Gaggan Anand (born in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) is an Indian chef and the owner and executive chef of the progressive Indian restaurant Gaggan in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Biography

Anand was born in

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

parents. He was initially more interested in music than cooking and performed as a

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

in local rock bands before beginning his culinary career. His primary schooling was in Highins and senior school was St. Thomas Boys School in Kidderpore, Kolkata. He attended a catering college (IHMCT Kovalam) (Indian Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology) in Trivandrum and after receiving a diploma he began working as a trainee with the Taj Group. Anand later left the Taj Group to pursue a career catering in Kolkata and ran a home delivery service from Tollygunge area. He later moved to

, where he began working at Red, a restaurant that specialized in contemporary Indian cuisine. From there he served as the first chef of Indian descent to intern with

Ferran Adrià Fernando Adrià Acosta (; born 14 May 1962) is a Spanish chef. He was the head chef of the El Bulli restaurant in Roses, Girona, Roses on the Costa Brava and is considered one of the best chefs in the world. He has often collaborated with his b ...

's research team at

elBulli El Bulli () was a restaurant near the town of Roses, Spain, run by chef Ferran Adrià, later joined by Albert Adrià, and renowned for its modernist cuisine. Established in 1964, the restaurant overlooked Cala Montjoi, a bay on the Costa Brava of ...

and also began working at various restaurants in Bangkok, a process that Anand stated was frustrating because the businesses "just didn't want anything different". This frustration led him to propose to some friends that he open his own restaurant, Gaggan.

Gaggan

Anand opened Gaggan in December 2010. Since then the restaurant has repeatedly placed on the ''

Restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

's''

The World's 50 Best Restaurants The World's 50 Best Restaurants is a list produced by the UK media company William Reed Ltd, William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine ''Restaurant (magazine), Restaurant'' in 2002. The list and awards are no longer direc ...

list. In 2014 it ranked 17th in the global rankings. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, the restaurant was named both the best restaurant in Thailand, and Asia's best restaurant on the list of Asia's 50 Best Restaurants as reported by ''

'' magazine. This was an increase from the third spot overall in Asia in 2014. The restaurant placed 10th, 23rd, 7th and 4th overall in the world in

in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019 respectively, and was the first Indian restaurant to rank in the top 50. Anand planned to close Gaggan in 2020 to start a 10-seat restaurant that opened only on weekends in Fukuoka, Japan. This plan was shelved when on July 23, Anand resigned from his eponymous restaurant due to acrimony with his partners.

Gaggan Anand

Anand opened his own separate restaurant in Bangkok named 'Gaggan Anand' on November 1, 2019, after a split with his partners. In 2021, ‘Gaggan Anand’ debuted on ‘Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants’ at No.5, which also earned the restaurant the Highest New Entry Award 2021.

Other restaurants

Anand also has investments in other restaurants in Bangkok. He opened a steakhouse named Meatlicious and partnered with Thomas and Mathias Sühring to open Sühring, a modern German restaurant that placed 13th in the Asia's Best Restaurants as reported by ''

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Media

Gaggan was profiled in Season 2's Episode 6 of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's ''

Chef's Table ''Chef's Table'' is an American documentary series created by David Gelb', which premiered on video streaming service Netflix on April 26, 2015. The series takes viewers inside both the lives and kitchens of a variety of acclaimed and successful ...

''. He was featured in

Somebody Feed Phil ''Somebody Feed Phil'' is an American travel documentary television series presented by Philip Rosenthal that premiered on Netflix in January 2018. Each episode follows Rosenthal touring the cuisine of its featured city, and spotlights charitie ...

Season 1 Episode 1. Gaggan was a guest judge on

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo in March 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chefs ...

Season 20, London, Episode 7.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anand, Gaggan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Businesspeople from Kolkata Indian chefs Indian restaurateurs Gaggan Anand