Zorawar Kalra: Heir to a Legend, Architect of a Modern Food Empire

With Massive Restaurants-home to Masala Library, Farzi Café, Pa Pa Ya, Made in Punjab, and a fast-scaling cloud portfolio-Zorawar Kalra has turned heritage into a living, scalable experience for a global, digital-first diner. His journey as a restaurateur exemplifies how vision, discipline, and invention can keep a legacy alive while building something entirely new.

- Sanjay Kumar

In the world of Indian gastronomy, the name Kalra is etched in permanence. For decades, the late Jiggs Kalra the revered "Czar of Indian Cuisine"-chronicled, documented, and elevated Indian food like no one else, bringing forgotten recipes back into conversation and placing India firmly on the global culinary map. His landmark book "Prashad-Cooking with Indian Masters" became the Bible of Indian cuisine. He was a teacher, a television host, a food historian, and, above all, a relentless advocate for India's vast culinary traditions.

Carrying such a legacy can be daunting. But for his son, Zorawar Kalra, it became both a responsibility and an opportunity. Unlike many second-generation entrepreneurs who remain confined to preserving what was built before them, Zorawar has sought to extend the Kalra name into uncharted territories of dining innovation. "My job is to take his legacy forward and not let it falter.

Every waking hour, that's my goal," he says with conviction.

What makes Zorawar's journey striking is not just that he inherited a famous surname, but that he has chosen to reinterpret it for a new era. Where Jiggs was the chronicler, Zorawar is the creator.

Where his father revived heritage dishes, Zorawar reinvents them through theatrical plating, modern techniques, and scalable formats that appeal to a younger, globally connected audience. In doing so, he has bridged two worlds-the scholarship of culinary history and the energy of contemporary entrepreneurship.