Chef Vikas Khanna: On his 47th birthday, We relive his International Moments of Glory.
Here are more than enough reasons to be proud of celebrity chef Vikas Khanna. He isn’t, after all, just another chef.
He’s a hit on television cooking shows. He has written 28 books, including A Tree Named Ganga, a children’s fiction book. He has represented India at so many international platforms and in front of so many global leaders that we have almost lost count.
So, on his birthday, we take a trip down memory lane. Our attempt? To relive every major, international moment of glory that Vikas Khanna has experienced, while making India and its people proud of him.
1. Michelin Star
Vikas Khanna started his first restaurant, Junoon, in New York City on December 2, 2010. By next year, he had already garnered good reviews, including one from The New York Times’ Sam Sifton. It was in the same year that Khanna’s restaurant got its first Michelin Star.
Junoon was one of the first Indian restaurants of the world to be awarded a star by the Michelin Guide. What has made Khanna’s restaurant even more outstanding is the fact that it has, by now, held that Michelin Star for six consecutive years, without letting its standards dip one bit.
2. Collaborating with Gordon Ramsay
Khanna first met Gordon Ramsay in 2007. Since then, Ramsay made sure to include Khanna in his television shows as a representative of Indian cuisine. Khanna appeared in the second episode of Kitchen Nightmares Season One as a mentor chef, and later in Hell’s Kitchen Season Six–both TV series run by Ramsay.
Ramsay went on to write the foreward for Khanna’s book, Flavours First. Khanna also collaborated with Ramsay during the formation months of MasterChef America and Gordon Ramsay’s Great Escape. The fact that Khanna has collaborated with a chef as illustrious as Ramsay adds to his own credibility and talent.
3. Cooking for the Obamas at the White House
It is a rare honour to get to cook for the President of a country, and Khanna has had this honour not once, but twice. Yes, he got to cook for Barack and Michelle Obama, at the White House, twice.
In 2010, Khanna prepared a very special sattvik meal for the then POTUS. He followed up this feat with another meal in 2014, where he served Himalayan cuisine. Khanna had been invited to a number of White House events during Obama’s presidential terms, including the FLOTUS’ birthday dinner in 2014.
4. Guest judge on MasterChef Australia
Of all the versions of MasterChef across the globe, MasterChef Australia is clearly the most popular one. Khanna appeared as a guest judge on the show during Season Six, where he brought one of his most difficult dishes to test the contestants.
Making Khanna’s Rose Tea Smoked Chicken Tikka Masala really put pressure on the contestants, proving to the world that Indian cuisine has finesse that the best amateur chefs in the world find difficult to nail. What’s more, it was fun watching Khanna rub shoulders with Gary Mehigan, Matt Preston and George Calombaris.
5. At Cannes
It’s not often that a chef gets to attend the Cannes Film Festival, let alone be a part of the proceedings. But over the last three years, Khanna has managed to do just that.
In 2015, he became the first chef to launch a book at Cannes. His book, Utsav: A Culinary Epic of Indian Festivals, actually deserved such an honour. In 2016, he released his directorial debut, a documentary called Kitchens of Gratitude, at the renowned film fest. In 2017, Khanna’s biographical documentary, Buried Seeds, was screened at Cannes.
This hat-trick at Cannes has never before been achieved by a chef, from India or any other nation of the world.
6. Gifting Utsav to the world’s greatest
Khanna’s book, Utsav, is a record-breaking magnum opus. Being the most expensive cookbook in the world, Khanna chose very carefully which global personalities to gift the 12 copies to.
From Indian PM Narendra Modi to ex-US President Barack Obama, from the Dalai Lama to Pope Francis, Khanna has gifted copies of Utsav to the most eminent political and religious leaders of the world. The list includes actors like Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. The final copy of Utsav was gifted to Queen Elizabeth II in February this year.
7. Representing India at the United Nations Headquarters
This year, Khanna got a chance to represent India at the United Nations’ Headquarters in New York, to mark the occasion of 70 years of Indian Independence. Yes, it is quite a rare opportunity, and yes, it was a big deal.
Khanna addressed the global leaders present at the event, and gave a speech that was met with resounding applause. No other Indian chef has had an opportunity like this.
8. Ranked as one of the 10 Iconic Chefs of the world
Every time a global list of iconic personalities comes out, it includes entertainers and political leaders. But Khanna ranked number six in a list that focused on the most iconic chefs of the world.
Created by the Gazette Review, this list included culinary stalwarts like Wolfgang Puck, Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver. To be mentioned in the same breath as these chefs is a great honour, and Khanna made it possible through sheer hard work.
These aren’t Khanna’s only achievements over the years, but they are outstanding because of their international appeal and the glory it brought to India. Here’s hoping Khanna continues this streak of notching up successes on his belt in the coming years as well.