With chef Gaggan Anand, you either love him or loathe him. Nothing in between. The same goes for his food. Many admire his futuristic and eccentric approach to Indian cuisine, while others think it's a cliché. Some applaud his humbleness, others see him as arrogant.
That's why, three years from now, Anand will close the 60-seat, award-winning Gaggan despite unstoppable fame and regional success.
Video by Jetjaras Na Ranong and Arusa Pisuthipan
"Like with Champagne, you open it and it fizzles out. When you juice a lime too much, it becomes bitter. And I don't want to be bitter. From next year, I don't want to receive any awards. I want to leave without awards. I don't want anybody to hate me," said the 39-year-old co-owner and executive chef of Gaggan, a progressive Indian restaurant on Soi Lang Suan, which was last month crowned Asia's Best Restaurant 2017 by the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list. Gaggan has topped the list three years in a row.
Chef Gaggan Anand. Photo: Tanaphon Ongarttrakul
With the accolades, Anand knows too well with power comes responsibility. His restaurant is notoriously known for its long waiting list -- four months to be precise. Of course, only half of the bookings come for his food, he admitted, while the rest might just want a Facebook check-in at "Asia's best kitchen". There are five people working on reservations alone and they have 500 emails to answer daily. Gaggan has bookings up to 2018.
"Everybody complains to me. What can I do? We get 500 emails per day. The reservation team can answer maybe 300. The queue is above the limit everyday. And now we have 1,800 people in the queue. Still, we have to answer but I need 18 people. I don't know how to solve it. When a tsunami comes, there is no warning. This is the tsunami and we do our best. Even my family cannot get a table. My father came in 2016 and there was no table. I had to cancel his flight. He had to extend his stay," Anand explained, while showing all the reservation Excel sheets and papers.
Possessing the characteristic of a straightforward man with no fear to initiate outspoken criticism or discussions when something goes wrong either with his customers or staff, Anand is a far cry from where he began his life.
The Kolkata-born chef comes from a poor background. As a child, Anand had to help his parents with the cooking because his mother was sick. And that's how he learnt to master the kitchen.
His first food-related memory was in India when the he accompanied his father to the market every Sunday, sitting in the front of a bicycle. Every Sunday his dad would make pear curry and Anand helped him peel and cut the ingredients.
"I knew I would get Sunday lunch at noon. I was very hungry. The soup was delicious. I would take some bread and dip it in the soup. Every time I dipped, I would add more water. I was naughty back then but that culture of home made me what I am today. Today I still have such naughty and playful attitudes towards food."
But while he discovered his passion for food, he also wanted to be a musician -- a drummer -- but it was a dream that required an investment and he realised he had to get a job and put food on the table for the family. A cook was the best, affordable option.
Anand went to an Indian cooking school before he starting cooking professionally in 2000. He used to work as a hotel chef but didn't like it. "It's all about discipline and what others decided for you. So I left hotel industry because I wanted to cook from my heart, not from recipes."
He came to Thailand in 2007 on a project -- opening a contemporary Indian restaurant called Red, which was successful -- before working in a hotel for a year-and-a-half and learning about Thailand and its culinary style. It was here that Anand eventually found his true calling.
"That day I created a very amazing plate with many textures. The GM and F&B [people] said this was not Indian food. Thank God they did. I decided I wanted to have my own restaurant. I wanted to change people's perception about Indian chefs. Indian chefs do not just make nan or roti or a curry."
That's how in 2010 Anand gave birth to Gaggan, a progressive Indian restaurant, where he took inspiration from music.
"Music in me brought the cuisine," said the father of one. "The inspiration is there. How long is a song? Four minutes? Progressive rock can be 22 minutes. Every song in that album continues for 48 minutes. So I thought if they could do it with music, I can do it with food."
Anand's dishes are not just eye candy. They are the modern, surprising interpretation of Indian food with a few Japanese twists. The restaurant's 25-course menu is presented as a series of 25 emojis. Each emoji is related to the food it represents. At the end of the meal, diners are given a menu with a list of everything they have eaten. And, almost every dish is eaten with hands -- in true Indian style.
Priced at 4,000 baht (exclusive of service charge and VAT), Gaggan's full-course menu takes around three hours to finish. Most courses can be consumed in a single bite. Some of the highlights showcasing the chef's futuristic cooking approach and exotic presentations include Gaggan's signature Yoghurt Explosion created by spherification technique, Green Peas Mushroom Roll served with edible dirt, Bombay Bhel (a modern take on an Indian crispy snack), Mix Veg Curry Chawanmushi (vegetable curry with egg custard), Basil Chocolate Butterfly (fresh basil in sponge), to name only a few.
"My food is not Indian. My food is not Japanese. My food is Gaggan. What you find in Gaggan, you only find in Gaggan. You cannot find it in any restaurant in the world. It is the experience -- Gaggan experience. That is what I created here."
Anand attributed the restaurant's success to one important key ingredient: innovation. Last August, he invested in "the lab", an open-kitchen with lots of machines around which 13 guests sit, eat and face chefs preparing the dishes live in front of them. The lab is also Gaggan's R&D centre where he and his team come up with new dishes.
As the owner of Asia's No.1 restaurant, Anand sees a lot of potential in
Thailand's food scene to be equivalent to, if not beat, other vibrant food destinations in Asia, like Singapore and Hong Kong. Thailand's street food is internationally recognised and is something Thai people should treasure rather than neglect.
"Street food can be number one, too," he said. "Our street food rocks. Can you beat khao man gai Pratunam [the famous Hainanese chicken rice in Pratunam] or a beer on a soi with mosquito bites? That's the experience you cannot change. This is Bangkok and it should not change. We should protect our street food because at Gaggan or other fine dining [restaurants], you eat once a year. Street food you eat everyday."
As part of his plan to leave fame behind, Anand said he would make sure all of his crew have a good life before he takes on a new food venture in Japan -- a 10-seat restaurant that only opens on weekends. But until then, the chef keeps shouting to himself and his crew to not just work because they are No.1, but because it is part of everybody's dream.
"I came from nothing. I came to Thailand on a US$500 loan. And I made this in 10 years. Now I am ready to retire. I have to step down. Imagine you are now on top of Doi Suthep. You want to go to Doi Ang Khang. Can you go from the top of Doi Suthep to the top of Doi Ang Khang? You have to come down. Money is not my motivation now. I am running this restaurant as a dream now. And I tell them staff every day to enjoy it, not because it is No.1. That is arrogance. Enjoy it because you are part of my dream."
A daily briefing takes place every day before service starts at 6pm. Photos: Jetjajas Na Ranong
Chef Gaggan Anand with diners at 'The Lab'. Jetjajas Na Ranong
