THE ANALOGUE OF THEATRICAL COOKING

Bangkok may be known as the street food capital of the world, but it’s the high-end restaurants that are gaining popularity in the last few years.

- 

Home to Asia's No.1 restaurant, Gaggan, according to Asia's 50 Best Restaurant 2025 list, Bangkok has also been home to chef Gaggan Anand for 18 years. Having first worked at the now-defunct Red restaurant in Sukhumvit, the maverick chef went on to open his namesake in 2010, a restaurant which kept him in the top spot for four consecutive years.

At the former restaurant in Langsuan, Anand became known for his innovative approach to Indian cuisine and for his bold no-nonsense take on the culinary world. Anand’s current restaurant, Gaggan, the new incarnation of Gaggan Anand, opened in 2019 on Sukhumvit 31 and the format of how he does business changed.

“The biggest thing is that we are the same team. With the recent award, our confidence is at a different level. However, the award will have more of an impact on diners because they will come with much bigger expectations. But we are ready. We don't pretend to be anything that we are not. This isn’t the first time we are on the top [it’s his fifth time being No.1], but this time, we are better prepared,” says the chef.

“We are more grounded and focused. The first thing we did after winning the award in Seoul [on March 24] is to be at dinner service the next day. After being No.1, I had a choice to take a holiday and relax. Instead, it made me happy, so I had to come back, not to show my face but to be in service. And since the award, I haven't missed a single service. That's how we roll.”

The new iteration of Gaggan is a chef's table with a format that describes the chef as “conductor of a food opera’. “I look at it as a music album or theatre. The menu isn’t just a menu, it’s like a season. In November each year, I start writing ideas and in December I start discussions with my core team and that forms the initial idea. After that, I start writing down things in more detail. Once it gets to this stage, it's like a big art book where all our ideas are put down.