Chef Garima Arora on her new Thai restaurant in Delhi, Michelin star, motherhood and more

Michelin star chef, Garima Arora, is a tour de force. Balancing motherhood, fitness, meetings, and culinary passion—is all in a day’s work. And now, she’s back in India, with a Thai restaurant

At DLF One Horizon, our photographer waits to click Chef Garima Arora’s photographs. Seven months pregnant, she has already finished a few meetings, one workout, and playtime with her eighteen-month-old Aham, and it’s only 1 pm. The rest of the day will be spent at Banng, the upcoming Thai restaurant she is opening later this month, along with restaurateur Riyaz Amlani. That’s Arora for you—always on the go. 

While Mumbai was their first choice of location, the team couldn’t settle on the location here, so, Delhi happened almost by chance. “It’s a true homecoming—I spent my first nine to 10 years here, my extended family lives here. Besides, I’m very positive about how people dine out in the city, chasing authentic dining experiences. It’s not about Indianising your experience anymore. I recently went to this amazing ramen restaurant, Long Finish, and was impressed by how perfectly the food was made—the place was packed on a weekday, and that’s such a good sign. Banng is going to be authentic Thai food. Of course, we’ll have some fun with it, but I have to do justice to what Thailand taught me as a chef and after 10 years of living in Bangkok. We have many Pan Asian restaurants but very few Thai; I’m privileged to have that insight.” 

With her husband, Rahul Verma

Bangkok has been a second home to Arora, where she runs a two-Michelin star restaurant, Gaa, which focuses on traditional Indian cooking techniques using locally sourced ingredients. It is the city she has come to know herself as a chef, a businessperson, and a parent in the city. Now, she is stepping back into doing things in India. “It feels great to be back, and that sense of starting something here feels similar to when I took Indian food to Bangkok. It makes sense,” she added.

On the menu are several authentic dishes, including curries, especially white Thai curry, which is already a hot favourite at their trials; there’s the real masaman, a lot of stir fries, and a mala hot pot, a flavour new to most Indians but an everyday dish in Bangkok. “With appetisers, we’re taking liberties to make it fun for the bar snacks, too, so people can ease into the serious part of the menu,” she informs. As for the interiors, Arora feels it is essential for the place’s vibe to match the food, as much of the artwork is sourced from Bangkok. The bar programme is also from Bangkok and is something to look forward to.

With Riyaz Amlani, partner in Banng

The journey with Banng started a year and a half ago, with Amlani doing the heavy lifting and handling the bureaucratic side of opening the place. “He ate at Gaa sometime back, and we immediately clicked. I was considering opening a Thai restaurant in India, and he wanted to do one too. One thing led to another. Having him as a partner helped me navigate the bureaucratic, not-so-fun side of it. I love being in the kitchen, and he can worry about all the boring stuff,” she laughs.
 
In the kitchen, being a perfectionist, Arora struggled to get the flavours right, so she made their curry pastes at Gaa and had them fly into India twice a week. “Chefs are bringing their seafood from Japan and vegetables from Europe, and it’s a world where everybody gets the best produce possible. So why not do that with Thai food as well? Nothing is out of a can—everything is freshly pounded weekly and sent over. I am so confident in the vegetarian portion of the menu that I challenge the non-vegetarians to tell her the difference between the non-vegetarian and vegetarian curries and see if they miss the meat, she adds.

With team Restaurant Gaa in Bangkok after they received two Michelin stars  for the second consecutive year

Motherhood has been tiring but rewarding for Arora. “I wish I had known earlier how nice it is to have babies—I would have had five. I am blessed with a very supportive husband who is a hands-on father. I couldn’t have ordered a better one myself, so God just sent me the perfect man,” she laughs, adding how supportive her parents and her team—who have been with her since day one—have been through her journey. “I always believe that women can do everything—the people around them need to create an ecosystem where women can succeed because they can. If you give all of our lists to men, they would sink. So it’s unfair to expect women to do this alone.”

Arora starts her day in Bangkok at 6.00 am when Aham wakes up. He goes to play school at around 9 am, and she gets in a workout and heads to work. “When my husband is not travelling, he takes over the pick-up and drop-off duties, ensuring one of us always does that. We’ve been able to do it so far, and there are another 18 years to go,” she says wittily.  She is on her feet 18 hours a day, and the only thing she does to recharge is exercise and ensure she has only two meals a day. “I don’t snack. While this pregnancy has been a little bit rougher than my last one, where I’m craving a lot of sugar, other than that, maintaining a good diet, exercise, and good sleep gives me the energy to go through everything. Both meals always start with protein. Fat and carbs are the smallest part of my meal. Because of my profession, it’s easier to break down my meals according to nutrition. My breakfast is the same daily—eggs with kale, spinach, or maybe an avocado. It makes my life very easy.”

We ask what Arora does to relax. “Can you define that? Because I don’t know what that is,” she chuckles, adding, “I have all my life to relax and chill. I don’t need to do that now. I’m happy at home with my kid and find happiness in everything I do. I don’t get too worked up about things, I don’t watch TV, and I have not had a day off in 10 years.”

The first Indian woman to win a Michelin star feels Michelin should be in India by now, but it’s up to the government to invite them. “Indian food is just waiting to happen, but we need a bit more bureaucratic push from our officials to facilitate that. Michelin doesn’t come to any country by themselves; they have to be invited by the government to be there.” 

As for the added pressure on Banng, Arora says, “Our work came first, and the stars came second. We have specific standards and work ethics that we carry with us wherever we go. My head chef is Manav Khanna, who’s been at Gaa for almost 10 years. Now, it’s his turn to carry forth that legacy.”
An alumna of Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, Arora advises chefs who want to make it big in the world of F&B to keep their heads down and work hard. “When you start chasing success and accolades, that’s when it becomes the most elusive. You don’t get into this line of work to be famous or to live a glamorous lifestyle. Trust me, it’s the exact opposite of that. It’s donkey work.”

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