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Gaggan Anand’s ‘memory revivers’ in India
Summary
The inimitable chef talks about his love for local eateries, dining rules at his restaurant and hosting pop-ups
Chef Gaggan Anand calls his travels around the world his “best R&D". For him, travelling is less about checking off touristy places, and more about discovering new tastes, flavours and ingredients. And his hunting grounds for these discoveries are hole-in-the-wall establishments serving local specialities.
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“Every time I visit India, I do not miss a single chance to eat out. I prefer going to simple places over fine-dining restaurants," he says, sharing the experience of his most recent outing in Bengaluru. “I went to Nandhana Palace, an Andhra restaurant near Devanahalli and enjoyed eating bamboo biryani. It was mind blowing," he says. At Oota, which specialises in south Indian regional cuisine, the raw mango curry (menaskai) was “a revelation".
For someone who calls Bangkok home, these culinary explorations in India are what he calls “memory revivers". “In Thailand you get raw mangoes through the year and so this raw mango curry is already stewing in my head (as an idea)," he says. “Indian food is so region-specific and the food in every area is very different. There’s so much to discover here, and you know what’s the best part? They rely on seasonal ingredients so much that these dishes wouldn’t taste the same if you cooked them elsewhere."
I met Anand at Aaleeshan, the Indian restaurant at JW Marriott Bengaluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa, where he hosted a dinner, called The Royal Homecoming, in September. The most recent event was held in Saffron, JW Marriott Mumbai (15-16 November). The Delhi dinner will be hosted at JW Marriott Aerocity in January. “I find it satisfying to come to India. To be able to travel freely without being questioned about where I am from makes me happy," he says.
Talking about these elaborate dinners, Anand says the idea is to make them “accessible to diners of all classes". Royal Homecoming’s Bengaluru pop-up was priced at ₹15,000 plus taxes per head; the Mumbai edition at ₹40,000 plus taxes. For Anand, the same-price-for-all formula is about ensuring a communal experience at the table. At the Bengaluru dinner, for instance, diners were greeted by tables with plates but no cutlery, and certainly no additional trims like flowers.
“I don’t want the focus to be taken away from the food, and I want people to use their hands to eat my food," he reasons. The 14-course (vegetarian and non-vegetarian) menu, served in five “acts" included some of his signature dishes like Yoghurt Explosion, Charcoal White Mole & Morita and Ghewar Litchi & Rose.
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It’s the same philosophy that you get to witness at his eponymous 14-seater restaurant, Gaggan (it was called Gaggan Anand but we’ll get to that story in a bit), in Sukhumvit in south-eastern Bangkok. “At my restaurant, your money doesn’t talk. It’s pure equality and socialism on the table. It’s a one-price ticket so whoever books it, gets the same attention and service at the table," he says. The price of the “Gaggan experience", as per the website, is THB16,000 (around $475).
At a time when eating out has essentially become an Instagram sport about being seen at the right place, with the right people and eating pretty food, Anand aims to subvert this. He has rules that diners have to strictly follow. We live in an era where the only thing a person does is take photos of the food. The focus on getting the perfect shot is so much that the food goes cold. In my restaurant, no flash photography is allowed. Nor do we serve Champagne (the wines served along with the food are pre-selected)," Anand says. “I piss people off if they want to come to show off. But, if they want to be a part of the experience, then they are in the right place..."
The “Gaggan" experience at his eponymous restaurant has 22 courses, which are served in two acts of 11 dishes each, over a duration of close to two-and-a-half hours. “It’s a pure bohemian rhapsody of food. It’s an opera. It’s fully immersive, so there are games we play and there’s karaoke too, we call it KurryOke," says Anand. For Anand, making the elaborate dinner sensorial is to ensure that “a person who has come to enjoy my food feels every emotion he can".
Now about reclaiming his name for business. In 2019, the fact that Anand had lost the rights to use his own name to start his new restaurant was big news in the culinary world. Narrating how this “win" came through five years later, he says, “It was in 2019 that I realised that my name had been wrongfully registered by my partners (in 2013) but I didn’t contest them. They didn’t renew the trademark after 10 years and so, I went and applied for my name again this year (in May)."
His life may be humming right now with all his restaurants—Gaggan and Ms Maria & Mr Singh (both housed in the same building in Sukhumvit) and Gaggan at Louis Vuitton (his newest collaborative outing with the luxury label located at the LV The Place Bangkok)—earning rave reviews and attention. But the time between 2019-22 saw plans, including starting a small restaurant with chef Takeshi Fukuyama in Fukuoka, Japan, falling through. He also lost his mother. These experiences have sobered him.
From being called “brash and in your face", Gaggan 2.0, if you will, is less temperamental, more relaxed. “Today, I do things that are purposeful and satisfying," he says. He’s also learning to pick his battles. “Five years back, I’d have told anyone not following rules in my restaurants to get out, but today, my attitude is to leave the room without wasting any energy."
As for what lies ahead, he says, “I’ll turn 49 in 2027 and that will be the last year I’ll be doing what I am doing now. Then, I am just going to have to rethink my relationship with food. While I can’t tell you what the future looks like, I know that all these things are temporary."
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