'If not a Chef, I would be a Sculptor'

From running a successful catering business, Lawrence Gardens, in Amritsar, the city of Golden Temple where runs the world’s largest free kitchen to opening the famous eatry Junoon in Manhattan, the city of iconic skyscrapers where stand the world’s two largest stock exchanges, Chef Vikas Khanna has come a long way over the last two decades plus.

“The reason I moved to the US was because I wanted to do something more challenging. I wasn’t satisfied with what was happening in my life in Amritsar. When I came to the US, it was a different country as it was the pre-9/11 era and the logistics for immigrants were different,” says Chef Khanna. Post-9/11, the country started changing rapidly and it got easier to get jobs as well as to navigate through different careers. 

However, Chef Khanna constantly felt the need to find a way to search his own truth as he wanted to introduce the diverse yet united India to the world in different forms – through culture, stories, cuisine, flavours and memories. For Michelin-lauded Chef Vikas Khanna, Indian food has always been an emotion and not just a career. It has been his respect and regard for the cuisine.

JOURNEY OF A FOOD STAR 

The earlier half of Khanna’s life in the US included working in small restaurants, catering companies and delivering food as well as flyers in Central Park. It was more of France, he says, which made him realise that he needed to have his own identity to survive. Today, Chef Khanna is one of India’s top culinary voices on the global stage. “When I was working under the chefs in France, the discrimination and degradation I went through was an eye-opener. To be in that space and get awarded a Michelin star and be recognised isn’t easy for Indian restaurants as also one of the first persons of colour to be recognised by a prestigious guide. It helped me grow,” Chef Khanna puts in, adding, “It’s like an Indian actor winning an Oscar for doing an Indian movie. The chances aren’t impossible but definitely bleak.”

Helming the Michelin-starred restaurant Junoon in New York City, the chef has shared the dais with some of the top-notch icons of the industry such as Eric Ripert, Gordon Ramsay and Daniel Boulud. “Not only have I worked with the best but also with some of the ‘scariest, dangerous and weirdest chefs’ who never considered Indian chefs to be at par with them,” shares Khanna.

With grandmother, whom he lovingly called biji in Punjabi, as the inspiration to cook, Chef Khanna has served the Obamas, the Dalai Lama and prepared a seven-course meal for the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the top CEOs when the Indian PM was visiting the US.

Entering the food and beverage world through the kitchen was the first chapter of Chef Khanna’s life. He enjoys things that are non-rational and feels a victory without challenges isn’t exciting and he has always been inclined to route through a bumpy road.

Recollecting the next phase when his journey of writing books on food started, he says, “From James Beard nominations to understanding that cooking alone can’t do that magic, you need to have a sense of leadership and a sense of poetry with Indian food. And that is when the whole journey of being an author started with more than 37 books published till now. Literature is an important part of a chef’s journey in America.”

Primarily known for donning the chef’s hat, Chef Khanna’s interest also lies in directing films and documentaries. A passionate filmmaker, he started with food documentaries, Holy Kitchens and Kitchens of Gratitude, and took a leap of faith with the feature film The Last Color and the latest release Barefoot Empress which is based on the life of Karthiyani Amma, a 96-year-old widow who scored 98 out of 100 marks in Kerala’s literacy examination.

Claiming Amma as his role model, Chef Khanna says, “I’ve been photographing and documenting Karthiyani Amma for many years. She has been a true inspiration. I wanted to put these stories in the mainstream as everyone needs to understand that girl education is important. Through the documentary, we have a commitment of giving education to more than 10 million girls through US-based non-profit organisation, Vibha. We also have a big voice for global funds for widows because empowerment can happen through organisations and a huge vision of inclusivity.”

Talking about his next film, Chef Khanna informs that the movie revolves around a chef in New York who has been through failures, bad contracts and a troubled past. And the story of success. “I know everybody’s going to think this is a semi-autobiography, but this is not living my life through surrogacy of another character. This is based on the stories of chefs who made it big, like Chef Vineet Bhatia or Chef Gagan Anand. These are chefs I look up to for they have done such amazing work globally. I think the movie is going to do a big deal of favour to Indian cuisine globally,” he adds.

The Michelin star chef-cum-filmmaker says this is just the beginning of his career in the audio-visual world as he wants to create many more inspiring films and documentaries on people who break the rules and overcome challenges to rise beyond everyone’s expectations even as the world has set them up for total failure.

“The third chapter of my life, filming documentaries became a big stance as they were being showcased at Ivy League Colleges and film festivals. There was a time when the schedules were so tight that we were flying non-stop to promote these documentaries about food and faith in India’s legendary sharing culture. It was important that I continuously reinvented; and now with feature films and inspirational stories, I’m using my voice in totally different way which I think is interesting,” he continues.

PANDEMIC AND SOCIETY

The year 2020 has been a watershed one for everyone. The world almost collapsed physically, emotionally, mentally and financially. With the intent of giving back to society, Chef Khanna started ‘Feed India’ drive last year during lockdown. The chef started on a small scale by reaching out to old age homes, leprosy centres and orphanages for food delivery, which he coordinated from New York. But this didn’t last long as he lost a truck of ration. This was when Chef Khanna decided to pull the plug from the campaign. 

“I told myself that I won’t be able do this anymore,” he recalls. Chef Khanna then rang up his mother in Amritsar to tell her about discontinuing the project to which she said, “You can live in your luxury but remember whatever you have achieved is all because of the collective efforts of the entire country. Everybody has contributed to who you are and what you do. This is the first time we need you, your support and your voice. I know the whole world is falling apart, but I don’t want to hear that my son gave up. I didn’t give birth to somebody who can just post pictures on Instagram. I gave birth to a warrior.”

Motivated by what his mother had told him the previous evening, he rebooted his moral compass. Today, Feed India campaign has served over 65 million meals in more than a hundred cities in India. The drive has also distributed other necessary supplements. 

Talking about the challenges he faced in making the world’s largest food drive a success, Chef Khanna says, “The time zone was one of the biggest challenges. It was like doing night shifts after having worked during daytime. As India would go to sleep, we would sit and coordinate plans for the next day.”

Chef Khanna feels himself lucky to have got the full support of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) headed by Satya Pradhan who personally coordinated this operation. While Feed India found its feet, the process took a toll on Khanna emotionally.He says, “I was deep into this, especially when deliveries started in trains. I was broken because those were tough times since we had to deliver food inside the trains within six hours. Challenges were enough but the gratification was also infinite.”

FLYING HIGH

The Feed India project has kept Chef Vikas Khanna awake most nights but once things fell in place, he focussed on his team to keep their spirits high. So, he, along with Chef Ashish and Chef Sukesh, decided to open a restaurant in Dubai and started discussions with JA Resorts. It was a bold move to open a restaurant in such unprecedented times but challenges are what excite Khanna.

Opening ‘Ellora’ with a few of his favourite dishes, Chef Khanna says, “But at the same time, we started reinventing our new dishes to offer an experience. I am extremely proud of this chapter of my life,” he adds.

On future projects, Khanna shares he has three new restaurants in the pipeline in big metropolitan cities of the world. “I hope we’ll be able to execute them on the highest possible standards in the world. But I do feel a few things need to be kept under wraps as one is still working on it. I hope I will continue to carry the National Flag of India around the world,” he puts in.