Vikas Khanna... on BUNGALOW and feeling at "home"

So, we’ve talked on the show before about this sometime elusive feeling of home. I know It’s not an Indian or South Asian thing and this longing is quite universal, but it’s interesting to think of the endless mechanisms in our hearts and minds that spark this journey. Sometimes this ignition and the courage to find this sense of home happens from an ambition that builds with creativity and achievement combined with loss and tragic disruption, motivating us to find a courageous and cathartic path forward with renewal and purpose. So I was truly drawn to share a conversation with renowned chef Vikas Khanna, whose new restaurant "Bungalow", opened in New York City just this past spring. Vikas was born in Amrtisar and with the resilience of overcoming a major foot disability and the powerful encouragement of his grandmother and mother, began his journey as a chef running his own successful catering business at 17. He then moved to New York, where he started from scratch working countless jobs, faced bullying and racism, and eventually found liberation and success garnering consecutive Michelin stars for his restaurant Junoon. Vikas’ impeccable spirit of team and timing have built an entire global ecosystem of offerings from multiple restaurants to best selling books to serving as a judge on Master Chef India and making films. Whether he is cooking for celebrities or world leaders or for those with no home or no food, Vikas enshrines a sense of family and home and heritage in absolutely everything he does. Which is why for him the tragic loss of his sister Radha, inspired him to share this deep sense of coming home through his culinary art by recently opening "Bungalow" in New York City, on what would have been her 50th birthday, creating a connective and creative space to celebrate her life and invite everyone to experience Vikas’ food as a way to take you home. I had a chance to catch up with Vikas as he reflected on it all, and I started by asking him about what he remembered from his first experience making a meal for others… #vikaskhanna #masterchefindia