Gaggan, we met once before not too long ago, when I attended your talk at Singapore's Mandala Club (formerly known as Straits Clan). In all my time interviewing, I've never met a chef as...
As [effed] up as me?
I was going to say unconventional!
Okay so, unconventionally [effed] up? (Both laugh.)
There are many others out there with bold personalities, but you might just be the most unabashedly honest chef I've ever met. What do you think about that?
I think I am an honest person and that's where my honesty comes from even as a chef. Honesty is difficult to find in the fake world we sometimes live in today. I've always thought the only thing I could do with my success, is to be the same. It really goes back to our teachings as a Hindu, as a Brahmin, as a Buddhist or as a Christian or Muslim etc. Our religions remind of us of honesty and that the more dedicated to being as real as we can be, our mistakes and learnings too, will be a part of our growth. Honesty for me is in the ethics of being human, be it in business or anywhere else--and that's what I practice on a daily basis.
On your Chef's Table episode (season 2, episode 6 on Netflix) you shared that at every crossroad you've faced in your career, you've always asked yourself if something felt authentic to you, before you made your next move. Is it important to you not to do things for the sake of it?
Now more than ever I have this mindset. In the first five or six years of my career, I was always worried about being diplomatic or correct. I would worry about everything from how I spoke to how I stacked the dishes. Now I'm more concerned with pushing myself to be the best and most real version of who I can be.
Are you surprised that people have embraced you as you are?
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