Dilshan Madawala started his hospitality career as a croupier in casinos in Sri Lanka, his home country. Later, he joined the well-known international Hotel Inter Continental as a waiter in the Cafe Emerald. There, he received his first experience in fine dining service and became seriously interested in the Food & Beverage world.
Later he had the opportunity to study at Institut Hôtelier «César Ritz» in Le Bouveret, Switzerland.
Dilshan studied Hotel Management at the institution which includes a curriculum ranging from hospitality laws to kitchen service covering every element in the industry, especially French cuisine.
Dilshan's first industrial training took place at Schweizerhof Bern. The Schweizerhof is a European chain five-star hotels. Having a background in Asian cooking at home with four sisters and his mother, Dilshan sharpened his French culinary experience at the Schweizerhof. There, he had the opportunity to work in the Banquet Kitchen where he was exposed to serving large number of groups in very short time constraints. The greatest thing that happened to him there was the opportunity to cook "shoulder to shoulder" with the star chef Anton Mosiman.
After his European culinary experiences in France, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Holland he stepped into the Americas. Dilshan worked as the Service Manger in Chamonix, San Miguel de Allende under the management of Allen Williams, a Swiss-trained chef. There, he stepped into the kitchen from time to time to introduce Asian-European fusion creations. At Chamonix he received many compliments for these dishes and was interviewed by America's premier food magazine, Bon Appétit in the edition with the title of The Soul of Mexico, May 2003.
During the fall of 2003 Dilshan took a break from the hospitality industry. He joined the Universidad Tecnológica del Norte de Guanajuato as an English and French teacher using skills gained in the hospitality field as well as his broad travel and language experiences.
Dilshan is now continuing his passion and art through food and hospitality in San Miguel de Allende as a fulltime chef at Dila's Restaurant Gallery, combining flavors from Asia, Europe and America.
