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In 2020, Gaggan, the progressive Indian cuisine restaurant in Bangkok, will be shuttered. This despite the fact that for two consecutive years including this year, it earned the top spot at the annual San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards. Chef-owner Gaggan Anand made the announcement earlier this year and also put to rest the speculation surrounding a restaurant opening in India, saying that he has decided not to launch here. The chef’s association with his country of birth will continue in the form of one-off private dinners and pop-up events instead. Anand was last in Mumbai in September 2015 for a series of private pop-up dinners and is headed back on Friday, September 2. Ahead of his visit, we asked the celebrated chef about his plans:
What’s in store for you after the closure of Gaggan?
I plan to move to Japan and open a 12-seater concept restaurant. It will only operate on weekends and I will cook for all my guests. It will be very intimate.
What do you plan to bring to Japanese cuisine that it doesn’t already have?
You can expect Gaggan’s take on Indian food with Japanese ingredients. I have done three sessions of #GOHGAN (a collaboration between Gaggan and chef Takeshi Fukuyama of La Maison De La Nature Goh, a French-Japanese fine-dining restaurant in Fukuoka) experimenting and jamming. They have been the best meals I have ever cooked.
Why do you think Japan is a good fit for you?
It has four seasons, is close to nature and they have high respect for chef philosophy. It’s a very disciplined society that cares about precision. It’s perfect for my crazy attitude to be a misfit there!
When the restaurant closes, what will happen to the food lab that you will soon unveil at Gaggan in Bangkok? Will that continue?
It might turn into a culinary school and a research centre.
What happens in a food lab exactly?
It’s a research kitchen where we use science and technology to innovate and experiment with food.
Will diners have access to the lab?
Every day 12 people will actually sit in the lab and eat there; during dinner service it transforms into a kitchen.
What has changed for you as a chef and restaurateur after winning a slew of top culinary awards in the past few years?
The disadvantage is that I don’t have a personal life anymore. Even selfies with my four-month-old daughter are published in the media. The upside is that I can finally do what I want now. The fame has helped me to run a restaurant where I don’t need to serve chicken tikka masala.
We’re seeing a wave of modern Indian food in India. What are your thoughts on this?
No thoughts, they (the restaurateurs) are not justifying it yet, not exploring boundaries. They make one successful restaurant and then they replicate the concept in every city. That’s not fine food.
In Bangkok you have a steakhouse called Meatlicious and in India and we have a beef ban. Is this one of the reasons you dropped your plan of setting up a restaurant here?
No, not because of any ban on meats. Gaggan doesn’t serve beef too, it’s just that my vision didn’t match the Indian hotelier’s vision.
Name two dishes that will emerge from your lab.
Peach and gorgonzola ice cream and ‘Space soup’ or the food of astronauts. Hot water will be poured over freeze-dried vegetables to make a soup.
