I f you follow the man on his social media platforms, you already know that he breaks all stereotypes about a Michelin star chef. Chef Gaggan Anand has a style that is unique, and his food is known to get not just your palate but your brain working with a burst of flavours. From designing a menu that has never been thought of to serving each course with appropriate music, Anand celebrates all senses in a single meal at his eponymous Bangkok restaurant.

During his recent visit to ITC Hotels in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, he hosted the last set of pop-ups for his restaurant Gaggan before it closes down in 2020. He also recently opened a wine bar called WET right next to his celebrated restaurant. He will also open a Japanese restaurant in Fukuoka with Japanese chef Takeshi Fukuyama of La Maison de la Nature Goh. We spoke with him about what lies ahead, and what it is like to be known as a global icon. Excerpts:

From your first time in the kitchen to now, what has been your food philosophy and has it changed over the years?

I have always believed in putting a food fantasy in a tasty dish. While this core idea hasn’t changed, it has definitely evolved over time. And it is this evolution, in fact, that helps us to keep evolving even at my restaurant.

Why are you shutting down such a successful venture?

I had promised my partners I’d work with them for 10 years. I am honouring that, which is why I should walk off right now and do my own restaurant. I own only 35 per cent of Gaggan as a partner but I think they invested in me and I have to honour what I said to them. And like all good things come to an end, I believe that the life of a restaurant of our level should not be of more than 10 years.

After that it expires and who wants to be a stale cookie? I am just closing it before the expiry. It is, of course, an overwhelming thought — waking up one day and having no place to go to.

So do you have anything planned for the last service?

I thought I should eat! I have never eaten at my restaurant. The last service will be very emotional. I know I will be very picky about who will be there. It will be a funeral that will look like a wedding!

Hows was the opening day at Gaggan?

It was very easy. There were only four customers! No one came for the Gaggan experience for up until the second week, after that we were packed. I was crying that why did I do the yoghurt explosion, but that time nobody knew it. So much so that one day I was like, I don’t want to sell the yoghurt explosion anymore!

When was it that you realised that you’d become a global name? And how do you handle fame?

I think global fame came from the Netflix series Chef’s Table . It went for Emmy nominations against Mala Mala or Making a Murderer (two documentaries on serious themes) for best non-fiction direction. I think that is when my story went global. It did not appeal to the chefs but my story appeals to everyone who wants to survive and not give up. Then when I was going to Brazil and I was going to New York and people started recognising me — I felt so good there. These were people from all over the world. When I came back from New York, I couldn’t handle it. And I started getting things for free, which I didn’t want. I watched my episode again, twice, and told myself that I’ve come from this. That’s my legacy.

How did you break the notion that fine dining was only about European cuisine?

I did not take it as war. Instead, it was a challenge. My fight was never with India. The best chefs in India never supported fellow Indian chefs. So I thought, I will just focus on what I want and not allow negativity to come to me. I wanted Gaggan to be the best restaurant in Asia, and I became that four times in 10 years. That made me decide I would not make a dish that looked like gold and silver appear like French cuisine. Instead, I wanted a piece of art that tasted like Indian food, and made people lick their plate. And that’s when I knew a New Yorker, Brazilian or a Japanese would come and say that it was one of the best experiences of their life.

Favourite place in the world for its food culture?

I like Latin America — Argentina — and Italy. France, in my opinion, is overrated — sorry — but French cuisine is quite dead. New York is saturated with food. In fact, the food is better in San Francisco. I also love Catalonia.

Kasturi Gadge is a Mumbai-based lifestyle journalist

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