‘Felt like I had entered someone’s temple’: Vikas Khanna recalls
his deep admiration for Shah Rukh Khan’s restaurant
Celebrity chef Vikas Khanna
has built a fine business by taking the essence of Indian specialties on a
global scale. His award-winning restaurant in New York Bungalow stands
testimony to this adventure, embodying his belief that Indian food is an
effective medium for telling domestic background stories What began as a
boyhood dream in Amritsar has blossomed into a renowned culinary landmark that
now belongs to a deep country Bollywood praise.
It's a sacred
place, not a transaction
During her appearance on the talk show Shekhar Tonite, Khanna
shared the heartwarming words Khan spoke to her after his visit to the
bungalow. The image of the actor is closer to that of the chef in comparison.
"There are so many places to eat in the international arena,
and yet Shah Rukh Khan said, 'Every restaurant I've been to so far
has felt like a shop to me, just a transaction. But after coming here, I wanted
to go into someone's temple,'" Khanna recalls. Khan was patient,
describing its deeper meaning in the room: "It felt like you wanted to
create our rich subculture, our mothers and fathers, our ancestors. It's an
extremely difficult part to do."
A memory under
a crescent
Khanna first shared this deeply private joy in an Instagram post in
2024. He wrote that his lifestyle revolves around three people: his
mother, chef Sanjeev Kapoor, and Shah Rukh Khan. Narrating the tour, Khanna
defined how Khan asked him to sit down and talk, a conversation that took
Khanna traveling back to his early life memories of watching Dilwale
Dulhania Le Jayenge with his sister every day.
"When SRK visited the bungalow & asked me to
sit with him... he became my hero for who he is. His voice. His stamina. His
confidence. His compassion. His friendship," Khanna wrote. The moment was
overwhelming. He looked up at the restaurant's glass ceiling and saw a clear
crescent, a sign explaining that he loved seeing the chef hand Khan the version
and wrote, "You shake my hand and say, 'Bungalow represents us. Our mother
and father. Our ancestors. Our India' There it is."
The Bungalow: A
Pilgrimage to the Feeling of Home
The mundane nature of Khan’s praise echoes a sentiment previously
shared through Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who Khanna says no longer defines the
bungalow as a restaurant, but still as a “place of pilgrimage,” according to
Khanna, whom Bezos defines as guests just not going to; They make the
pilgrimage because the distance revives a deep sense of the worlds they left
behind.
For Khanna, evoking this deep sense of familiarity is the very
coronary heart of the Bengali idea. “If you look closely, you will see that the
restaurant is not just about food, it is almost like a divine intervention,” he
told The Indian Express earlier, explaining that the design draws heavily from
Indian values, ancestral homes and hospitality. “You can spend millions on
gold, extravagant decor and incredible lighting, but nothing compares to the
comfort of your grandmother’s house, that’s the feeling we wanted to recreate.”
The chef added that the restaurant space is ultimately an ode to his
predecessor sister Radhika Khanna. "With Bangalow, I'm living her dream.
I'm keeping her alive with my paintings," he said.
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