I’ve started a tradition where I reflect on everything I’ve accomplished (or haven’t accomplished) in the past year, cause why not?! We spend FAR too much time dwelling on what we DON’T have or what we HAVEN’T achieved, rather than focusing on what we HAVE done. Plus in my case, I have TWO careers – one in Tech at Twitter and another as Chef/Personality for Chef Priyanka. So needless to say, every accomplishment for Chef Priyanka, is a milestone that I’m building on. I think it’s very humbling to reflect on the past year and it helps boost confidence to achieve goals in the future! Plus, we should be grateful to be in any position to be able to work towards achieving our dreams, no matter how small.

Ok! Now onto the good stuff – so what did I do this past year?! A whole lot, but definitely not enough (I’m never satisfied, it’s a curse and a blessing)! And I only hope this paves the way for a bigger year ahead and fabulous start to the new year! Do you have any goals set?! Would love to hear from y’all in the comments! Here are:

15 things Chef Priyanka accomplished in 2019:

1. My first Tastemade & Tastemade Travel features

I started off 2019 with my first Tastemade (flagship account) takeover, sharing one of my most popular vegan recipes – Masala Chickpea Bruschetta – with ~40M people on Instagram & Facebook! From there I began regularly contributing and extended Chef Priyanka to travel! I did my first Tastemade Travel takeover on Mexico City in Spring 2019!

2. My first POP UPs

I hosted 2 POP UPs this year – 1 with Gotham Greens “Roof to Table: Taste from around the World with Chef Priyanka” and 1 with Queens Bully “Indian Inspired Vegan BBQ by Chef Priyanka in celebration of Diwali.” Both of these POP UPs had custom menus developed by me, were all vegan, and provided a taste of my original recipes to family, friends, and fans! Seeing people eat & enjoy my food is the reason why I started cooking. It’s a way for me to share a piece of myself through colorful creations!

3. Visited 3 new countries, including 1 new continent

As most of you know, for the past few years I set a personal goal to travel to at least 2 new countries a year. This year I traveled to Belize, Portugal, and Australia! Making that 3 new countries, including 1 new continent!

4. My first international Chef Priyanka feature (coming soon!!)

Finished 2019 off by filming my first international gig for Chef Priyanka. More to come, but it was for Tastemade x Contiki! Get ready ready to see a lot of up-close and personals of me stuffing my face and prancing around Portugal!

5. My first spirit/liquor partnership

I signed with my first liquor brand in 2019 to develop custom Chef Priyanka recipes for The Botanist Gin! All the recipes were vegan and obvi delish!

6. My first beauty partnership

Partnered with my first beauty collaboration with Nair! They made a big comeback this year (forget that stank-ass hair remover we used in high-school), and their campaign featured yours truly 🙂

7. My first bridge climb

One of the coolest experiences of my life and a bucket list item of mine, I had the opportunity to climb to the top of Sydney Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia, at NIGHT! This is not for the faint of heart or for those afraid of heights. Luckily, I am not and it was so cool!

8. My first fashion partnership

I partnered with the newly launched Riya Collective to feature some of my vegan dishes are their NYC launch party! Riya Collective is the first high-end Indian fashion rental company – it promotes efficiency, sustainability, and cost-savings. Plus it’s female founded and they’re BAD ASS – recently featured in the SF Chronicle!

9. Filmed a new show (coming soon!!)

I can’t say much, but I will be featured on a show on the new streaming network Quibi come April 2020! Don’t forget to subscribe when the time comes – I guarantee that you will be entertained!

10. Spoke on my 2nd panel for Chef Priyanka

I was the featured ‘Celebrity Chef’ panelist for MANA Contemporary x NYU Food+Culture in South Asia. I constantly lead presentations for large audiences for my day job at Twitter, but it’s a difference experience for me when I get invited to speak on panels about Chef Priyanka. I am very passionate about cooking (if that wasn’t obvious already), so being able to share my journey in building Chef Priyanka, getting on TV, and leveraging social media all while doing so is a way for me to inspire people to build on their dreams!

11. Created a custom menu and cooked internationally with a chef

When in Belize, I partnered with an executive chef at Turtle Inn to create a custom Belizean-Indian menu and we cooked side-by-side! Did you know that Belize is made up of 7 different cultures?! My dishes and cooking were featured on Tastemade Travel! Video here!

12. Sold my first product!!

I packaged one of my custom seasonings from my Vegan BBQ Pop Up and sold a few jars there! It was a hit! Would you guys be interested in some Chef Priyanka products?!

13. My first caricature created!

My friend & artist Jenn Xue of @painted_places created a custom drawing of me which has been used to create my first menu, holiday cards, recipes, and so much more to come! This is the first time I have been turned into a cartoon!!

14. 13 recipes on the blog + 18 recipes on the gram

After all I am a chef/cook (whatever you want to call me) – so what would a year be without some delish new recipes? I created dozens of recipes this year – posted on many different platforms. 13 new vegan recipes on my blog and several all over my instagram!

15. COMPOSTING

Ok, I know MOST of you are going to make fun of me for this, but I’ve started regularly composting this year and it makes me feel really good! Living in Manhattan is tough, because there are few instances in which we can feel like we’re actually doing better for the environment and giving back. So I started composting at my local farmers market every Wednesday via Grow NYC. I freeze all my scraps, leftovers, spoiled food – basically anything biodegradable that will not be consumed – and walk it over to the farmers market every Wednesday morning. Seriously, EVERYONE in NYC can do this! There really shouldn’t be an excuse. So I hope my (annoying) weekly Wednesday stories on this inspire you to do MORE for the environment.

[BONUS] 16. ALMOST grew my hair to its goal length 

This one is a joke (kinda), but I’ve done almost everything to my hair since high school – super short, long, grey, balayage, red, black, black-violet, blonde – you name it. I haven’t dyed my hair for 3+ years and have a goal length – I’m almost there!! Why is this an accomplishment? Ladies you know how hard it is to not play around with out hair, so for someone like me who’s done a ton to it, it takes a lot of patience and control to let it be!! HAHA.

[BONUS] 17. Last but surely not least – met countless awesome people in person that have helped shape my perspective on food, cooking, various cultures, and the world! Can’t wait to meet more amazing people in this new decade!