Gaggan: the art of a theatrical performance blending cuisine and music—a sort of autobiographical narrative condensed into the dishes, which draws the audience into a liberating karaoke session as the team presents the courses. The new format from one of the few chefs who truly embody the cuisine of the future.
Now one of the most sought-after culinary destinations beyond the continent’s borders, Thailand has brilliantly reinvented itself over the past decade, evolving from a place known for representing the variety and richness of Asian street food into a laboratory of products and flavors capable of branching out in multiple directions (drawing on a melting pot of great charm, not only from a cultural perspective). In a short time, the capital, Bangkok, has literally been flooded with bistros and pizzerias, specialty coffee and matcha bars, some of the most innovative cocktail bars around, and, of course, those restaurants that we now universally agree to call, for practical reasons, “fine dining.”
And it is precisely these places that have become one of the main attractions for an ever-growing foodie tourism scene, strongly driven by word of mouth, the powerful promotional tool of social media, or the curiosity to include in an exotic vacation a dining experience that’s a bit more substantial than just a quick pad thai eaten on the go.
The one and only Gaggan
In Bangkok, there are several restaurants and chefs worthy of the utmost attention (just think of Chef Ton with Nusara and Le Du, the highly acclaimed Chef Pam of Potong, or the three-Michelin-starred German brothers Thomas and Matthias Suhring), but only one brings together in a single package genius, madness, talent, and unpredictability, offering what is described as a multifaceted “experience” that spans visual art and music, cuisine and theater, India and Mexico, Michael Jackson and Pink Floyd, Slovenian Malvasia wines and Scottish whiskeys. We are, of course, talking about Gaggan Anand, the dynamic chef of Indian origin who has been based in Bangkok for several years now, despite recent projects that first saw him open a new restaurant in New Delhi at the end of August (named RaGa) and, in the near future, embark on a hotel project in Japan (Gaggan Hotel) at the historic site of the Daimon sake factory.
However, it is the flagship restaurant in Thailand—first at its location near Lumphini Park and then at its current location in the Watthana district—that created the legend of Gaggan, with cuisine that is vibrant on the palate and entertaining thanks to the chef’s rich storytelling, always peppered with anecdotes that are invariably surreal. Between gestures and flavors, songs and dances that have, over time, become cornerstones of the most interactive contemporary cuisine (see the famous Lick it up—to be licked straight from the plate to the tune of the Kiss song of the same name, or, during dinner, the passing around of the Kama Sutra among diners), the essence of this over-the-top experience hasn’t really changed today. The form and certain ideas, however, have indeed changed. The latest innovation brings the 15 guests, who take their seats at the counter/kitchen where the show takes place, into a space called Gaggan Theater, complete with a personalized ticket distributed at a ticket booth located at the restaurant’s entrance and a warning that guests may not take photos of the dishes, a decision that is iconoclastic to say the least, given the era of media overexposure in which we live.
Then, once you pass through the first curtain, amid (real) fog that gradually clears and colorful panels, you arrive in a room that immediately highlights the chef’s spirit and one of his great passions: music. On the walls are excerpts from songs that have clearly shaped Gaggan’s personality,from “People always told me, be careful what you do” from “Billie Jean” (Michael Jackson) to “Do you belong here?”—a slight twist on the lyrics of Radiohead’s famous “Creep.” Next, you enter a second small room—also colorful and furnished with just a few tables—which serves as a lounge and is sponsored by Compass, a Scottish whiskey brand with delightful fruity notes and one of Gaggan’s most recent collaborations.
On the walls, meanwhile, a visual symbolism blends psychedelic elements with flowers, plants, plates of noodles and fish, chili peppers, and skeletal hands that look like they’ve stepped right out of a Mexican Dia de los Muertos! An extraordinary universe that harks back to Gaggan’s experiences of years past and finally leads to the highlight of the evening: the dining room/kitchen/lab where Gaggan and his team give their all and where, as they say, the magic happens.
In-a-Gaggan-da-vida
Playing on the title of Iron Butterfly’s famous hit, the restaurant is the Indian chef’s Garden of Eden—a playground where he recounts his journey through a verbose narrative that unfolds across the twenty-eight courses of the new tasting menu. Divided into four distinct acts—Juvenile, Defiance, Prominence, and Nirvana—the menu is a gastronomic retelling of Gaggan’s life, from his earliest childhood taste memories to his first explorations of bitterness and his personal takes on Indian classics like papad, chaat, and kachori, moving through his teenage years, a time of rebellion, fame, and, finally, rebirth.
A sort of autobiographical narrative transformed into a series of dishes, interspersed with music that, like a hypnotic mantra, draws the audience into a liberating karaoke session—singing at the top of their lungs—while the team rhythmically presents each course. Needless to say, this is a celebration of the multifaceted ingenuity of one of the few chefs who truly embody the cuisine of the new millennium. A cuisine built on technique and passion, memory and sharing, brilliant intuitions and primordial flavors, journeys and homecomings, individuality and pagan spirituality—a cuisine that, in the end, is therapeutic for the chef as much as for the guest.
It’s no surprise that the menu is handed out only at the end of the meal in a small box modeled after the old music cassettes of yesteryear—inside which lies a deck of cards featuring illustrations of the twenty-eight dishes tasted, along with a list of delicious wines, from the Slovenian Malvasia from Ĉotar to the Austrian Blauer Wildbacher from Franz Strohmeier, not to mention, among others, the subtly spiced notes of the prized Akishika 888 sake. In short, if you happen to be in the Bangkok area, Gaggan’s restaurant is one of those experiences for which it’s worth paying the cover charge.
Gaggan
68 Sukhumvit 31, Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Bangkok 10110
Tel. +66 988831022
