Chef and entrepreneur Alan D’Mello is all set to launch the international division of Chef Tours at the Worldchefs Congress 2026, where he will use food, travel, workshops, and storytelling to build a cultural bridge between Goa and the world
KALYANI JHA | NT BUZZ
When nearly 900 chefs, educators, and culinary institutions from more than 100 countries gather in Newport, Wales for the Worldchefs Congress and Expo 2026, Goa will put in an appearance which is fragrant with recheado masala, cafreal spices, and laden with stories.
At the centre of this is chef, entrepreneur and cultural advocate Alan D’Mello, who will be launching the international division of his company, Chef Tours — a Goa-rooted culinary travel initiative that he describes as a bridge between cultures.
Designed for professional chefs and culinary students, the initiative takes chefs beyond restaurant dining and into the lived reality of food cultures, going to the source of it.
“I’ve made a special map called the Culinary Map of India and what I’m going to do is bring participants which will include students from two top culinary schools as well as chefs from around the world to visit different parts of India, including Goa,” he shares.
In Goa, participants will spend seven days visiting restaurants, museums, markets and culinary spaces. Indeed, for D’Mello, cuisine is inseparable from memory and identity. “When they come here and understand what a xacuti is and its different cultural variations; when they’ve smelt it and tasted it — that becomes a core memory. Then they can go back and recreate our food and cultures appropriately,” says D’Mello who believes that a lack of time spent on research on food has affected its quality over time.
“Food, unfortunately, has become very bad around India and the world, because we don’t have time, or don’t make the time to go research, meet people, meet the culture, smell the food, and then recreate it honestly,” he says. Without that connection, he warns, cuisines become hollow imitations.
For D’Mello, the Worldchefs Congress is far more than a professional summit. Over four days, from May 16 to 19, there will be competitions, workshops, seminars and
networking sessions. And D’Mello is arriving with his luggage packed with spices from Goa, gifts for culinary campuses abroad, and a vision to introduce international chefs to India through immersive cultural experiences rather than superficial tourism.
In fact, ahead of the congress, D’Mello has already conducted few workshops focusing on quintessential Goan flavours, with more lined up, across Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland’s selected culinary campuses. At these 120-minute workshops, he is explaining the historical, geographical and cultural context of the Goa region. “Because for a real chef, the background culture is really as important as the recipe. Because it’s the culture that makes the recipes, not the other way around,” he says. At these workshops, the participants (senior students and faculty) also prepare two recipes – recheado and cafreal from scratch. “I also play Konkani music and share our words and phrases for them to learn and use,” says D’ Mello.
For some workshops, award-winning Goan chefs like Avinash Martins of Cavatina (Benaulim) and Janot (Panaji), Ralph Prazares of Casa Prazares have joined in virtually. “The idea is for them to share their culinary journeys, explain their menus and host a walk-around of their kitchens, allowing students abroad to step virtually into Goan kitchens,” says D’Mello.
“My job”, he continues, “is to act as a bridge between cultures; to get them to understand why coming to India and especially Goa, is very important”.That bridge is also commercial. A businessman with investments across hospitality, education, travel and events, D’Mello has lined up nearly 80 meetings during the congress in an effort to build partnerships with global culinary campuses.
He is equally passionate about inspiring younger chefs to think beyond recipes and social media trends and read more about other cultures. In fact, for the next centenary year’s conference of the World Association of Chef Societies that is to be held in Paris in 2028 he intends to establish a prize through which he will subsidise a young student chef from India to travel with him to London or elsewhere in England.
When asked how students can participate, he suggests that the selection process could involve a competition, high-achievement criteria, or other merit-based considerations. “We’re calling it the ‘Paris 2028 Challenge’,” he shares.
