WHEN FOOD AND ASHION COLLIDE

Tatler speaks to celebrated Indian chef Gaggan Anand, famed for his innovative cooking, on partnering with Louis Vuitton to open his most personal concept to date

- Dudi Aureus

Gaggan Anand is always dreaming up his next culinary masterpiece. When we met him for coffee in July 2023, at his Indian-Mexican restaurant Ms Maria and Mr Singh in Singapore, he told us about a "secret project" that he was developing in partnership with a global luxury brand.

And while the celebrated Indian chef wouldn't tell us who that partner was, he did let slip that the "massive project" was in Bangkok, the city the innovative chef has called home for the past 17 years. At the time, the most we could extract from him was this promise: "It's something you haven't seen before."

The mystery was finally revealed at the end of February this year when Louis Vuitton opened LV The Place Bangkok at Gaysorn Amarin. The two-storey, multi-concept space comprises an immersive exhibition, store, café and Anand's new restaurant, simply named Gaggan at Louis Vuitton. Catching up nearly three months after the restaurant opened, Anand proudly tells Tatler that, as the name implies, Gaggan at Louis Vuitton is a meeting of two creative cultures: food and fashion.

The award-winning chef admits that it might seem like an unlikely partnership for patrons familiar with his other restaurants, especially for those who have dined at contemporary Indian establishment Gaggan Anand in the Thai capital, which earned the No. 4 spot on the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2024 list. After all, Anand is known for having "no culinary boundaries" while Louis Vuitton boasts a storied 170-year-old history guided by heritage and its founder's brand philosophy. Surprisingly though, as Anand explains, the maison has given him complete flexibility to run this new restaurant the way he wants, which means that the elements integral to how he orchestrates the dining experience-such as licking food off plates or using hands instead of cutlery to eat-were retained. "They didn't let me lose my heart and identity in the way I am playful [with my food]."