{"id":62681,"date":"2026-11-12T02:37:43","date_gmt":"2026-11-12T02:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/12\/gaggan-anands-raga-in-delhi-inside-his-new-restaurant-with-chef-rydo-anton\/"},"modified":"2026-11-12T02:37:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-12T02:37:43","slug":"gaggan-anands-raga-in-delhi-inside-his-new-restaurant-with-chef-rydo-anton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/2026\/11\/12\/gaggan-anands-raga-in-delhi-inside-his-new-restaurant-with-chef-rydo-anton\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaggan Anand\u2019s r\u0101ga in Delhi: Inside his new restaurant with Chef Rydo Anton \u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Gaggan is home. Or is he?\u00a0<\/p>\n

The flamboyant Kolkata-born drummer-turned-chef-turned-culinary rock star is finally bringing his irreverent spin on flavour to Delhi with r\u0101ga. His eponymous restaurant in Bangkok was recently named the second best in the world by the influential The 50 List, behind Asador Etxebarri in Spain<\/a>. Of course, expectations are sky-high.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the restaurant oozes attitude. Set in swanky Janpath,\u00a0its heavy doors open into a cathedral-like foyer dominated by stained-glass windows.\u00a0A list of \u2018house rules\u2019 are handed to guests as they enter: phones on silent, one smoke break (if you must), and remember, \u2018this is not dinner and a dash\u2019. It is peak Gaggan: his kitchen, his rules and lick the plate when you are told to.<\/p>\n

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\"Chef<\/div>\n

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Chef Gaggan Anand
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\n SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n

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The \u20b923,333 you pay per couple (non-refundable and to be paid in full when you book) is not just for a meal, it is for theatre, the extravagance and, let us be honest, the novel experience of being guided firmly through an unpredictable menu in an age when we have become blas\u00e9 about luxury. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, you meet Rydo Anton, the \u2018Ra\u2019 in the equation, and realise why the restaurant has a different, quieter energy from Gaggan in Bangkok. The young, calm chef is putting his own mark on the space, working alongside his mentor to create something fresh. \u201cWhen Gaggan told me we would be opening in India, I said, \u2018Okay. So who is going to come with me? And he said, \u2018No one. It is just you\u2019.\u201c Rydo chuckles and adds, \u201cHe knows I like challenges.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Chef Rydo Anton
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\n SECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n

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Now 37-years-old, the Jakarta-born\u00a0chef\u2019s food is interesting because he is. He was sent to Kuala Lumpur with his brother when he was 11, in the wake of Indonesia\u2019s monetary crisis. \u201cI missed my mom\u2019s food, so I started to cook,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was survival for us.\u201d He went on to get a diploma in culinary\u00a0arts, then got his first internship at 18, cooking for members of a country club in Baltimore. The money he saved from this job enabled him to study at the\u00a0Culinary Arts Academy in Switzerland, after which he worked with Gordon Ramsay\u2019s restaurants in Doha.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Inside<\/div>\n

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Inside r\u0101ga
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\n SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n

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\u201cIn 2012, I went to Gaggan in Bangkok and asked him for a job. I became his head chef in 2015,\u201d says Rydo.<\/p>\n

Gaggan\u00a0explains why Rydo was chosen for India. \u201cAfter 14 years, Rydo knows both my cooking and my madness. He has seen the good days, the disasters, the ideas that worked and the ones that should never have left my head…\u00a0Our energies are different. I can get excited about an idea and want to change everything immediately. He has the patience and precision to work through it and make it happen consistently. And he can disagree with me. That is very important. A kitchen where everybody says yes becomes very boring.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gaggan adds, \u201cPeople keep asking how much freedom I give him. Look at the name: the \u201cRa\u201d comes before the \u201cGa\u201d! He is my partner. r\u0101ga has to carry his identity too. If, after 14 years, all I have taught him is how to copy me, then I have failed as a mentor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Aloo<\/div>\n

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Aloo bonda sandwich
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\n SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n

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As Bon Jovi\u2019s \u2018<\/i>Livin\u2018 on a Prayer\u2019plays in the background, we try Rydo\u2019s spin on Gaggan\u2019s popular Yoghurt Explosion, a version that brings together chilli-dusted guavas, a popular Indian roadside snack, and the popping candy of our childhood. I will not give away too many details from the menu \u2013 that \u20b923,333 price tag is also for the joy of discovery. But I will warn you that you will enjoy some of it, be perplexed occasionally, and yes, not everything will work. Think of it like art: the exposure, the experience and your reaction to it is the point. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think time and attention are enormous luxuries,\u201d says Gaggan. He adds, \u201cSomebody gives us a few hours of their life. What do we do with that? Can we make them curious? Can we make them laugh? Can a flavour bring back something they had forgotten? Beautiful crockery and good ingredients matter, of course. But you cannot buy an emotional response by putting an expensive ingredient on a plate.\u00a0At r\u0101ga, we also want you to enjoy the whole journey without feeling exhausted by the food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Inside<\/div>\n

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Inside r\u0101ga
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I sit facing the kitchen \u2013 always\u00a0the best seats in the house in my opinion \u2013 while an army of chefs work with an easy rhythm, communicating constantly using eye contact and hand gestures,\u00a0so\u00a0all we hear is the\u00a0sizzle of pans. While Sting\u2019s \u2018Every breath you take\u2019 plays from powerful speakers,\u00a0we clip through a 22-course\u00a0menu inspired by some India\u2019s street food, from Bengali walnut\u00a0jhal muri to white chocolate\u00a0pani puri,\u00a0reimagined\u00a0with sophisticated\u00a0equipment, fancy culinary degrees and whimsy. There are nods to comfort food as well, including a serving of saffron ice cream with soft peaks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Monsoon<\/div>\n

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Monsoon glass papad
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\n SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n

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Some flavours are sharper than they need to be, a consequence of the kitchen\u2019s emphasis on concentrating flavour in every course. Rydo is gracious about the feedback, admitting that he is still developing his palate for Indian food. \u201cAfter work I get kathi rolls for dinner, and I love the green chutney. It made me realise we need to make our food punchy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

He adds that the food at r\u0101ga will evolve with the chefs and seasons. As it should.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

After all, Gaggan sees food as a way to express himself. \u201cWhen you are young, you carry a lot of anger and a lot of hunger. You want an opportunity, and when you don\u2019t get it, you want to prove everybody wrong. That energy helped me. But you cannot spend your whole life cooking an argument,\u201d Gaggan says. \u201cDistance also makes you understand things differently. Food you took for granted becomes something you miss. You start examining your own memories more closely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Pink<\/div>\n

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Pink blossom
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\n SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n

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He emphasises that he does not see r\u0101ga as a homecoming. \u201cIndia never really left my cooking. I could be in Bangkok, listening to rock music, using Japanese ingredients and the flavour would still take you somewhere in India. I guess, that connection was always there.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, he says,\u00a0it is Rydo\u2019s\u00a0turn.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

r\u0101ga by Gaggan is at 21 A, Janpath Road, Connaught Place. It costs <\/i>\u20b911,111 (plus taxes) per guest. \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Published – November 12, 2026 08:00 am IST<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Gaggan is home. Or is he?\u00a0 The flamboyant Kolkata-born drummer-turned-chef-turned-culinary rock star is finally bringing his irreverent spin on flavour to Delhi with r\u0101ga. His eponymous restaurant in Bangkok was recently named the second best in the world by the influential The 50 List, behind Asador Etxebarri in Spain. Of course, expectations are sky-high.\u00a0\u00a0 Unsurprisingly, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-luxury"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/waqtdiawaz.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}