Garima Arora Makes Culinary History: Secures Two MICHELIN Stars while Navigating Motherhood at Gaa

How did you celebrate receiving two MICHELIN Stars?

“My first call was to my father — we’ve always been very close. He was watching the livestream, and he said, “I knew it [was going to happen].” He’s always ahead of me on these things. And then, my husband is a commercial pilot. As the awards were happening, he was getting ready to take off. So I sent him a very cryptic message, and he put it together as the plane was [about to taxi]. He had to wait to land before he could call. He’d figured it out, but he had already taken off. And of course, our team. They had that genuine happiness people feel when they get that sort of validation because it’s a hard job. You give so much of yourself to it. The recognition isn’t for me or the restaurant: it’s for them. They were really happy. They had some champagne before service, so that helped things along that night!”

Were you expecting such a recognition?

“It wasn’t even in the back of my mind. I had literally slept three hours the night before. Our [seven-month-old] baby had kept me up all night. I barely made it to the awards. I was about to send one of my other chefs, when I told myself, “No, this is something you need to do.”

“I think the weight of the entire year fell on me when I went on stage. I’m never at a loss for words, but I had nothing to say. I haven’t slept in seven months, I’m running a restaurant, and I travelled to India every week last year. It all hit me in that one moment. It was so much to process.”

You had a lot on your plate last year.

“I was a judge on MasterChef India season seven. It was the first time I had done television at that scale, and I was pregnant. I was flying between India and Thailand every week for four months. I would shoot three days there and then come back to Bangkok and do service at Gaa on the weekends. It was a lot of back and forth while being pregnant, but I think I learned a lot from the experience.”

Why did you decide to go on the show?

“My main reason to do it was to get my foot in the door in India and to see how I could bring more of India into Thailand. I don’t think enough people talk about the connection between the two countries. [“The show”] was an opportunity to explore that connection. It all comes to fruition next month when we do our first research and development trip in India, which will then influence our new menu.”

Can you tell us more about your research trip and menu?

“Our core team of chefs will travel to India for a week. Of course, a week is nothing in a country the size of India, so we’re [focusing on] the Malvan region, the coastal region of Maharashtra state near Mumbai. It’s a Brahmin community. Brahmins are normally vegetarians, but since they live next to the coast, they’re pescatarians. They eat a lot of seafood, and they share the same biodiversity as coastal Thailand.

“It will be very interesting to compare their cooking methods to what we do in Thailand. For example, they cook in clay pots over an open fire. We plan to bring a lot of those techniques back with us, rope in products available to us here, and recreate that region in our next menu, coming hopefully in April.”

It sounds like a fascinating trip.

“These two spectacular women [Anusha Murthy and Elizabeth Yorke] are building an itinerary for us, doing on-the-ground research before we begin our travels. They run this boutique media company called Edible Issues. They’re more research-based, offering an anthropological look at food.

“I think knowing the “why” of food is so important. You know, people always ask me, “Why did you choose Thailand?” I think it chose me. It was a perfect backdrop for me to explore Indian cuisine. As I said before, there’s so much connection between the two countries: the language, the mythology, the way we cook, the ingredients, the building of flavours. But there’s a lot of nuance and juxtaposition, too.”

How have you managed to balance everything you’re doing?

“When people say women can have it all, it’s a false statement. You always give up one part of your life to be physically present in another. When I’m at work, I feel that I’m sacrificing my role as a mother. When I’m with my son, I think about everything that needs to be done at Gaa. There are so many things that run through your mind when you’re not in your restaurant.

“I have so much respect for mothers who work in restaurants. You have to sacrifice either time with your child or your job. You put in the same hard work as men do, but sometimes you have to say no to things because your child needs you. It’s such an unfair ask. And that’s the reality of life.

“I think that’s why your team [is so important]. You need to surround yourself with good people with a strong moral compass. If I didn’t have these amazing people working at Gaa, nothing we achieved would have been possible.”

What does it mean for India to see someone like you succeeding in the fine dining world?

“Many Indian chefs have to leave India to gain recognition. I would love to have [received two MICHELIN Stars] on my home soil. However, successful restaurants in Thailand can bring attention to restaurants back home, too. And I think [Gaa’s success] is not just good for women. It’s also good for young boys. In India, we’ve been raised to believe that you be either an engineer or a doctor, and there’s no third profession. So many dreams remain unfulfilled because of these expectations. But the country is changing so fast, and doing well in another field like cooking can create opportunities for everybody.

“Indian chefs have never cooked for accolades; we never had awards for cooking in India. We have a very strong sense of hospitality, which we express through food. It’s almost a love language. But when you show that there is more to cooking internationally, you can make others back home feel pride in Indian cuisine and maybe give them a sense of aspiration.”