Chef Vikas Khanna's life story is a profound journey of resilience, humility, and purpose.
Born with a congenital foot defect in India and facing discrimination and hardship, he defied expectations to become one of the most celebrated Indian American chefs in the world. From a young age, he was deeply inspired by his grandmother, who taught him the beauty of Indian cuisine and life’s cyclical nature.
Despite facing countless setbacks, including homelessness and personal losses, Vikas Khanna has become a voice for the underserved and a champion of Indian heritage. Chef Vikas’ work encompasses his commitment to meaningful, impactful work that transcends the culinary world.
Watch now to learn about turning failure to triumph, hosting MasterChef India, and becoming an award winning filmmaker.
Born with a congenital foot defect in India and facing discrimination and hardship, he defied expectations to become one of the most celebrated Indian American chefs in the world. From a young age, he was deeply inspired by his grandmother, who taught him the beauty of Indian cuisine and life’s cyclical nature.
Despite facing countless setbacks, including homelessness and personal losses, Vikas Khanna has become a voice for the underserved and a champion of Indian heritage. Chef Vikas’ work encompasses his commitment to meaningful, impactful work that transcends the culinary world.
Watch now to learn about turning failure to triumph, hosting MasterChef India, and becoming an award winning filmmaker.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Restaurant Influencers.
00:07I am your host, Sean Walsh.
00:09If this is a Cali BBQ Media production in life in the restaurant
00:13business and in the new creator economy, we learn through lessons
00:17and stories.
00:18We are grateful to toast our primary technology partner at our
00:22barbecue restaurants in San Diego for giving us the opportunity
00:25the stage to have conversations with the greatest hospitality
00:29heroes on Earth as well as storytellers.
00:31I am so excited about today's guest.
00:34When I started in the restaurant business and we opened up our
00:40restaurant 2008, I never thought that I would be able to have
00:43conversations like these and I'm just I'm I'm deeply humbled for
00:48this opportunity to to share the wisdom that that we have with
00:52today's guest.
00:53So today's guest is an internationally acclaimed Indian American
00:57chef.
00:57He is a filmmaker.
00:58He is an author.
01:00He is a humanitarian.
01:01He is a chef and partner at a brand-new one of the hottest restaurants
01:06in New York City bungalow.
01:08He's a James Beard nominee and he is one of the first Indian chefs
01:12to win a Michelin star.
01:14He has almost 5 million followers on Instagram 1.8 million followers
01:19on Facebook, but more importantly, he is a man of my heart.
01:22I have listened to many of his interviews and I'm grateful to
01:25bring chef Vikas Khanna on to the show chef.
01:29Welcome.
01:30Thank you so much.
01:31Where in the world is your favorite stadium stage or venue?
01:39Madison Garden, of course, Madison Square Garden beautiful.
01:43I think it's brilliant.
01:45It has been a global platform and for dreamers and it's amazing
01:50that they can bring the whole world together right in the heart
01:53of the city.
01:54I don't know who planned this.
01:58So we're going to go to Madison Square Garden.
02:01I'm going to talk to entrepreneur.
02:02I'm going to talk to toast.
02:04We're going to get some other brand partners involved and we're
02:06going to invite our audience.
02:08The people that watch the show that listen the the true hospitality
02:11heroes the restaurant owners all over the world the chefs the
02:14aspiring chefs and I'm going to bring you to Center Court and I'm
02:18going to ask you to take the microphone and tell us the story
02:21chef of your darkest moment.
02:23The darkest moment when you closed your restaurant your catering
02:27business and also the the light that came when you met his holiness.
02:32It was in 2008.
02:33So I had a restaurant right on Times Square.
02:36You were doing pretty well.
02:37I had a catering company.
02:39I was also doing the cooking school on 23rd Street.
02:42It was a hotel called in so I used to run a cooking school cell
02:47classes there.
02:48I was making very satisfactory money and name and then they
02:53economy collapsed and many people who owed me so much money for
02:57my catering and for the restaurant caterings.
02:59They all were like we can't pay you anymore and I was totally
03:02broke.
03:03It was a new construction coming out next door and these guys just
03:06literally threw us out and that's the story of New York.
03:11I just feel that you know, it you only see New York is a city which
03:16gives you the resilience to rise again somewhere.
03:18They'll find you'll find signs.
03:20It says that you know, you paid a huge price to be here.
03:23Just keep going.
03:23We are the worst and the best.
03:28So I next day I'm turning off the key.
03:32I had to hand over the key to the owners and everyone and I get a call
03:36from Tashi.
03:36My friend said that you know, his holiness is in town.
03:40He's speaking at Beacon Theatre on Upper West Side.
03:44So I told Tashi that you know, I'm in no position to talk to anyone.
03:47I was really a busy chef at that time and she said you come it's
03:53going to be good for you and I meet his holiness and he says that
03:57when everything closes, it's good because it sets you free.
04:01It's time to restart and that really I wanted somebody to tell me
04:06and it happened to be him and it really motivated me, moved me.
04:10I booked a ticket, told my mom.
04:13I had no money to even book a ticket.
04:15I told my mom to book a ticket to Tibet for me and I went to Bhutan,
04:19Tibet, Nepal, Burma.
04:21I started writing my journal which got me a James Beard nomination
04:25few years later.
04:26I started discovering more cultures.
04:29I was free.
04:30So I think sometimes failure is an amazing turning point because
04:35success makes you sometimes you sit down on the chair.
04:38Failure means that you need to find new avenues to express yourself
04:42to survive.
04:45Do you remember that specific day like those specific words because
04:50when you shared I I listened to many of your interviews before
04:53obviously preparing for this but it made it made me stop and it made
05:00me realize why I do the work that I do why I love the restaurant
05:05is why it's so hard why it's so painful but why it's so important
05:09to share these stories because I know how many restaurant owners
05:13are struggling right now and they're trying to figure it out.
05:15I turned our restaurant into a media business, which is why I have
05:19the opportunity to have conversations like this with you.
05:21Can you can you speak to them somebody that that's that's trying
05:27to figure it out right now that maybe is at the end of their lease
05:29or they're they're not making payroll.
05:31Can you can you can you talk to them?
05:33It's very hard because you know, you're so emotionally invested in
05:38restaurant business.
05:39Sometimes I have a friend who says if you need to punish somebody
05:43give them a good punishment and give them money to open a restaurant.
05:46This is now I might steal that I might steal that.
05:50That's really if you really want to punish your friend and you
05:54want to show them you're helping them make them open a restaurant.
05:58This is like giving birth to 10 kids at the same time.
06:01I do agree on that point that sometimes it gets so hard just to
06:05survive and make the ends meet and you feel you at the dark end.
06:09Restaurants have to reinvent.
06:11It's a very tough business restaurants need to reinvent new energies
06:16coming into the business and most of the guests are going to look
06:20for something new.
06:20So you feel even your most loyal guests leaving you if you're not
06:25reinventing.
06:26So I feel that that is a very important key, especially in New York
06:29City that you're constantly finding new avenues to create new atmosphere.
06:34And also one more thing which I feel which is good and bad post
06:37pandemic is people can there's so many amazing catering services now
06:41that people can order in they don't need to go to a restaurant and
06:45have the effort of making reservations dealing with people.
06:48They can just order the similar food at home.
06:50So now the restaurants have to be very experiential.
06:54It has to motivate people to leave their comforts of home and come
06:59to a new space and find this creative energy of a community when
07:04you're hosting or creating a restaurant.
07:07Can you bring us back to a story of opening day of bungalow where
07:12there's thousands of people lying in the streets and pouring rain
07:16waiting to come and experience what you and your team have created?
07:22So you open on March 23rd, which would have been my sister's 50th
07:27birthday.
07:27So you're not fully prepared.
07:30I go online and I announce on March 23rd, 2024 be an open bungalow
07:37at 5 p.m.
07:38It's my sister's birthday and she was my only family in this country
07:43and I don't want her to be alone on this birthday.
07:46So I am inviting you all into my homes and lives and bungalow.
07:50And I had no idea that that message would be so like personal to
07:55people and you know, I was also coming back after many years post
07:59Junoon.
08:00So I wanted to come back in a way that it's more personal to me.
08:04There has to be a purpose.
08:06Why are you opening something like this?
08:08It was my sister's dream and then for 50 days, we constantly spoke
08:13about my journey, mission of the restaurant.
08:17What are we going to accomplish?
08:18Why is it so important for restaurant to form a community and those
08:2450 days were insane.
08:25Everybody said there's a forecast of storms and it's very cold and
08:32it's going to be freezing and raining so people won't show up.
08:35I go out for checking the cleaning of the outdoors and there were more
08:41than like 300 people at around 10 a.m.
08:4510 a.m.
08:46I'm like this can't be real and it was boring and people are like you
08:51don't want your sister and this love to feel that they are alone.
08:57So I felt that it was a new chapter opening in hospitality where
09:03everybody felt that you know, oh my God, he's trying to use his broken
09:08heart and create something which is this restaurant and I was very
09:12out front.
09:13I was very open about her passing away in my arms and everything and
09:17you know, when you have a younger sibling, they become like your
09:20kids.
09:21So it was like losing a daughter for me.
09:24But that day was I wouldn't and my mom flew in from India to pray that
09:29day because she knew that I was very nervous and
09:33broken but then these people came in my life every day thousands of
09:39reservations but people are like we just felt that you know in this
09:45country we somehow feel lost and we find we're searching for connections
09:48all the time and bungalow became the connection for the last five
09:52months.
09:52Do not skip this ad.
09:54This is important information.
09:56I unboxed toast our point of sale at our barbecue restaurants and now
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10:06We want to hear your toast story.
10:09If you use toast in your restaurant, send me a message at Sean P
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10:20We want to hear your toast story.
10:22If you're thinking about switching to toast, we would love to help you.
10:25Please send us a message so that we can share your toast story today.
10:33It's such a beautiful beautiful story and I mean, it's the reason why
10:37It's the reason why we do this show.
10:45You know, my my connection to my grandfather and I know you have a deep
10:49connection to your grandmother, but it's the food and the stories that
10:53connect us.
10:54The business is a hard business.
10:57There's no way around that, but there's a magical beauty in the things
11:01that were able to create by opening our doors to the world and opening
11:06our heart.
11:07You took the internet and that's, you know, the things that we teach
11:11restaurant owners is it's bigger.
11:12It's bigger than the four walls of our restaurant.
11:15We don't need to make Instagram and we don't need to create you.
11:18They're already there.
11:19You just have to share.
11:20You have to share who you are and you have to put your heart out to the
11:24world.
11:26It's a different restaurant and space.
11:28It looks like in grandmom's house, you know, we're both close to our
11:32grandparents in a way that we feel that their love was very unconditional
11:36and very unjudgmental and unexpecting of you and that is what gave us
11:41the comfort that even if you failed in life, parents still expect from
11:46you, but grandparents for them is just one way road of giving love, caring
11:50for you.
11:51And I think that is also a healing energy.
11:53So I wanted to create that healing energy and everybody's like, how
11:57come a restaurant, an Indian restaurant on this scale could be this
12:01successful?
12:01I said because this is a female restaurant and I do feel that the
12:06feminine energy in a restaurant is predominantly important, especially
12:11in ethnic cuisines because it's the mothers or grandmothers who fed us
12:15as we were sick or kids are broken or celebrating.
12:20So I want to keep the moment you walk into the entrance, you start
12:24feeling this is a female restaurant.
12:26I've been very conscious of that very conscious.
12:29Do you what parts of the restaurant remind you of the Golden Temple?
12:35The steps, you know, I've never seen a restaurant because this is the
12:42back of the restaurant, what you're seeing, this whole skylight, but
12:45when you enter the restaurant, the steps of walking down, it tumbles
12:51you and it's a very unique space for East Village and I do feel that
12:56East Village deserved this.
12:59If I'm proud to be a part of East Village, you know most of the Indian
13:03cuisine we ever eat in this country, it all started from East Village from
13:07the 6th Street and this restaurant being close to right across the
13:12street from there and a whole new communication and language and
13:16in tribute of those people who took the risk of opening a foreign
13:20cuisine when nobody knew about it.
13:21I think all these stories just kept adding up naturally organically
13:26and people keep saying, oh, you know, yesterday we had a table and
13:30this lady said, you know, today is so magical.
13:33I said, how?
13:33She said, you know, I've been trying to come to the restaurant for
13:36five months.
13:37Last week, I got a notification that we can get you a table for two
13:41and she said, it is exactly the same day of my grandmother's death
13:45anniversary.
13:46I felt this was a message from her and I got goosebumps and yesterday
13:51was a huge festival of India and you can see my arm.
13:53These are all the little red threads which all the girls and women
13:57were tying to me and even men were tying to me yesterday.
14:00Because it's a celebration of brothers and sisters and she said
14:05that maybe this was a sign for me not to give up hope of love and I
14:09see that all night long.
14:11It is pure magic.
14:13It's like somebody up there is coordinating this entire space.
14:19You got to believe it as a restaurant owner.
14:20You've got to believe in magic.
14:22Otherwise, it's very tough business.
14:24Please share a little bit more about the red because this is from
14:30my my family from Bulgaria.
14:32This is my wife and this is a martini that I wear every single day.
14:36Please share the beautiful all those red amazing.
14:40I saw the Instagram video you were up at what 3 in the morning
14:45preparing these beautiful bracelets.
14:48Can you share a little bit more?
14:51So I feel as I was telling you that you know, people can eat at home
14:54now. Pandemic taught us that we don't need to go out and eat.
14:58We can just order in and we can eat and that has become a habit
15:02especially in the big cities.
15:03So I feel for people to give them a reason to go out and eat in a
15:07restaurant, make the effort of booking tickets and driving for few
15:11hours to come to a restaurant.
15:12You need to make them feel that they belong some.
15:17And for us growing up in India in small middle-class families, you
15:22felt that it was during the festivals all the relatives came together.
15:25So I really want to celebrate festivals.
15:29I really want to take it where everybody feels that this is a moment
15:33for our children to see Indian arts culture space food rituals festivals
15:39all coming together today.
15:41The restaurant is closed and we are having this huge installation
15:45in the front which my sister had ordered.
15:48It is built by the descendants of the people who built Taj Mahal.
15:53It's hand-carved peacocks, which I will of course showcase in a few
16:00days, but you will see those intricacies and the jewels on them.
16:04And my sister she imagined from the Columbia Hospital on the deathbed.
16:10She's showing me all these images.
16:12We need to have it at the entrance because our cuisine and all what
16:17she said to me and you know, I was like you are going to be okay.
16:20You're going to see this together with me.
16:22You think I'll be watching you but I might not be with you.
16:26But I'm going to be with you.
16:28I'm like don't say this.
16:29Don't dishearten me.
16:30Like you know, we're going to make it but she was in a rush for this
16:34restaurant and I had so many issues going on that I couldn't open a
16:39restaurant in front of her, which is always going to be my heartbreak.
16:42So I have to wait for all the provisions to be over to open this
16:45restaurant.
16:47And I feel that today restaurants which create a union between culture
16:52and cuisine become a huge reference point for a younger generation.
16:56Yes.
16:58I couldn't agree.
16:59How did you do the deep work as a restaurateur to also create a
17:06book?
17:07You created a book that has
17:0912 years to write 1,200 pages celebrating all of the Indian cultures
17:18and festivals and traditions and food.
17:22What a magical thing to do.
17:24What a magical gift.
17:28I need to it was a research on lesser-known facts and festivals of
17:34India.
17:35It started with a small idea, but then I got so obsessed with rediscovering
17:40India.
17:41I think when you're away from home, you become closer to home.
17:44So this is a very strange line that you know, as you as you move away
17:48you get closer.
17:49So I think because of that I'm just so I see India in a different
17:53lens and I see this ancient culture, which is so old grounded in
17:59traditions yet so modern and always embracing and moving on and always
18:04accepting.
18:05So that book is very important.
18:08It's only 13 copies in the world, but I'm sure I'm going to put that
18:12online very soon and the whole world can reach it and this is great
18:17for me because of having that knowledge and information of the recipes
18:21and celebrations that I can create something like this.
18:23We gave a copy to her Majestic Queen Elizabeth and she was alive a
18:29few years ago at the Buckingham Palace.
18:31We gave it to President Barack Obama Pope Francis at the Vatican is
18:35only less than you did personally personally.
18:38I went and gave it to everybody but my favorite my first love of my
18:43life Shahrukh Khan.
18:44He's India's biggest movie star.
18:46I went to his house to give him the book because he I just hear his
18:51interviews and I'm motivated.
18:52Yes, and India's two biggest icons are Prime Minister Modi when he
18:58came for you and assembly.
19:00So it was given very strategically to bold leaders because I felt that
19:05you know, they bring that they add to the influence of this and as a
19:09tribute.
19:09I'm very proud of it and I hopefully I'll continue this and you know,
19:16I've been doing this for 40 years.
19:18I've been cooking professionally for 40 years making money from cooking
19:22and I feel that this time on bungalow project.
19:26It's not about the money for me.
19:28It is about a bigger purpose and I'm on my way out.
19:31This is my last restaurant.
19:33I'll do it for nine years and five more months or seven more months.
19:38I just feel it's good but I feel very proud that people back home 1.5
19:46billion people back home feel that you're representing their ancestors.
19:49That's a unique gift for a chef in a restaurant.
19:53It's a huge responsibility.
19:55I mean, we are so fortunate.
19:57We started our first show in 2017 and we've built what we call digital
20:02hospitality leaders from all over the globe people that you need that
20:06listen to our shows that connect with us on Instagram on tiktok on
20:10LinkedIn and you know, there's a there's a man by the name of knee
20:14Hill Nevada and he is an accountant at windspire accountancy and I
20:19shared with him that you were coming on our show and he was just so
20:23blown away and he wanted to know that he wanted you to know that you
20:26are an inspiration to the entire Indian restaurant industry that you
20:31are such a strong voice and such a big heart his one question to you
20:36was what was the purpose behind writing and directing the last color?
20:41So I was shooting for that book on festivals.
20:45I was shooting for the colors and the festival in Vrindavan, which is
20:49a city in India and that's the most powerful holy holy is a festival
20:56of colors beginning of the spring and I was I was walking out.
20:59I saw so many widows wearing white clothes standing outside and they
21:05were tabooed from touching color and it took me back to a dark space
21:10where I
21:13It has remembering within our family and neighborhoods.
21:17We saw women whose husband passed away lived a life of such
21:20Disinheritance and abstinence that really touched me and everybody's
21:26like, you know, you stick to cooking stick to cooking.
21:28I said no stick to the heart.
21:31So I created this short story and then a novel which did so well shockingly
21:36the last color and then I made a movie which did we went to almost
21:41hundred film festivals and it gave me they made me a global ambassador
21:46for the global fund for widows.
21:48I got to speak at the Congress in the at the Washington DC about that
21:54there are 350 million widows in many countries who are totally
21:58disinherited without any ownership of the land, homes, shelter, no
22:05benefits and they can be they're so vulnerable and it is so amazing
22:10that how a movie could move so many people and I'm very proud of
22:14creating that.
22:14So thank you for asking that it's a very project very close to my
22:17heart, but it is also tribute to the women who stood up and made the
22:22change in society because now there's so much of change happening
22:26in those widows life and I'm very proud of it.
22:30Can you share how do you go about sharing your story?
22:33You said that you got very personal with you know, the bungalow
22:37project.
22:39How do you share on social media?
22:41How do you decide what you want to share and how obviously you're
22:47moving people the amount of people that follow you and this is just
22:51the beginning imagine, you know a year from now two years from now
22:55three years from now if you make those books available to the public
22:58that those 13 copies.
23:01I mean, this is storytelling at the greatest the greatest scale.
23:05So when you were telling the story of bungalow one story, which was
23:11really which really moved a lot of people was that I moved to US in
23:182000 and I was doing all the small jobs just to survive and my parents
23:25came to visit me because I was missing them too much.
23:28You know that time there was no cell phones you need to put coins
23:30call cards go crazy sister and my mother forced my dad to come with
23:37her to New York to see me.
23:40I left home not on very good terms and I was that day imagine I was
23:49selling chicken on the streets as a street vendor at Rebecca Film
23:53Festival.
23:53It was the beginning of the Rebecca Film Festival and this was the
23:57first day of the festival.
23:58So it brought in so many people and my dad saw me selling the chicken
24:03on the street and he was so heartbroken.
24:07He's saying, you know, you had such a huge status and business you
24:10created in back home in India with your caterings come back home and
24:15my mom said that don't maybe if he's successful it will change and
24:22represent our country one day.
24:23My dad said he's selling $2 for $2.
24:26He made only $16 and he doesn't he doesn't know how to do this.
24:31It's a foreign country.
24:32He's not so smart.
24:34It hurts me that he was giving chicken to people to taste and he's
24:38like, why are you giving it?
24:39I'm like that they don't know much about Indian food.
24:42So I'm just trying to make them feel that this is not a very foreign
24:45cuisine.
24:46It's full of flavors and that day really broke my heart and when I
24:50said that what I'm going to do at bungalow.
24:52I hope you're watching me and you'll be proud and when I wrote that
24:56so many people it moved in a such an honest way that your journey has
25:02been nothing less than surreal to to to traveling and to be broken so
25:07many times and to win a Michelin star and to hold it for six years.
25:11You were hitting the kitchen and then you said I need to do something
25:15which is bigger for my community.
25:17I need to serve them in a very different way.
25:19So all those narratives added up added up that my chef got the first
25:24chef could I went back home to the temple where I learned how to cook
25:28to get my chef got honored like flying back home and people people
25:33were watching.
25:34They were like, oh my this is insane creativity in telling a story
25:38changing the landscape talking about the dishes which are going to
25:41make it.
25:42It has to evoke nostalgia purpose memories Heritage all those words
25:47clicked with people.
25:49When you speak you can tell you're speaking from the heart.
25:57Where did you learn your voice?
25:59Where did you find your voice?
26:00My sister gave me my voice.
26:03My sister.
26:03I was cooking at the James Beard house in 2004.
26:07I was extremely introvert child.
26:09I used to work at Salaam Bombay.
26:12I was not up somebody who even reply back to any chef or fight or do
26:17anything that day at James Beard house after the dinner.
26:21It was Indian dinner August 23rd 2004 and they call you upstairs for
26:27the guest to thank you.
26:28I say to God nobody had ever clap for my cooking before that day and
26:34when they gave me a mic to speak.
26:36I did not know what to say because I hardly spoke English and my sister
26:41was with me.
26:41She came to help me and on the way back.
26:44She shouted and shouted at me.
26:47She's saying you know one day you'll have the choice to represent the
26:50world's largest country and here holding the mic and you're asking the
26:55guy what should I say?
26:55You should be able to tell the story about the dishes the way you cook
27:00it should be in your voice.
27:01I said but I have such a horrible accent.
27:03Everybody makes fun of it.
27:05She's saying who cares?
27:07They should make fun of you when you have nothing to say which is so
27:10meaningful.
27:11You have such a long history and story and then she got me speaking
27:16classes.
27:17Believe me next day.
27:18She comes to my apartment.
27:19She says I booked you for these speaking classes.
27:21So I go to the teacher and I taught her Punjabi instead of learning
27:27English.
27:27I taught her my native language.
27:28But it was an amazing moment 20 years ago when I could stand and I can
27:36still reflect on that that she said that one day there would be a choice
27:39where you have to represent a country and the cuisine you represent all
27:44ancestors be confident be proud find the right vocabulary communicate
27:50with the world all came from her.
27:52This is nothing to do with me.
27:53That's beautiful.
27:56How do you balance tradition versus innovation?
27:59A very hard balance, but also, you know, you don't want to alienate your
28:05own people.
28:05It's a very important part of an ethnic restaurant.
28:08You need to make them feel we are adding to your cuisine and culture.
28:12You're not taking anything away.
28:14Because some people feel that when it's very whitewashed, it's very
28:18modern.
28:18You're taking away.
28:19You don't want the ethnic people to enjoy that.
28:22While we are an extension of our heritage.
28:27And I feel that our innovation and yesterday we were serving this dessert
28:31for the festival and it's a very traditional dessert.
28:36It's like a crispy honeycomb and it's the toppings are generally reduced
28:42milk, but we added layers of flavors to it and most of the people who
28:46had it.
28:47They said possibly it's spice shop adding to all that basil seeds are
28:52amazing addition.
28:54So we are merry-go-round flowers because it's so part of our celebrations
28:58to make a reduction of that to add that so making people.
29:08Where do you eat outside of your family home?
29:11What restaurant do you go to?
29:12So we have a fixed routine between me and mom.
29:15She takes me to my favorite childhood places.
29:17She drives.
29:19So she picks me up from the airport and we go straight to the Golden
29:23Temple.
29:25Because my grandmother used to say that you need to feed before you are
29:29at the receiving end.
29:41It's a free community kitchen.
29:43We have that as you walk out, we have a whole trip planned way to eat the
29:47best breads and we have the same images from when I was a kid in those
29:51restaurants till now and she takes me and every time I'm like, oh my
29:57God, how lucky can I be and because now things have changed almost
30:01everybody knows you in the city.
30:02So it's little different but I still enjoy it and
30:06I remember my grandmother's words.
30:10She said that, you know, remember you don't wear your crown on your head
30:14because it is going to break your back if you're going to wear it all the
30:18time.
30:18What you achieved has nothing to do with who you are.
30:22We don't care.
30:23We care for who you are.
30:25When you're in a hometown, you got to bow to everyone.
30:28These are the people who made you stand up again.
30:31So I think coming from a family which had these values, I feel very
30:36proud and sometimes when I'm communicating with younger generation,
30:40I'm glad that these things are working for them.
30:42It's amazing.
30:44When you think back, the one thing I love about doing digital content like
30:49this is, this is a timestamp of where you are at the beginning of the
30:53bungalow journey, you know, just five months in and where you plan on
30:57going.
30:58What are your dreams?
30:59Do you still dream big dreams?
31:00No, I don't dream big.
31:03I dream focused.
31:05I've run this for 10 years with my heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears,
31:13everything in it.
31:16I hope I have a lot of people supporting me up there and right here.
31:19Success of bungalow, I'll be honest with you, has really humbled me.
31:27It showed me something that we need to submit ourselves and sometimes to
31:32the divine plan.
31:33I know we live in a very modern city and we have to think about a lot of
31:38commerce and values and all those things, but I feel more than the
31:43prices of the dish.
31:44I feel people are feeling the value of good riches and creations.
31:48So I hope I can continue that for nine years and seven months and I feel
31:55that a few years ago during the pandemic, I was on probation so I couldn't
32:02open a restaurant and I saw something very interesting happen to me was
32:08Feed India.
32:09We're sitting in New York with the power of partnerships and social
32:13media.
32:13I fed more than 18 million meals in India.
32:19I spent more than 18 million meals sitting in my apartment and I feel that
32:24that gave me a vision that maybe post bungalow, I should focus just on
32:29malnutrition in India, finding ways for partnerships, school meals, old-age
32:36homes, leprosy centers, where I can create partnerships.
32:39Maybe bungalow is the reason, that is the reason bungalow was created by
32:43all the universe.
32:45It gives me a platform to stand on where I can focus on the nutrition and
32:51the malnutrition of India.
32:52I feel it's all leading to that.
32:56I hope we're going to sit again after nine years and seven months and I'll
33:01say the new chapter begins in all its brokenness and glorious forms.
33:07Well, I truly believe that we will be connected forever.
33:09I'm so grateful that someone, somewhere, somewhere much higher power than
33:15me put this, put you in my life and you in front of every one of our
33:20audience.
33:21I could talk to you for another five hours, but I know that I'll see you
33:25again.
33:26I know that I will travel to New York one day and I will sit and enjoy your
33:29food in person.
33:30I can't wait to go to India one day.
33:33That's going to be a magical trip.
33:34I'm so grateful for this opportunity.
33:37Chef Vikas, what's the best place for people to stay in touch to hopefully
33:42try to get a reservation?
33:43We open every day at 11 a.m.
33:47except for Mondays.
33:4911 a.m. on Resi.
33:51Reservations open two weeks in advance.
33:53It is amazing that every time you log in, you will see a few tables, but
33:59generally within a minute, it's been amazing.
34:03Or else you can come and a lot of people come around 3.30, 4 o'clock and
34:09they wait outside.
34:09So we do keep some tables for walk-ins as a tradition of the restaurant.
34:14And I hope you will see the kind of art and heritage I'm bringing for our
34:20first-generation people to see that how India still works with their hands
34:24and hearts.
34:26It's magical.
34:27It's at Vikas Kanha group on Instagram.
34:30Please give him a follow.
34:31Please support the work that he's doing.
34:33Please check out the movies, the books.
34:36You are a true gift to the hospitality industry.
34:39I'm so grateful to have met you.
34:41I can't wait to meet you in person.
34:42If you or anyone from your team ever makes it to San Diego, our house is
34:47your house.
34:47Please come and have some some barbecue in our house before we finish.
34:52I want to tell you that, you know, thank you so much.
34:54You you took the route you took the work of instead of being the glam you
34:59became the mirror and you're reflecting this light, which you know, I've
35:03been following you and it's humbling for me.
35:06I'm so grateful.
35:07Thank you for your time as always stay curious get involved and don't be
35:12afraid to ask for help.
35:13If you guys want to reach out to me at Sean P.
35:16Walsh F SHA WNP WALCH EF that is chef Vikas Kanha.
35:22We are grateful.
35:23We are humbled.
35:24We appreciate you.
35:31Thank you for listening to restaurant influencers.
35:33If you want to get in touch with me, I am weirdly available at Sean P
35:37Walsh F SHA WNP WALCH EF Cali barbecue media has other shows you can
35:45check out digital hospitality.
35:47We've been doing that show since 2017.
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36:08It is an incredible insight into leadership into hospitality into
36:13Enterprise restaurants and franchise franchisee relationships.
36:17Take a look at room for seconds.
36:19And if you're ready to start a show reach out to us be the show dot media.
36:24We can't wait to work with you.