About this episode

Vikas Khanna shares his journey from Amritsar to becoming a Michelin-starred chef in New York, discussing his restaurants and the stories behind his cooking.

Vikas Khanna grew up in Amritsar cooking beside his grandmother, arrived in New York with $3 and a dream, and became one of the first Indian chefs in the city to earn a Michelin star. His restaurant Bungalow—now one of NYC’s most coveted reservations—tells India’s culinary story through its 28 states. We talk about Vikas’s early cooking career in NYC, the rise of Junoon and later Bungalow, and what it means to cook for both presidents and homeless folks. Subscribe to This Is TASTE: ⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Hosts: Aliza Abarbanel, Matt Rodbard

Guest: Vikas Khanna

Topics covered

• Indian food
• culinary story
• Michelin star
• cooking career
• restaurant industry
• cooking for diverse audiences

Keywords

• Vikas Khanna
• Indian cuisine
• Bungalow restaurant
• Junoon
• Michelin star
• cooking
• New York chefs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bungalow, Junoon, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, megaphone.fm

Places: Amritsar, New York

More episodes of This Is TASTE

• 809: Claire Saffitz’s Summer Baking and Next Book Plot Twist · July 20, 2026 · 1h 23m
• 808: The Man Who Coined Fusion Cuisine and Discovered Charlie Trotter with Norman Van Aken · July 17, 2026 · 1h 11m
• 807: Caroline Chambers on Hallmark Bakeries, Ramen Vongole, and Why She Ordered the Entire Taco Bell Menu · July 15, 2026 · 53 min
• 806: Lydia Pang Argues “Stinky” Is a Great Thing · July 13, 2026 · 59 min
• 805: Real Talk About Drinks Writing and Trend-Chasing Bars with Echo Lake’s Chloe Frechette · July 11, 2026 · 38 min
• 804: Toby Maloney Made Half a Million Cocktails. Emma Janzen Was Taking Notes. · July 10, 2026 · 1h 5m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the This Is TASTE podcast page.