There are no words that can describe the contagious enthusiasm and energy that Gaggan Anand exudes. His boisterous laugh, his speech, his sense of humor, and his hand gestures all tell of what his food will be. But what is most evident is his passion for what he does. Born in Calcutta, India, Gaggan moved to Bangkok to become a chef and eventually opened the eponymous Gaggan in 2010. Here he would explore his version of his home country’s food: what he calls Progressive Indian Cuisine. The experimentation done in Gaggan’s kitchen is inspired by the time he spent as an intern in the El Bulli lab, where there are no limits to what can be done to food, from turning it into bubbles to even air. And in the midst of the molecular madness, Gaggan still makes the best Indian curry ever, though one has to wait to the end of the menu to experience this. Beyond the Progressive Indian food of Gaggan, he went on to found Meatlicious (a meat restaurant) at the end of 2015 and contemporary German restaurant Suhring (with the twins Thomas and Mathias Suhring) in 2015. What remains constant is the innovation and quality. Gaggan has ranked number 1 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list for three consecutive years, number 10 in the World’s 50 Best, and has been the subject of a full episode of Netflix’s Chef ’s Table. Gaggan has upped the game even further with Gaggan Lab, which serves as both a Chef ’s Table and his actual experimentation lab. Clearly, he is here to stay.
