Chef Kriti Shetty turns flavour into feeling, weaving memory, culture, and emotion into every plate she creates.
For Chef Kriti Shetty, food is more than sustenance—it’s a living language. Each ingredient carries history, each dish tells a story. In her kitchen, technique meets emotion, and precision becomes a form of expression. “Cooking is a dialogue,” she often says. “Every plate carries a memory, a piece of where you come from and what you feel.”
That belief defines her philosophy: food, when created with intention, can transcend boundaries. It can connect people who don’t share a language, evoke nostalgia in strangers, and make the familiar feel new again. Her dishes often begin not with recipes, but with emotions—a childhood memory, a scent from her travels, or the texture of an ingredient that sparks a story waiting to be told.
Trained in professional kitchens across Asia, Kriti’s foundation was built on discipline and respect for craft. Yet her creative voice emerged through experience, from the bustling markets of Southeast Asia to the refined dining rooms of Dubai. “Those journeys taught me that food isn’t static,” she reflects. “It evolves through stories, through people, through the small details that shape how we eat and share.”
Over the years, Chef Kriti has become one of the UAE’s most dynamic culinary leaders. Rising to the position of Head Chef at just 24, she has helped launch more than 35 restaurants across the region, shaping menus, leading teams, and curating experiences that balance innovation with authenticity. Her approach is deeply sensory—flavour, plating, and rhythm come together like chapters in a well-told story.
As Global Head of Culinary at NutriCook, she led recipe innovation that brought professional-grade creativity into home kitchens. Her collaborations with global brands such as EL&N London, Dlish Café, and Foodhall India refined her understanding of how food can connect diverse audiences through design, storytelling, and taste. Each project, whether for a fine-dining concept or a lifestyle brand, is treated as a narrative crafted with purpose and emotion.
Chef Kriti’s style reflects a tapestry of influences shaped by her travels and experiences, grounded in an appreciation for craft and culture. She often plays with contrast—sweet and sharp, soft and crisp, modern and traditional—to create a dialogue on the plate. Her menus are layered with meaning, reflecting journeys taken, people met, and moments remembered. “Flavour is emotional,” she says. “It’s how we make memories tangible.”
Beyond her professional achievements, what defines Kriti most is the quiet intentionality she brings to her craft. For her, storytelling through food is not about complexity but connection: finding the point where taste and emotion intersect. Whether she’s designing a new concept or leading a team in service, she views the kitchen as both a stage and a sanctuary—a place where stories come alive through rhythm, repetition, and care.
Today, Chef Kriti Shetty stands among a new generation redefining modern dining in the UAE. Her work blends memory and modernity, creating experiences that feel both personal and universally resonant. Each dish she creates is both an homage and an evolution, proof that when food tells a story, it doesn’t just satisfy, it lingers.
As she looks to the future, Chef Kriti continues to build on her belief that great food connects before it impresses. With new ideas simmering and horizons expanding, her next chapter promises to be as soulful and layered as the stories she serves—one plate, one memory, one flavour at a time.
