Chef and author Suvir Saran who won a Michelin star for Devi restaurant in Manhattan and has appeared on Iron Chef and Top Chef Masters, is set to be a guest judge on MasterChef India 2023. In a recent Instagram post made by celebrity chef Vikas Khanna, Saran is seen making his entry in the Masterchef set, as Khanna introduces him as the 'Kohinoor of India.'
"The true ambassador of Indian cuisine and culture to the World.The man who created the path for so many chefs including myself. You are a treasure of India - Chef Suvir Saran. Welcome to MasterChef,” read Khanna's post.
The New Delhi-born chef is the author of three cookbooks, Indian Home Cooking, American Masala, and Masala Farm. Saran was the breakout star for the third season of the American reality show Top Chef Master. His Manhattan restaurant Devi was the first of 18 restaurants that won a Michelin Star when the guide first came to North America; it was also the first Indian restaurant in the U.S. to earn a Michelin star.
Saran also owned and ran an American diner named Tapestry in Manhanttan's Greenwich Village which was eventually shut in 2017. More recently, Saran was appointed to head the newly-reopened Bastian in Mumbai, which is co-owned by Shilpa Shetty; Bastian Hospitality Private Limited (BHPL), which backs brands like Bastian and Bizza, announced the appointment of Saran as culinary director a few weeks ago. Saran took to his Instagram to introduce Masterchef's Overnight Challenge to audiences.
"I'm bringing a crazy Overnight Challenge where we use old cooking techniques like brining, confiting, pickling, fermenting, and slow cooking. It's what we've been doing forever and they're history and time-tested and they make food magical. It's the gift of time, not to be taken small but to be celebrated and invest in it," the chef said in a promotion video.
The last season of the show saw Assam’s Nayanjyoti Saikia take home the trophy and Season 8 of the show premiered this month. Vikas Khanna, Ranveer Brar, and Pooja Dhingra will coach cooks for this season; while Brar and Khanna are recurring judges, Dhingra, who owns a popular patisserie brand in Mumbai, is a new addition to the roster.