Get to Gaggan Before It Closes in 2020

Many people rave about Indian food, especially in America where Asian cuisines are often Americanized to the point of being unrecognizable. Chef Gaggan Anand feels differently. To him, Indian food suffers from the opposite dilemma, where the cuisine stagnates in tradition. Even tradition lacks in authenticity, since the typical naan and curry dinner is a Portuguese invention, inspiring Anand to simultaneously progress the cuisine while returning to its roots.

Born in Kolkata, India, Anand started his career at a contemporary Indian restaurant, Red, in Bangkok, Thailand, before interning at Catalonia’s famous elBulli, where he worked on the research team specializing in molecular gastronomy. Anand was the first Indian to work there, a profound experience that would inspire many of his own creations. The chef would return to Bangkok to work at various restaurants, though he got frustrated with a restaurant industry that had no vision.

Anand would eventually open Gaggan in 2010, introducing Thailand to his fusion of Indian cuisine and molecular gastronomy to great fanfare. By 2015, it was named the best restaurant in all of Thailand and Asia, repeating the title in 2016 and 2017. It was also named in The World’s Top 50 Restaurants, placing 10^th, 23^rd and seventh in 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively, as the only Indian restaurant to get in the top 50.

Gaggan Anand recently announced he’ll be closing the restaurant in 2020 to open a new project in Fukuoka, Japan, a small, 10-person restaurant only open on the weekends.