far, so good.