He overcame clubfoot. He overcame homelessness. And he earned his restaurant a MICHELIN Star.
Vikas Khanna has become one of the most prominent chefs serving Indian cuisine on the global stage. Guided by the love of his mother and grandmother, he has brought his passion for cooking to fortunate diners.
Born with clubfoot, a condition that made it difficult to walk in his childhood, he found comfort in the kitchen alongside his grandmother.
After overcoming the condition, he began his career training in places like the award-winning Taj Hotels in India, but chose to leave that stability in hopes of introducing Indian cuisine to more Americans. In New York, it wasn’t easy at first, but he overcame challenges including homelessness by dishwashing and cleaning homes.
In time, he became Executive Chef at Junoon, where his remarkable culinary skills shined and helped earn the restaurant a MICHELIN Star. This accomplishment marked a turning point for Indian cuisine in America.
Today, Chef Vikas Khanna leads Bungalow, a picturesque space that celebrates cuisine from across India. Recognized with a MICHELIN Bib Gourmand for its good value, it is also one of the city’s most sought-after reservations.
Beyond his own kitchen, he is a well-known face on television, serving as the longest-standing judge on MasterChef India and frequently appearing on shows by Gordon Ramsay and Martha Stewart. As a global ambassador for Indian cuisine, he’s also cooked for Pope Francis, the Dalai Lama, Barack Obama, and Narendra Modi.
He is an accomplished author (of 42 books), humanitarian (working to feed millions of underprivileged Indians), and filmmaker (critically acclaimed The Last Color).
Below, we spoke with him about his extraordinary journey and his favorite restaurants in New York.
Where do you go for a classic NYC meal?
I'm obsessed with Katz’s Deli and Russ & Daughters.
I also like Veselka, a Ukrainian restaurant. It is the epitome of New York City spirit. It's open 24 hours, but the energy in that restaurant never drops. I just love that.
Where would you go for a big celebration?
GupShup because it's reliable. It's family. It’s like private dining, but it's still a restaurant.
How about for first timers to New York?
You get to understand the history of immigration through these restaurants. How these people have survived. I think Mamoun’s is 60 years old. Immigrants are the reason the city becomes so great.
For simple comfort food?
With my staff on a day out, it has to be Carmine’s.
Who has the best Indian food (besides Bungalow)?
One of the best Indian meals I've had has to be the Ganesh Temple in Queens.I send everybody to Angel restaurant in Jackson Heights. It's a small restaurant, and the guy does everything himself. For me, that was the first time I felt the taste of home.
Any hidden gems?
Just across the street from Bungalow, Lil Frankie’s. It’s open until 4am. Back is broken, heart is broken, but your soul is so happy.
Others you’ve enjoyed?
LV Café. I didn't go with many expectations, but I was blown away. It was so good, so well put together.
Unrelated to food, where would you go on a day off?
I've never had a day off. I work seven days, but I do a lot of alternate things, because I feel that as an Indian chef, getting this level of opportunity and platform and engagement as on a global stage, it's very rare, and I want to value that.
I love writing books. I have 42 books: children's books, novels. I love making movies. I have a whole documentary series called Holy Kitchens, where people can understand each other's faiths through food.
How did you first get interested in food?
I grew up in a home with too many extended family. We used to have huge pots of food being cooked on wood. My grandmother was almost like a priest of this temple, the way she unified everybody.
The moment she passed away, everything was gone. The magic was never in the food. The magic was her. Memories of her food and keeping that alive in the restaurant every single night is a reminder of a continuity. I don’t have any kids of my own. This is how I would feed my kids every single night.
What I learned from her was the true power of India. And she would take me to a temple where they had a community kitchen. She taught me why you never remember the food which is for the body. You'll always remember if it touched your mind or heart or soul.
Being in NYC, how do you approach Indian cuisine?
A restaurant’s authenticity comes when you see elderly people of that cuisine sitting in the restaurant, making them feel close to home. It humbles you, it's also a check on you that you are so true to your roots.
If I was opening this in Dubai, I can do extremely modern and molecular gastronomy, but in New York, I have to be very sensitive to the people you're representing. You are not just your restaurant, you are the cuisine and culture. You've got to create a balance between traditions and modernization.
What are some of your favorite dishes at Bungalow?
Yogurt kebab. It's something so simple. In India, I had a cake made out of yogurt. It was like hung yogurt wrapped in semolina and shallow fried. I kept thinking about fried ice cream. So I said, why can't we combine the idea of having the gooey texture of yogurt and wrap it in some coating, and then deep fry it? It's our best seller.
In our new menu, we are taking a different regional cuisine and applying a different cooking technique to it. In Maharashtra, Mumbai, there's a cuisine which uses an extreme contrast of spicy and sweet and smoky flavors. Malvan region. We take that as marination, and when we use Tandoor cooking from Punjab, we cook the fish with that base. We serve it on a bed of banana ketchup. Because it's the green mango season, we are putting mango chutney.
All these parts of India come together to create a dish which is amazing.
Who would you invite to eat at Bungalow that you think hasn’t dined there yet?
One person really blew my mind: Philippe Petit, the man on the wire who walked between the Twin Towers. When arrested he was asked, “why did you do it?”
His answer became the mantra of my life: "there's no why." When you love something, you do it. For me, Bungalow stands on the foundation of there is no why. You love the culture and cuisine; you have to represent it.
I need to have him at Bungalow, even if I have to fly him from Paris to New York.
What’s been your favorite memory working in the restaurant industry?
I remember my first phone call with Chef Eric Ripert. I was in Junoon at that time, and my knees are shivering. The chef is gonna call me. I was just a beginner at that time. I already had the MICHELIN Star. I’m like, “Chef, any tips for me?”
That conversation for me was so important. He just calmed me down and said, “you got to keep working. You got to be patient. French cuisine took many years and decades to find its roots in New York, and we feel it's going to be one day, it's going to be time for India.”
Eric has been one of the biggest reasons that I could fight these battles. He's been one of the biggest supporters of Bungalow. He brings an amazing energy.
What advice would you give to other chefs cooking Indian cuisine?
When people stereotype Indian cuisine to a few dishes, stereotyping is good. That means you're creating an impact, that you matter. Don't take it negatively. Build on it.
Build people around you. We need to lift each other.
What would you like your legacy to be?
Unifying Indian culture and Indian food. Serving food is very easy, but combining it with culture and traditions and rituals and festivals. You're connecting with the second generation, third generation. Introducing the Western world to our culture and cuisine, The generosity of the cuisine – there's so much abundance on the table.
We just started fresh sugarcane juice. I had a 92-year-old gentleman yesterday saying, “I'm having this after 80 years. And you made me feel like a young boy.” Food has the most powerful memory cells in our brain.
We created a cultural department where you can write an email and tell us why you want to come to Bungalow. People can come and celebrate something which is so personal, to give them a taste of home, and you are a part of it. That is the legacy. Every single night.
Address Book
Angel
7414 37th Rd, Queens, NY 11372
Carmine’s
200 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036
Ganesh Temple
143-01 Holly Ave, Flushing, NY 11355
GupShup
115 E 18th St (Between Park Ave &, Irving Pl), New York, NY 10003
Katz’s (Bib Gourmand)
205 E Houston St, New York, NY 10002
Lil Frankie’s
19 1st Ave, New York, NY 10003
Le Café Louis Vuitton NYC
6 E 57th St, New York, NY 10022
Mamoun's
119 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012
Russ & Daughters Cafe (Bib Gourmand)
127 Orchard St, New York, NY 10002
Veselka
144 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10003
Hero image: Andrei Severny
