Garima Arora wins 2nd Michelin star, tips chef hat to her team

Setting yet another record, chef Garima Arora is now the first Indian female chef to add two Michelin stars to her cap. Gaa, her restaurant in Bangkok, received the award in the Michelin Guide Bangkok, Phuket and Phang Nga 2024 edition. Arora’s Michelin milestones began in 2019, when she became the first Indian female chef to earn the star that recognises culinary excellence. “I am absolutely thrilled and excited. But I have to say that this is a testament to my kitchen team and the hard work that they have put in. I just had a baby boy and six months in, I’ve been learning how to balance between running a business and a kitchen. If it wasn’t for the stellar team I have, we wouldn’t have achieved this. So as much as I would love to take the credit, I can’t,” she says.

Representing India’s vibrant culinary scene on an international level, Arora is on a mission to change the narrative. She says, “We are the biggest and fastest-growing economy in the world. It’s just time that we flex our soft power, and food puts us in a position to do so. We have a culinary history that is thousands of years old. That story needs to be told.”

Taking about Gaa and its inception in the Thai capital, she reveals, “Bangkok happened by chance. I did not choose it; it chose me. I was living and working in Copenhagen and wanted to go back to India. But I made a pit stop in Bangkok and never left. The next thing I knew, I had my own restaurant. That’s Gaa. I made one trip up North in Udon Thani with a chef friend of mine and this one market visit opened my eyes. I thought we could do something interesting here. Now, Bangkok is my second home.”

Launched in April 2017, the restaurant is Arora’s way of rediscovering the roots of food that ultimately lead to India. “I strongly believe that what French cuisine has done for Europe, Indian cuisine has done for Asia. Exploring Indian cuisine in an international setting gives us the chance to reflect on our history and showcase the role India has played. This solidifies that historical connection with the rest of the continent,” she ends.