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Chef, author and entrepreneur Vikas Khanna’s next venture marks a personal milestone for him. The celebrity chef is set to open the doors to his New York restaurant Bungalow on March 23, which is also the birth anniversary of his late sister Radhika, who lost her life in 2022. Khanna shared a post on Instagram and shared details about his new brand.
“50 DAYS from today on March 23rd, would have been my beloved sister Radhika’s 50th Birthday,” said Khanna in the video where he sits on a chair against the background of what is seemingly his new restaurant.
“We open Bungalow on the auspicious day as a tribute to her life and also to honor millions of kitchens, chefs, cook book writers, street vendors, home cooks across India — and most importantly to our MOTHERS who have nurtured our souls forever. See you soon!” Khanna said.
Bungalow has been conceptualised by Chef Khanna and Bombay House Hospitality; its official page lists very few details and describes the brand as a premier New York restaurant and cocktail bar which is rooted in ‘India’s social clubs of times past’ and ‘reimagines India’s bygone years, one dish at a time.’ Bungalow’s Instagram page which was created only in February gives followers an idea about the culinary aesthetic of the restaurant. In the past few weeks, Khanna has also shared some personal anecdotes and listed some of his biggest inspirations on the page.
French chef and author Eric Ripert who’s famed for his work with seafood will be preparing the first meal at Bungalow, on opening day. Khanna has shared the first dish from Bungalow’s menu, which is inspired by the popular Mani Ratnam film ROJA. In Tamil ‘Roja’ means rose or sensitive. The dish is a candied rose petal kulfi, butterfly pea rabri, Kashmiri rose & pistachio rark, and rose-kewra syrup.
Khanna also revealed recently that the brand has tied up with the Museum Of Culinary Arts at WGSHA Manipal to highlight the best of kitchen utensils and tools. “I feel that Bungalow is a very important culinary destination for Indian cuisine. We’ll try to bring as much of culture as possible to our restaurant so that our guests can witness and they can also understand our past, leading up to our future,” Khanna said in the video.
The chef held up an old tiered metallic tiffin which is said to be a century-old, and spoke about how the brand will uphold aspects of India’s culinary legacy. “It is very important to us to understand our utensils, our literature and our food,” Khanna said.
