"How I Turned My Love for Food Into a Brand-Building Career - And Now, a Food HQ"

Gourmet Tales Co
Jul 5
3 min read

Updated: Jul 10

Preet Sanghvi aka Chubby Guzzler,

Founder | Food Curator & Consultant at Gourmet Tales Co

It all kicked off with a buffet.

A pasta bar. Cupcakes with icing that looked like a unicorn threw a party. My dad was beside me, chuckling as I stacked my plate like I was on a mission to feed a small nation at a five-star buffet.

But that day, something changed. It wasn’t just about stuffing our faces; it was about how food made people feel. How it made me feel. And deep down, I had a realization: whatever I do in life, it’s going to involve this magical feeling!

Fast forward to now, and somehow, I’ve turned that emotion into a full-blown career. Deep down, I knew: whatever I do in life, it’s going to involve this feeling!

*Serving looks and snacks-multitasking like a pro!*

Not by following a rulebook but by breaking most of them. I’ve done PR for restaurants, launched menus, worked in brand marketing, and moved cities chasing ideas that felt right in my gut.At 26, I started Gourmet Tales Co., not knowing where it was headed, only knowing it had to be led by taste, heart, and pure energy. (Also, a bit of madness.)

Back then, I didn’t even know what to call it. I just knew I wanted to bring food into spaces that made people feel something. Before the word "curation" became a thing, I was already doing it. Setting up food courts for music festivals. Pop-ups at sneaker launches. Food truck zones at marathons.

One day it was Lollapalooza, the next it was Arijit Singh Live night, and the next it was a chai tapri at a high-end luxury event. The formats changed. The chaos didn’t. But the joy always stayed.

Eventually, I found myself doing more than curating; I was designing entire experiences around food. Building lineups. Recommending brands. Managing operations.And somewhere in the madness of it all, I realised: this was my thing.

Then came Italy, where I studied World Food Cultures and realised food wasn’t just about eating. It was history, travel, psychology, emotion, marketing, storytelling… everything. I deep-dived into tastings, menu engineering, food tourism, food philosophy, communication, and even learn how people eat across 36 different cuisines. From Armenia to San Sebastian , Boston to Sicily, Seoul to Melbourne, I’ve now travelled to 40+ cities across the world just to understand food deeper. And trust me, that’s been the best education of all.

Studying all things food in Italy!

Having curated over 100+ food-led experiences and built a personal network of 700+ F&B brands across India and the UAE, I slowly, quietly, passionately became the person brands now call to help them build food-led IPs, brand strategies, menus, and storytelling formats.

Some call me a great salesperson and maybe because I can make people feel something just by talking about food. But what I really do is help brands connect with people through emotion, experience, and curation.

That’s the part no deck can fully capture. But it’s what I do every single day.But what people don’t see is the chaos. The heartbreaks. The standing-alone-at-an-event moment till 2 am. The deep joy of creating. The crash that follows. The Leo fire that makes me go all in. The energy I bring. The expectations I set. The way I need food to mean something, or I’m out.

Somewhere along the way- - - “I fell in love with food” . And then, "I fell in love with myself".

" Food taught me who I was and who I could become.”

*Co-creating the Cake Party India concept*

And now, it’s time for the next chapter.

We’re launching the GTC HQ & Food Studio — our wild little world of not just an office space but tastings, content, founder and culinary workshops, food education, and ideas that refuse to be boring. Also yes, we have a new logo. It’s bold, minimal, finally us.