Home, at last: Gaggan Anand returns to India with RAGA, his first permanent restaurant

Few chefs in the world can make you want to lick a plate clean in public film yourself doing it and post it proudly Gaggan Anand is one of themAfter two decades away the celebrated chef whose restaurants have repeatedly topped the worldrsquos most influential restaurant rankings has returned to India with RAGA his first permanent restaurant in the country Set at 21A Janpath Road in New Delhi the former home of Masala Library RAGA is a collaboration between Gaggan his longtime head chef and friend Rydo Anton and restaurateur Zorawar Kalra of Massive RestaurantsCurrently open only for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday the 30seater offers two seatings including five seats at the Chefrsquos Counter and a private dining room with a minimum spend of Rs 2 lakh The 22course tasting menu priced at Rs 11111 per person plus taxes is Gaggans theatrical take on Indian food familiar flavours unexpected turns and plenty of reasons to surrender to the plate At RAGA he has placed Rydo firmly at the centre trading his chef whites for edgy statementmaking Tshirts he wore one written Everyone Sucks on this day moving between tables talking to guests and experiencing the restaurant from the other side of the passYears ago he said he would never open a restaurant in India but Kalra made him an offer he couldnt refuseHow it began In 2007 Gaggan left India for Bangkok on a consultancy assignment Three years later he opened Gaggan the restaurant that would establish him as one of the most influential chefs of his generation earning two Michelin stars and five No 1 rankings on Asiarsquos 50 Best Restaurants list For years Gaggan looked for a way to bring his cooking home to serve it to his own people There was Nuage a proposed restaurant in Bandra with Garima Arora who spent several months at Gaggan in Bangkok in preparation The deal collapsedThen there was a series of soldout residencies some priced at around R50000 a seat They proved there was an appetite for his food but none offered what he really wanted a permanent homeThen in 2025 Zorawar Kalra and his wife Dildeep went to dinner at Gaggan in Bangkok Kalra knew Gaggan but had never experienced his food One meal was enough to convince him that Gaggan belonged in IndiaGaggan who had watched plenty of proposals come and go was cautious But this one felt different He liked Kalra trusted his understanding of the Indian restaurant business and was drawn to the location he offered That was half the dealThen came Gaggans list of requirements His own architect would design the restaurant The crockery and cutlery would be specially made in Japan The cheftoguest ratio would be unusually high and the kitchen would be equipped with technology rarely seen in Indian restaurants One machine alone cost Rs 28 lakh An icecream machine used for a single dish cost another Rs 15 lakhGaggan had expected a negotiation Instead Kalra said yes I was always a control freak but I have changed and become wiser Its the right time for Gagan to come here says KalraHow is it goingSunday midday visited the restaurant the night before its preopening and one thing was clear Gaggan Anand has not returned quietly From the zen garden that leads to the doors to the distinctly Japanese minimalist look to the soaring ceiling twostorey open kitchen handcrafted Japanese crockery and Schott Zwiesel glasses RAGA does not scream luxury It is elegant restrained and distinctly Gaggan who despite his famously eccentric persona is obsessive about details The flowers The candles The crockery The music which jumps between classics and 1980s Bollywood Nothing seems too small to escape his attentionThe food is where the fun begins For those who know Gagganrsquos Bangkok repertoire there are familiar ideas but they have been revisited and somehow feel fresh again Then there are the new dishes cucumber sliced almost impossibly thin and wrapped in a gel that tastes of mint chutney a bharwan chilli dipped in charcoal batter a chicken wing served with a little rope a vada pav meets Bombay sandwich moment made with onion water A saffron soft serve that is so perfectly textured that Gaggan is happy to point out the very expensive machine responsible for it And then comes the Japanesestyle tiffin stacked with Tabak Maas cauliflower disguised as a brain and a superb Nalli Nihari deep slowcooked flavour without the usual greasiness and yes a course that asks you to lick the plateWhat makes RAGA particularly enjoyable though is that the theatre does not get in the way of the food You can talk across the table laugh eat with your hands and enjoy dinner The performance is there but so is the pleasure of eatingThat feels important because Gagganrsquos restaurants have always understood that a meal can be more than a succession of courses At RAGA that same instinct survives but there is something warmer about it Perhaps that comes from being home Gaggan Anand is not returning to India to relive his glory days He is arriving at the peak of his powersRAGA is already booked weeks ahead a remarkable response even before the restaurant has properly settled into its rhythm The demand raises an irresistible question is the draw the food or Gaggan himselfPerhaps at this point separating the two misses the point Gaggan is the restaurant The restaurant is the experienceThe question is no longer whether RAGA will survive the initial rush The more interesting question is what it might change If Gaggan Kalra and Rydo get this right RAGA could do more than become one of Indiarsquos most talkedabout restaurants It could help redraw the countryrsquos modern dining landscapeAnd after making India wait this long perhaps that is exactly the kind of arrival Gaggan had in mindPrice pointThe only point on which Kalra and Gaggan disagreed was the price Gaggan had charged around Rs 50000 for his Hyatt residency Kalra wanted to keep RAGArsquos 22course tasting menu at about Rs 11000Eventually Kalra won the argument and Gaggan understood the logic if this was a homecoming the price should not be so high that friends and family could not afford to come home