Chef Spotlight: Gaurav Anand of AROQA in the Chelsea Neighborhood of NYC

Chef Gaurav Anand commented, "I arrived in New York City eight years ago with two suitcases and a lot of dreams, dreams of expanding my culinary empire and giving people in this city a taste of something fresh and exciting in terms of Indian cuisine." With the opening of his third restaurant Awadh on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Gaurav introduced New Yorkers to the rich culinary heritage of a little known region in northern India. And now, with the very successful opening of aRoqa contemporary Indian restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, Guarav continues to please New Yorkers with inventive Indian cuisine.

Born into a family of lawyers and restaurateurs from New Delhi, Gaurav had his culinary path set before him at an early age. After graduating from college where he studied business administration, he worked with his brother Saurabh's catering company. At one event, he wondered why there was a delay in the food and inquired about it in the kitchen. The chef challenged him to cook the food himself if he didn't like the pace and Anand realized that, to be a restaurateur, he would need to learn how to handle the kitchen as well. That is when his journey truly started.

Not formally trained as a chef, Gaurav learned by watching chefs and recreating their recipes. He would stand in the kitchen for hours as the chefs cooked, picking up techniques and forming the basis for his own style. He slowly learned how to mix spices, create marinades and explore ingredients that bring out flavors in vegetables and legumes like okra, eggplant and chickpeas. He worked with some of India's master chefs, including leading restaurateur Jiggs Kalra, and soon had built a clientele list for his catering company and restaurant that included business leaders, politicians and celebrities.

A spark that ignited on his first trip to New York City to visit his then girlfriend, now wife, in 2006 meant that Gaurav would have to act on even bigger aspirations. He realized that New York was the place to build his career as it was the epicenter of a multi-cultural hotpot, a city that had numerous Indian restaurants but nothing that would set them apart in a way that he had envisioned.

Bhatti Indian Grill, Gaurav's first restaurant, opened in the bustling Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan in 2007 to rave reviews. Bhatti became a destination for anyone craving a taste of authentic north Indian cuisine, and earned a spot on the city's culinary map.

Following the success of Bhatti Indian Grill, Anand was approached by one of the owners of Moti Mahal Delux, an acclaimed restaurant chain from India. Anand, along with his brother, sought to bring the authentic taste of Mughlai cuisine to New York via the franchise and opened Moti Mahal Delux in the summer of 2012. A few months after it opened, Moti Mahal Delux earned a prestigious 2 star review from The New York Times, one of only a handful of Indian restaurants to ever receive such a rating. This review would change the course of the restaurant and Gaurav's career forever.

During his travels back to India, Gaurav journeyed to Lucknow in the Awadh region and fell in love with the flavors of the cuisine and the dum pukht slow cooking style popular in the region. Awadh opened it's doors to Mahhannta's Upper West Side in June 2014, a showcase for a storied region's cooking and the realization of a dream to be among the forefront of Indian restaurateurs in America.

Broadwayworld.com had the opportunity to interview Gaurav Anand about his career and restaurants including his newest, aRoqa in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan.

What was your earliest interest in cooking?

I hated cooking when I was a kid. I grew up in a family with an entire team of chefs and we always loved food. Also, I am from the city that loves eating out - Delhi, the capital of India. My dad is a lawyer and he wanted me to be a lawyer, but I never wanted that. So after my brother studied hotel management and opened his restaurant, I followed the same path opening my first restaurant with Jiggs Kalra, a culinary legend in India. He was a consultant on our first restaurant and I started working with his team and learning from them. Prior to that, when I was in the management stage, I used to do very little cooking. When I moved to the US, I realized that I was going to fail big time because you don't get the same chefs and cooks like you do in India. They're not doing it with the same passion. So I decided that I would learn myself. At first, I thought should I go to culinary school. But instead, I asked myself what is the best way? I hired the best people and learned from them. And then I got more and more involved.

Who were some of your career mentors?

My mentor is Kailash Kher. He's not a chef, he's a musician. India's Michael Jackson! When I met him at my restaurant, he said, "Your food is amazing," and I replied, "Your music is amazing." He said, "Gaurav, do you cook?" I said, "no." He said, "I never had an introduction to any music and I just started singing and learning from different people." So I asked, "What do I need to do to cook?" And he said, "You need to learn from the best." And that's why he's my mentor. India's biggest musician is my mentor! He is the one who gave me this life when I was saying, "I'm so tired, what am I doing with my life?" And he said, "Your restaurant has such good food, you have such great knowledge, so much passion." I said, "But I don't want to go back to school." He said, "I never went back to school to learn music. I never had that kind of money." I was like, "I have money, but I don't have time, my time is money." This was all in India. Then I met him again in New York and he said, "Have you started cooking?" and I said, "Yes." So he's my mentor.

What do you consider the most distinguishing features of your work as a chef?

I love eating. I love street food, especially when I was younger, so you will see a lot of street style in my food. Slowly, slowly, I matured with fine dining culture. Chefs like Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, were major inspirations behind aRoqa. They have both dined at my restaurants many times and they love my food. It was always one of those things that one day I wanted to do something that had not been done yet by any Indian chef. This is the first Indian restaurant without chana masala, without butter chicken, without lentils, without delivery, without takeout. It's the biggest risk I have taken. It has French influence. It has that finesse in the cooking. But if you ask me, who's the inspiration behind aRoqa? It is Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller. Because Daniel used a lot of international influences in his cuisine. And then there's Jean-Georges Vongerichten, who opened abcV recently. I think he's an inspiration for every chef on the planet.

What is your favorite meal or meals?

My favorite meal is a home cooked meal from my mom. She makes very good Indian-Chinese food. And that's my favorite thing she cooks. My favorite, if you talk about restaurants, is Italian. So far, Del Posto has been my favorite. Everything on the menu, especially the way they use truffle, is outstanding. And I love their dessert menu.

Tell me a little bit about your restaurant for our readers.

My first restaurant Bhatti is North Indian, kebab inspired. Moti Mahal Delux is the inception of Indian fine dining culture. It was the beginning of butter chicken, dahl mekhani (lentil dish), tandoori chicken. That restaurant was the one that invented those dishes. People talked about it. They have 101 restaurants all over the world and there's only one in the US, which I operate. My third restaurant, Awadh, celebrates the dum pukht tradition of the city of Lucknow in the region of Awadh. And aRoqa is my masterpiece.

To learn more about Gaurav Anand and his restaurants, visit his web site at https://www.gaurav-anand.com/.

aRoqa is located at 206 Ninth Avenue, New York, NY. Opening hours are Sunday - Wednesday 5pm - 12am and Thursday - Saturday 5pm - 2am. Brunch is coming soon. Reservations can be made by calling 646-678-5471 or on OpenTable.com. Visit their web site at https://www.aroqanyc.com/.

Photo Credit: Evan Sung

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