As you step inside BANNG, a brand new Thai restaurant in Gurugram’s swanky Two Horizon Centre, the deep hues of red and blue along with a glitzy bar catches as much attention as chef Garima Arora, who helms it. A warm smile hardly ever leaves her, even as she makes magic in the kitchen and attends to the guests―all this while being eight months pregnant with her second child.
After opening her first-ever restaurant Gaa, in Bangkok in 2017, this double Michelin star-winning chef is back home with BANNG, which she has opened with Social and Smoke House Deli fame restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani. Running two restaurants in two countries is no small feat, and being a mother to a 19-month-old and expecting a second soon is not easy either, and if Arora, 38, is exhausted, she hardly shows.
“I love what I do. I love being a mom, and a chef,” says the Mumbai-bred, Thailand-based Arora, who “works 16-17 hours a day”.
What’s her take on work-life balance? “Rubbish. It is the biggest myth and nonsense ever. You cannot worry about how much time you spend on work if you want to achieve anything. It applies to motherhood and career,” she says.
‘The voice in my head’
For Arora, who received widespread popularity as a judge on season 7 of MasterChef India, the earliest memories of cooking go back to her father. “He used to travel abroad a lot and return with new ingredients and recipes. As a six-year-old, I would sit in the kitchen and watch him cook, and that’s how it all started for me,” she tells THE WEEK. Her father is, in a way, involved in her two restaurants since “he is the voice in my head”, she adds.
Know fundamentals to have fun
As Arora reflects on her culinary journey on a chilly January afternoon, one cannot help but feel a whiff of the Bangkok energy―the clinks of glasses as guests indulge in the finest cocktails inspired by Muay Thai (Thai martial art), the upbeat music playing in the background, and the swift and warm service.
There is no Pad Thai at BANNG. And while its appetiser menu, which consists of dishes such as Tom Kha Pani Puri and Toss My Yum salad, is “fun”, the purist in Arora comes out when it comes to curries, stir-fries and the larger main course.
“I wanted to keep it real and not serve an Indianised version of Thai food,” she says. “We make our curry paste back in Bangkok and fly it in twice every week.”
On what went behind creating the menu, Arora recalls the “three-month-long very heavy R&D”, which included travelling to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand with her prodigy and head chef Manav Khanna to learn the basics from a Thai culinary master, before returning to Bangkok to learn about central and southern Thai cuisine. “A lot of research was undertaken to not simply pick recipes of others, but to understand the ‘why’ of cooking,” says Arora. “To have fun with a cuisine, you need to know its fundamentals, otherwise it easily falls into the fusion bracket, which I hate.”
Along with the extensive R&D, the chef’s eight-year stay there also shows on the menu―an interesting dish being Ham n’ Cheese Cigar Rolls inspired by the ham and cheese sandwiches from Thailand’s 7-Eleven convenience stores. “When you come to Thailand, you live off the 7-Eleven stores for the first time,” she says.
Chance encounters
Arora’s first restaurant Gaa won her two Michelin stars, first in 2018 and then in December 2023, making her the first Indian female chef to achieve the feat.
“Gaa happened by chance,” says the chef. “I was in Bangkok, hoping to return to India to head a restaurant for another chef. That never happened, and one thing just led to another, and Gaa happened,” she says.
That matter of chance also played a role in her newest venture. Amlani was visiting Gaa in late 2023. The discussions regarding a Thai restaurant in India unfolded, and “here we are”. “The main thing for me was that our sensibilities should match and the more I got to understand his vision, I realised that this could work,” says Arora.
Speaking on what took her so long to open a restaurant here, she emphasises how challenging it is to do so in India. “This industry is punitive, right from importing to taxation, which makes it so difficult for us to compete internationally,” she says.
Reflecting on her stint on MasterChef India, she says, “It gave me a foot in the door coming back home. That was sort of a very soft landing for me. It was a very long season spanning six months. However, after that, I thought I could do something back home.”
A chef is a chef is a chef
Although Arora’s journey can be seen as inspiring for other women working to be chefs, she doesn’t seem too fond of the term ‘female’ affixed before her achievements, especially being named Asia’s Best Female Chef.
“You can be the first female to get an accolade, I understand that. But referring to a chef as a male or a female, that I don’t get. A chef is a chef,” she says.
However, there is no denying that the number of women working in the field is quite small. “For the longest time, there were only men in the industry,” says Arora. For the young women working as chefs, “it is (her achievement) a big thing. It is something they can make their parents understand why they want to pursue this, and that if someone else has done that, so can they”.
Arora emphasises that it is the ecosystem and the support system around women that play a key role. “Women are capable. It is the ecosystem around them―their parents, husbands and in-laws―if they don’t step up and give them the support they need, then they end up sacrificing one thing or the other. [Then] you can either be a parent or have a very successful career,” she says, adding that she has been blessed with such support.