Dish by Rish: From the dental clinic to the food industry...

My name is Rishi and I’m the creator and face behind Dish by Rish. I’m a dentist, private chef, and Masterchef 2022 Quarter Finalist. Dish by Rish started off as a passion project and has slowly grown to be a huge part of my career over the last two and a half years. It’s been a journey into the unknown with plenty of successes and failures, but it’s ultimately developed into a space that I’m proud to call my own.

So how does a dentist stumble into food? I hear many ask. It’s not a combination of careers that would seem plausible or connected in any way, shape, or form. Frankly, you’d be correct in that assumption. It was simply a passion that slowly grew into more.

Food and cooking were my first passion and love but it was a career pathway I had never envisioned possible. In my eyes, it was something I considered a hobby and I maintained that hobby through childhood and then throughout my years at university. Following university, I had a great FD year in Luton at Vogue Dental Care, and it was there that my colleagues encouraged me over and over to consider sharing my recipes and food through social media platforms.

I sat on this idea for several months, genuinely questioning whether it was something I could even do, and more importantly, would anyone even be interested? After much deliberation, I decided to take a leap of faith and I embarked on the journey that was Dish by Rish.

I stayed on at Vogue Dental Care as a full time associate and used every evening and weekend available to work on Dish by Rish.

During the early days, the work consisted mainly of recipe development (a skill I had been doing for many years prior to this), and shooting content. It was just a bit of fun in my eyes, and somewhat of a creative outlet that helped me balance the stresses of dentistry. But I still questioned if anyone would ever be interested in my food. As my social media presence slowly grew, this question was answered and fortunately, they did.

As Dish by Rish continued to grow, I began to realise that there was potential here. I’d stumbled on something special and I knew deep down I had to follow this and see where it would take me. I decided to drop down to 4 days a week of dentistry just over halfway through my first year as an associate. Working full time whilst also working on social media had finally taken its toll and I was hugely burnt out. But little did I know that in a few months we would be going into our first lockdown of the pandemic. That’s when everything really changed.

The public were now stuck at home with nothing to do. Nothing to keep themselves or their children occupied. People quickly turned to cooking and it was at this moment my recipes grew in popularity.

As dental practices shut I diverted my full attention to Dish by Rish: it filled me with purpose whilst also keeping my mind occupied away from the pandemic. Returning back to work was a bittersweet moment; I was over the moon to see my team and patients but part of me missed spending all my time on my food. I knew I no longer had the right balance and that didn’t go amiss with my principal and team. With full encouragement and support from my colleagues at Vogue, I decided to take another leap of faith and take a 3-month hiatus from dentistry with the view of then going part-time.

Those 3 months were instrumental in building my foundation for a career within the food industry. I focussed it all on content creation whilst also developing my own website (which was far more work than I had imagined). It was also during this time that I impulsively sent off my Masterchef application, with no expectation of ever hearing back. My website www.dishbyrish.co.uk was then launched and I landed myself a part-time job at Dental Beauty Welwyn Garden City. I finally had balance. Content creation and recipe development led to working with various brands which was an exciting new venture to embark on. I loved the variety I had within my weeks. From being a dentist and looking after my patients, to cooking, filming, and shooting content - I was where I wanted to be.

Over time I’ve realised that juggling two careers is not the easiest task, especially when trying to grow both at the same time. As a dentist only several years into associateship, I noticed my clinical progress being slower than my peers. To grow, I required more time in order to further my skills through courses and carrying out more clinical procedures.

I was doing far less in my 3-day clinical week in comparison to my peers in their 5-day week. With a further 3-4 days working on Dish by Rish, I was left with very little time for myself, let alone courses. Trying to find the right balance is key, and that’s something I’m constantly trying to work on. I try to manage my time better and set realistic workloads in order to allow at least a day in the week for myself. But having said that, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve been able to work within two industries I enjoy and I love the variety within my week.

One of the perks about being a dentist is the autonomy and freedom that comes with it. It’s a career that can offer time to focus on other hobbies/passions or other ventures should you wish to do so. These days a career does not necessarily have to involve just one job, and this has been something I’ve slowly begun to realise. It’s been a fun journey so far, and I look forward to everything that’s yet to come.