MEET OUR CHEFS

NAVEESH LAUL, EXECUTIVE CHEF

Born in New Delhi, India, Naveesh Laul always wanted to become a doctor and even gave it a shot. But, destiny brought him to the world of culinary operations after joining the prestigious Institute of Hotel Management in Pusa, New Delhi. Laul won multiple national level culinary competitions while representing the university, and after graduating, he was selected by Reputed The Taj Group of Hotels, Resorts and Palaces to join their Kitchen Management Training Program. Through this program, Chef Naveesh trained in some of the best 5 diamond French fine dining restaurants in the country including The Orient Express, Taj Palace New Delhi, Chambers at The Taj Mahal Palace and Towers Mumbai, to name a few.

After completing the program, Chef Naveesh joined the team at Graze at The Taj MG Road Bangalore where he worked closely under Chef Oscar Gonzalez learning the finer details of Avant Garde modern European cuisine. Laul moved up the ladder quickly and became chef de cuisine for Vista Restaurant at Taj Lands End, Mumbai where he served many bureaucrats and Bollywood film actors. Over the next several years, Chef Naveesh joined the Machan team at Emperor Lounge and Ricks at the iconic Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi before getting promoted to lead the team for seven restaurants and banqueting operations at The Taj Bengal Hotel, Kolkata as their executive sous chef. There he served many presidential diplomats and famous figures like Pelé, Ban-ki-moon and the Dalai Lama, to name a few. 

In 2016, after being with the Taj Hotels for close to 11 years, Chef Naveesh moved to The United States and joined the team at Omni Fort Worth Hotel as executive sous chef. In 2019, he was promoted to executive chef. In his spare time, Chef Naveesh enjoys reading culinary books and journals and is also a Sahaja Yoga Meditation Instructor at the Fort Worth Library. 

Chef Naveesh was recently selected to participate in the Celebrity Cocktail Party at the first ever Colonial Culinary Classic, sponsored by the James Beard Foundation. With over 16 years of culinary experience, he will have the opportunity to showcase his talents as well as Fort Worth’s ever-growing culinary community alongside the city’s top chefs at this prestigious culinary event.

Chandrashekar Sudershan, Executive Sous Chef

Born and raised in the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru, Chandrashekar Sudershan graduated with a Bachelors of Hotel Management degree specializing in culinary from Christ University in Bengaluru.
Successfully graduating with distinction and winning the chef competition associated with the Taj Hotels group, he was selected for the prestigious and rigorous Taj Management Trainee Programme, which allowed him to train in some of the country’s best fine dining restaurants.

After completing the training program, Chandrashekar officially joined the team at Prego - the Taj Coromandel, Chennai, where he worked closely with Italian Master Chef Giovanna Marson learning the techniques of simple Italian recipes of Southern Italy. He was then promoted as a Sous Chef at the pre-opening hotel Taj Yeshwantpur in Bengaluru, where he spearheaded the launch of the restaurant “Azure” along with the Executive Chef.

In 2013, Chandrashekar immigrated to Canada for international exposure and landed an opportunity to work with Compass Group Canada as their Lead Chef for the catering division in Toronto, Ontario. After three years, he was offered the Chef Manager position at the biggest food production facility in North America in Fort McMurray, Alberta. Over the next five years, he honed his managerial skills learning a different trajectory of business until joining the Omni Fort Worth Hotel as Executive Sous Chef in April 2022.

DJ Eusebio, Restaurant Chef de Cuisine 

DJ Eusebio was born and raised in Manila, Philippines, and grew up in a family that was passionate about cooking. His parents owned a catering business, inspiring him to study different methods of cooking. He graduated from the International School for Culinary Arts & Hotel Management in 2004, and in 2006, DJ moved to the U.S. and started out as the Sushi Chef for a restaurant in Newport Beach, CA. From there, he catapulted his culinary career in working for multiple resorts and country clubs in California. Most recently, DJ was the Chef de Cuisine at Terranea Resort before joining the Omni Fort Worth family.

DJ truly enjoys mentoring young culinarians and inspiring them to be passionate about their craft. In his free time, DJ enjoys working out, watching movies, trying new restaurants, and spending time with his wife, two children and dog.

Krista Owens, Pastry Chef

Krista Owens dreamed of being a marine biologist but always had an affinity for desserts. She was born and raised in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona by a family that believed desserts were a staple at every meal. She got her start decorating cakes at a local bakery, which eventually led to her career in pastry. While living in Asheville, NC, she worked at the Biltmore Estate and was part of the opening team for The Inn on Biltmore Estate. She later returned to the desert to live in Tucson, AZ, where she started her long career with Loews Ventana Canyon.

Working under Chef Marc Ehrler in the four-star, five-diamond Ventana Room, she participated annually in Forks and Corks, a large food festival hosted in Scottsdale, AZ, creating desserts using ingredients from the Sonoran Desert. She went on to instruct classes on cooking with barrel cactus as part of the Desert Cooking Series, hosted at Ventana Canyon.
She left Loews briefly to live in Pittsburgh where she was the Pastry Chef for Spoon and BRGR but returned to Loews Ventana Canyon 10 months later as their Executive Pastry Chef, where she was awarded Manager of the Year for 2017. After nine years of overseeing the pastry department there and assisting pastry departments at other properties, she split her time between Tucson and opening Live! by Loews in Arlington, developing their pastry program. After overseeing both properties, she decided to relocate to Fort Worth to serve as the Pastry Chef in 2022.