Sonakshi Kanoria

Chef – Credo restaurant

Sustainability is a main concern in Sonakshi’s professional career, and is also a top priority at Credo that, besides being featured with one star in the Nordic Michelin Guide, was also the first in Norway to get a Michelin Green Star for gastronomy and sustainability. By working under the guidance of owner of Credo, chef Heidi Bjerkan, Sonakshi has learnt to put the spotlight on where the ingredients come from. In Spring 2022, she got a scholarship at Mad Academy (Copenhagen) to join the Business and Leadership programme, and in September she cooked alongside Chef Prateek Sadhu and Chef Larry Jayasekara at Arktiskmat (Arctic Food) symposium in Mosjøen. Born and raised in a joint family in Kolkata (India), Sonakshi spent all her childhood and adolescent years in the living room, browsing through her mother’s secret stash of classic cookbooks, and observing her, in her world full of flavours, trying to sneak a taste of every dish that exited the kitchen. In no time, she started experimenting in the kitchen and making her own lunchbox for school, realising that becoming a chef and diving into the world of gastronomy, was her true calling. After graduating from the best culinary institute in India, Sonakshi got the opportunity to work at Masque, an ingredient-driven restaurant in Mumbai, co-owned by Chef Prateek Sadhu and featured in the 2022 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards at No 21. Working at Masque, where she met and collaborated with world renowned chefs, changed her perception of food and preservation. It educated her about diverse food cultures, the importance of seasons and fresh local produce. It made her realise the responsibility a chef holds in consciously creating a waste free kitchen and learning how to use an ingredient to its fullest. Sonakshi was a member of the jury for IGCAT’s European Young Chef Award 2022.