Chef Gaggan Anand joins Vir Sanghvi on Table 1 for one of the most explosive, unfiltered, and controversial conversations of his career. From being accused of stealing money and losing the rights to his own name, to fighting the “robotic” culture of luxury hotels, this is the brutally honest story behind Asia’s biggest rebel chef.
In this episode of Table 1 with Vir Sanghvi, Gaggan reflects on his rollercoaster journey to the top. He opens up about the bitter betrayals that forced him to resign from his own restaurant with just $3,000 in his pocket, the genius behind his most iconic dishes, and why he completely rejects the modern “farm-to-table” movement as industry greenwashing.
Today, Gaggan’s namesake restaurant is famously difficult to book, known for eccentric dishes like ‘lizard brain’ and exploding yogurt. But as he reveals in this exclusive sit-down, he isn’t done shaking up the industry. He drops major breaking news about his highly anticipated return to India with a new restaurant in Delhi, his plans to completely ban mobile phones from his dining room, and why he refuses to be “domesticated” by the culinary establishment.
Table 1 with Vir Sanghvi, produced by Culinary Culture Studios, brings together influential chefs, restaurateurs, hoteliers and hospitality leaders for honest conversations about ambition, failure, risk and the realities behind building successful empires.
Watch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations from Table 1.
00:00 – “I Kicked Her Out”: The Rebel Chef Returns
02:31 – “Sustainability Is a Scam”: The Fake Ethics of Fine Dining
04:33 – Serving “Rat Brains” & Extreme Eating Trends
07:42 – Why Foraging & Fermentation in India is a Lie
12:27 – Quitting The Taj & Rejecting “Robotic” Hotel Kitchens
17:43 – The Chaos Years: No Money, No Direction
20:16 – Rejecting French Cuisine to Reinvent Indian Food
24:10 – The Yogurt Explosion: Creating his Signature Dish
28:20 – Becoming Asia’s No. 1 Restaurant
38:56 – Reclaiming the Top Spot & Outgrowing His “Exes”
52:50 – The Betrayal: “They Accused Me of Stealing Money”
56:52 – Hitting Rock Bottom: $3,000 in his Pocket
1:00:01 – Banning Phones & The Future of Dining
1:01:17 – Fear, Failure & Growing Up With Nothing
1:06:06 – Gaggan Returns to India
1:08:22 – The Era of 50: What Comes Next?
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29 Comments
Lovely podcast too much things to learn from this as always admired Chef Gagan!
He is the guy who changed Indian cuisine in Modern Gastronomical way like he just showed the face of the Indian cuisine which have never seen!
Truly Inspiring!
Thank you To Vir Sanghvi Sir for highlighting and sharing this podcast!
And the Change is still on there way and now we can proudly say that I am a Cook or a Chef and people admire it too!
Thank you Again to both of you!
Would definitely work with you One day Chef Gagan!
Always wanted to know the story
I'm working with Nobu son in Toronto! 😂 I'm playing with Peruvian cuisine and loving it.
I think Vir's distaste of this rather mercurial chef is SO obvious!
What a fantastic interview. Vir Sanghvi gives a masterclass in how to conduct an interview. Not afraid to call Gaggan on certain things he said. Brilliant interview overall.
Creep reference. Peak.
Am honoured chef. Thank you so much. ☺️ waiting … ❤
Yes Vir am thrilled beyond words. ❤
Respect to Chef Gaggan for keeping it real. The way he exposes the fine dining hype and calls out industry “trends” as branding is refreshing. Authenticity over buzzwords—especially when it comes to real Indian cuisine. And all major hotels in India believes that some so-called institute students are the only ones become management trainees then straight to sous chef executive chef . All others start from the bottom and become great master chefs 😅
An interview which explains how restaurant works and chef is a worker at the end
this interview is a masterclass.. a sort of jugalbandi between a masterchef and the greatest tastemaker..
This guy is reminding me of Abhinav Kasyap 😂
This was great; way better than I was expecting. Also good on Vir to push back a bit on the implicit praise from Gaggan on some of the newer Indian chefs in that he hasn't eaten their food. Because tbh there's some good stuff, but also a lot of marketing gimmicks going on, haha.
Thats how ill informed you are so called chef just Google it, its served in tribal areas in Jharkhand… you really need to get your game up.
Love this guy, love the interview. Love that he's like, Garima's a celebrity chef now. And then he's like, oh yeah, I'm doing wedding catering in India.. but I won't be there (just the brand name). lmao.
Gaggan looks like that militia commander in "blood diamond", screaming "long sleeve .. or short sleeve" but with a slab of crisco sizzling on a pan beside him.
Fraud hosts fellow fraud 💯👌
How do the fatuous rich lot who have the money fall for such jokers as this one
31:31 to. 32:02 – for those that second guess themselves.
The best ❤
He might be a great chef but at a certain level it seems like there's a marble or two loose in his head. Perhaps that comes with genius. As for "India is a country that values freshness", how does it square with the overwhelming presence of public dirt, filth, adulteration and absence of hygiene? How do a people who supposedly love freshness so joyously indulge in adulteration and dirt (among other things)? But it was great to hear him expose the pretentiousness of the Indian system.
My dad was served the said ant chutney once in the forest of Gua mines in jharkhand by tribals , so the red ant chutney exits
❤❤🎉🎉
Obnoxious idiot 😂
Looking forward to more from Vir Sanghvi.. ❤ and loved Gaggan.. eagerly awaiting for Delhi debut
Amazing episode
both sanghvi and this gaggan are fakes///both do not have any clue re fine dining!!!!!!!!
Hey guys why do you block people on Instagram when you put out your point of views for world to listen as one sided story have courage to leave comments open and stop blocking profiles. Answer those comments rather than running away 😂
He invented the speherification ? So you mean Ferran Adria must be his student 😂