Our much celebrated Kodava chef, Barianda Naren Thimmaiah, has made it a habit of being named amongst the top chefs in the country. He has been an inspiration for many young Kodava youth to follow their passion in this field. CLN is proud to feature his most recent achievement below.
On 9th November 2024, Hospitality Horizon – a hospitality/travel publication – had the Top 10 Chefs award ceremony in Gurgoan, New Delhi at Hyatt Regency.
As things would evolve, there were two distinct categories based on the complexities of the job and the challenges faced by the Chefs in their operations, there were two categories – one Awards for Top Hotel Chefs and the other for standalone restaurant Chefs.
Chef Naren Thimmaiah, Executive Chef at Vivanta Bengaluru Residency Road is ranked No 2 in the top 10 Chefs in the Country.
Chef Naren who heads Karavalli – a South west coastal restaurant, popularizing Coastal cuisine and preserving traditional recipes. His focus is on sustainability and seasonal use of ingredients and traditional methods of foraging. Replicating recipes the way mothers and grand mothers used to cook to preserve the originality of the cooking methods using traditional techniques is the key.
Lists and awards often appear increasingly meaningless these days, crowding in names and trends that sometimes barely last a season or two. Karavalli’s attraction has just grown over the years.
I personally know Naren quite well over the years and he has given me lot of advice on culinary and inputs for hospitality college. I know him professionally as well. He is very humble and soft spoken.
We had invited Naren Thimmaiah to the Yuva Mela organised by Jabhoomi Trust about 3 years back. He was swift to respond and spoke with total conviction and purpose to the youth. He could immediately connect with the youngsters as he spoke with great sincerity and humility.
We are thrilled to see his continuing success and we need icons like him to show the way to our youth. Kodavas are known for hospitality and many Kodava youth are looking at the hospitality industry as a full time profession and mentors like Naren who is a torch bearer of the industry can guide and motivate our youth to join this evergreen and growing hospitality industry.
Congratulations Chef!
Well Chef Naren Thimmaiah was a totally incognito person to me about close to a decade back. It so happened that I was part of the team to select a few acheivers to be recognised and honoured at our Rotary District Conference. The minute I saw the name Thimmaiah my antenna got very active and curious as I realised that here is a wonderful Kodava acheiver who is one of my own. That’s when I started digging deeper into finding more about NAREN.
The first thing a fellow Kodava does is to find out his Family name to check the connections and roots. Well then I somehow got to know he belonged to Barianda family and found out more about him and his professional acheivements. Professionally those days itself Naren was quite a acheiver in his field and a well known name in the hospitality industry. I pushed his name to be honoured in the conference and waited with bated breath to meet the celebrity chef whom without meeting or knowing personally, I had recommended for honouring at the conference.
The day dawned and I was waiting to see a very flashy high profile personality because that was what my brain had preconceived in my mind. When he landed in Mysore in front of me was a tall lanky simple down to earth personality who was so amicable and friendly without any air of superiority at all.
He made me feel very comfortable because I was very excited after seeing and meeting him. Even after the honouring ceremony he spoke very little – mainly about his field and how he had reached this level. It’s then that I realised how true the adage LOOKS ARE DECEPTIVE is because here was NAREN a highly qualified acheiver without any air of superiority.
I am so happy that NAREN continues to grow taller in his chosen profession. About a year back I was lucky to taste and savour Naren’s dishes at his restaurant- Karavalli in Bangalore. It was just out of the world and it’s not a surprise to me that NAREN IS RECOGNISED AS THE SECOND BEST CHEF OF THE COUNTRY.
Thanks to a very dear friend who hosted me to a lunch at The restaurant. Praying to Cauveriamme and Igguthappa to bless Naren immensely to remain at the top slot of being the NUMERO UNO CHEF IN INDIA.
So proud to see Barianda Naren Thimmaiah – a KODAVA win so many accolades in his chosen field. Despite being a relatively small community we have been fortunate to feature stellar Defence personnel, ace Sportspersons, Outstanding Bureaucrats, exemplary professionals in Forestry, Agricultural Sciences, Educationists, Scientists, Doctors, Journalists, Corporate Executives, Entrepreneurs and more. I have deliberately left out Politicians.
I am reminded of an earlier article in CLN – Who is a Kodava? At one time we identified ourselves by our integrity, hard work, dedication to our land and our great love for our culture.
Naren Thimmaiah personifies all of the above. To continue the quote – Somewhere in the last few decades we have lost our vision and need to regroup cohesively – look outwards for success while conscientiously preserving what we have inherited.
Well done Mr. Thimmaiah for setting a wonderful example of success based on hard work, commitment and staying rooted in one’s culture.! 👏👏
Dear Chef
I wanted to extend my heartfelt congratulations on your recent award. Your dedication to culinary excellence is truly inspiring, and this recognition is well-deserved.
Your commitment to creativity and quality not only elevates the guest experience but also sets a standard in our industry. As an admired chef, your work continues to inspire chefs and teams across all hotels.
Congratulations once again on this outstanding achievement! We look forward to seeing even more of your innovative and award-winning dishes in the future.
Warm regards,
Murali Babu
I know Chef Naren for a long time – brilliant at his job, quiet and understated and unflappable. He deserves every accolade for just being a thorough gentleman – so few of whom we see these days!!