About Pooja Dhingra

Pooja is a Mumbai-based pastry chef and owner of the first macaroon bakery franchise in India, Le 15 Patisserie, and Studio Fifteen Culinary Centre. She was included on the 2014 Forbes India 30 under 30 lists and Forbes 30 under 30 Asia edition.

She received her diploma in patisserie from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris after completing her training at the Cesar Ritz Colleges in Switzerland, where she studied hospitality. Pooja has received praise not just for her exceptional abilities as a pâtissier but indeed for her exciting journey as a businesswoman. This praise has come not only from the press but also from Pooja’s consumers. She is a member of the INK Fellows program and runs a podcast named #NoSugarCoat, which has a significant audience. Pooja is the author of six books, one of which was awarded the second-place prize in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Her other publications include Can’t Believe It’s Eggless and the most recent cookbook, Coming Home. Her first book was titled The Wholesome Kitchen. In addition to that, she is the writer of electronic publications called Le15 Café Cookbook and Bake at Home.

Age Of Pooja Dhingra

Pooja was born on August 5th, 1986. She is 35 years old right now.

Biography of Pooja Dhingra

Dhingra started learning the culinary skill of baking from her aunt when she was just six years old, becoming an informal apprentice under her tutelage. Her mother, who had a home-based chocolate company at the time, was a source of inspiration for her daughter, and she quickly expanded her repertoire to include handmade chocolates, brownies, and pastries. Dhingra got the opportunity to observe the commercial realities of the hotel sector firsthand when she followed her dad to the Mexican restaurant, he co-owned. Aside from the enterprising nature of her mother, Dhingra also benefited from the presence of her mother. Right from that moment on, she knew she wanted to be the owner of her company.

When Dhingra was in her teens, she would not only bake for herself, but she would also bring sweets to school for her peers to try. During her time at Bombay Scottish, she had aspirations of running her own bakery one day. The illegible scribbles that her pals made in her yearbook can be interpreted as well-meaning wishes for the aspiring pastry chef. She says that I t was one of those situations when everyone around her understood what you were, except for you. But one does not know. 

After spending two years studying business at Jai Hind college in Mumbai, she decided to pursue a law degree and continued her deep connection with chocolate at the same time. After only two weeks of studying law, Dhingra concluded that she should pursue a career in a different field. Accordingly, she packed her belongings, boarded a plane to the country known for its chocolate, and enrolled in the Cesar Ritz School of Hospitality and Business Management. She worked her way through each shift, from the hot kitchen to the cleaning department, and she had a clear idea of what she intended to do there when she reached the pastry kitchen. Following her trip back to India in 2007, Dhingra decided to pursue professional training in the field of pastry making. She had previously selected baking as one of her areas of interest.

After receiving her diploma in 2007, she relocated to Paris and enrolled in the Le Cordon Bleu pastry program to earn her Diplôme de Patisserie. During her time in the kitchen, she became proficient in the technique of French baking and became familiar with all of its components. Initially, it was difficult for her to prepare the vast variety of traditional and modern desserts since they were very different from the cakes, muffins, and cheesecakes that she was familiar with. However, after three months had passed, she discovered that she was honing her creative talents and even mastering advanced methods in the art of working with chocolate and sugar.

Chef Pooja Dhingra Career

She began making baked goods in her kitchen, and in 2010, she started renting a space in Central Bombay that she transformed into a central kitchen with two levels. The initial Le15 branch, located in Palladium Mall, received luxurious innovations designed to wow both the eye and the taste sensations. Subsequently, two further outlets were opened in Lower Parel and Bandra. Le15 is a restaurant in Bombay that delivers on its promise to bring the delicacy of Paris to India. The restaurant takes its name from Cordon Bleu Street in Paris. On the first level of the Le15 Central Kitchen, there was also a classroom where students learned how to make desserts. In the beginning, the classes would be taught by her friends from France who had traveled to assist in the establishment of Le15, and guest chefs would be welcomed on the weekends. The rising number of customers inspired her to open her own cooking school, Studio Fifteen, in September 2013. Participating chefs, home cooks, bloggers, and bakers donate their time and expertise to these hands-on courses, which cover a wide range of topics and cuisines and are specifically tailored to accommodate participants with varying degrees of experience in the kitchen. Batches are made in the contemporary kitchen that is fully equipped both during the week and on the weekends.

Aside from her achievements in the kitchen, Chef Pooja is also writing a book for Penguin India at the moment. The book has more than one hundred recipes that have been tidily categorized as cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, tarts, and bars. The ingredients will be made readily available at retailers located throughout India to achieve the goal of making “baking at home” more approachable. Pooja has been successfully adopting the advice from Julia Child to find something you’re enthusiastic about and maintain immensely engaged in it. In this way, she has been recreating the essence of the classics while also shining a modern light on French baking.

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