The Maharaja Boutique Restaurant, run by Global Alliance Hospitality whose directors are Kekky, Jehangir and Sheryl Khan, won two of the six Toronto Curry Awards (TCA) at the gala dinner celebrating Asian culture and culinary craftsmanship in June 2018: The Best Fine Dining Restaurant and The Restaurant of the Year 2018. The four other award categories were Best Family Restaurant, Best New Restaurant, Best Vegetarian Restaurant and Best Take-out.
Over 100 restaurants participated in this event hosted in Canada for the first time, noted an email from Kekky. "To be nominated for the TCA, any restaurant or take-out must include 90% South Asian curries on their menu. By South Asian we mean Bengali, Indian, Nepalese and Pakistani curries,” stipulated the website torontocurryawards.com
(From l): Jehangir, Sheryl, Kekky and Anita Khan with The Restaurant of the Year 2018 award
"We are grateful to all our guests who have shown their solidarity by patronizing our restaurant since its inception in February 2016 (see "Royal repast,” Parsiana, March 7, 2018) by their constant encouraging comments and feedback, our team for their undaunted service and to our Parsi community for making our Parsi festivals ‘Jamva Chalo’ a talk of the town and a huge success,” said Kekky.
"The British Curry Awards, often referred to as the curry industry "Oscar” were for the first time hosted in Canada as the TCA,” explained Khan. It began "as an idea back in 2016 in Leicester, UK to highlight the city’s multicultural heritage and culinary excellence… We thought it was time to expand so we decided to bring the dazzling awards across the pond to Toronto,” states the Awards website. Following nominations from the public, an expert panel of judges decided on the winners who were announced at the gala attended by leading celebrity chefs, restaurant owners and luminaries from the world of politics, sports, art and entertainment.
The Awards were organized by Pukaar News with its sister publication Pukar magazine "to celebrate the city’s status as one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world… Actually there are many festivals and events held in Toronto to commemorate and celebrate Torontonians’ culture and heritage,” stated the website.