Final yr, information of Dubai’s Avatara restaurant being awarded the coveted MICHELIN Star — an indicator of gastronomic finesse — made headlines. The victory felt private to Indians throughout the globe. Rightly so. In any case, Avatara rose to in a single day fame; turning into the world’s first and solely vegetarian Indian restaurant offering a MICHELIN Star fine-dining expertise.
My curiosity in regards to the prestigious award — who decides the awardees, the eligibility standards to get one, and what units three MICHELIN Stars aside from two — led me down a rabbit gap that ended on the MICHELIN Information web site that held the solutions.
For a restaurant to be awarded a MICHELIN Star, I found, it’s assessed towards 5 standards. These vary from the standard of the elements, the concord of flavours, and the mastery of methods, to the chef’s character as expressed via the delicacies and consistency throughout the menu.
A deeper dive into the nuances of the enduring score — a observe that has been on since 1926 — led me to quite a few Indian-origin fine-dining institutions. As soon as credited for placing desi meals on the world map, they now boast of the MICHELIN Star honour for his or her culinary brilliance.
Immediately, we discover these.
1. Avatara, Dubai
The brainchild of chef Rahul Rana, Avatara infuses a touch of tradition in each dish. The meals right here follows a capricious dynamic with unassuming elements — suppose alongside the traces of jackfruit momos, lotus roots and bitter gourd — making for a implausible fine-dining expertise.
Chef Rana credit his hometown in Rishikesh, Uttarakhand for his skill to champion magic with a pure vegetarian ingredient checklist. As is talked about on Avatara’s web site, he notes, “Cooking is like meditation for me. I’ve probably inherited this from my grandfather, who was a chef for the Maharajas.”
2. The Tune of India, Singapore
The story of chef Manjunath Mural — who vastly contributed to the restaurant’s success — is as compelling because the meals at this Indian restaurant; additionally the primary of its variety to obtain the MICHELIN Star in 2016 when the Michelin Information Singapore was launched.
Born right into a household of docs, chef Mural’s culinary calling was diluted amidst the din of his household’s desires. However he continued. Immediately, his dedication and pure expertise for Indian meals are mirrored within the tandoori capon (a type of hen) and biryani (a blended rice dish with meat and spices).
In dialog with MICHELIN Information, he shared, “My culinary type has at all times been targeted on conventional Indian recipes, however as I gained expertise, I’ve launched extra revolutionary strategies within the kitchen like cooking sous vide and likewise extra up to date elements. However they’re nonetheless infused with conventional regional flavours,” he says.
3. Veeraswamy, London
A fabled identify in Indian delicacies overseas, Veeraswamy on Regent Road — house to the district’s most affluential buying hubs and eateries — is a story as previous as time. Inside its opulent interiors, eating areas are marked out with mahogany furnishings and plush velvet decor (that’s paying homage to the Nineteen Twenties Maharaja quarters).
The MICHELIN Star obtained in 2016 solely added glory to the crown that was resting on Veeraswamy’s head for being ‘UK’s oldest Indian restaurant’. However behind this legendary place is a narrative of a gentleman named Edward Palmer who arrived in England from India in 1880. Razor-sharp and adept at enterprise, Palmer got here up with an thought to provide the town a style of India — the place he had grown up.
Palmer’s pickles and chutneys (a savoury condiment) had been offered underneath the model identify ‘Nizam’, which expanded and grew into ‘Veeraswamy’.
4. Rania, Washington D C
Laccha aloo chaat (a potato snack) with sorrel (a leafy inexperienced plant) chutney.
Native knowledge, up to date cooking methods, and heritage flavours convene in each dish that the kitchens at Rania put out. The flavour quotient right here oscillates between candy, spicy, and savoury, and generally a single mouthful encompasses all of those.
Chew your means via the cult favourites of the menu — chana masala panisse (chickpea fritters), stuffed morrels, lamb cheela (an unleavened Indian pancake), and scallop Mangalorean. ‘Attractive’ is how the MICHELIN Information describes Rania, and people who have visited it, bear testomony to this.
5. Tamarind, London
The menu at this MICHELIN Star restaurant in Mayfair, London, is a scrumptious dichotomy of contrasts. Simply as you start to familiarise your self with compressed watermelon salads, Allahabadi baked samosas (a fried Indian snack), and coastal crab cake with their delicate flavours, the tandoori Konkan prawns, char-grilled lamb chops, and hen tikka hasnu (royal kebabs with spices) will take you without warning with their advanced bursts of flavour.
The give attention to tandoori dishes is an instance of how Tamarind has tried to revive regional ideas of cooking, centric to completely different areas in India.
6. Semma, New York Metropolis
At this MICHELIN Star restaurant on Greenwich Avenue in New York, you’re urged to recollect the idyllic backwaters of South India. If you happen to’re discovering it arduous to, the menu will make it simpler.
The meals here’s a tribute to chef Vijay Kumar’s childhood in Tamil Nadu and the meals he grew up consuming. And to take the authenticity a notch additional, everybody is inspired to eat with their arms. Childhood holidays spent within the lap of paddy fields in Arasampatti village close to Madurai had an excellent influence on chef Vijay’s thoughts, and his restaurant, immediately, is paying homage to these recollections. A must have right here is the nathai pirattal (snail masala).
7. Benares, London
Within the coronary heart of Mayfair is a restaurant named after Banaras (the holy metropolis in Uttar Pradesh). True to its identify, this MICHELIN Star restaurant is impressed by the colourful road meals tradition that lurks not simply within the streets of its namesake metropolis but in addition throughout the nation.
Khau gallis (cluster of meals stalls) have been synonymous with India’s meals scene for many years now. And Benares is making an attempt to recreate that nostalgia with a twist. The reply to ‘how’ lies of their samosa ragda tartlets (crushed heat potato on carom seed tartlets), junglee khum kebab (portobello mushroom and truffle griddled kebab with a touch of white chocolate), and kale and fig kofta korma (meatballs).
8. Gymkhana, London
Opulence and grandeur are the theme of the day at Gymkhana in London, which evokes the identical mystique that colonial Indian golf equipment frequented by the elite, did. The restaurant — which was awarded two MICHELIN Stars in 2024 — is a product of the Sethi siblings — Jyotin, Karam and Sunaina — who’re on the helm of the restaurant empire within the UK with Trishna, Gymkhana, and Hoppers.
Apart from its sensible vary of meals, Gymkhana additionally retails its well-known butter masala; Goan curry masala with flavours of cumin, coriander and turmeric; vindaloo masala (a spicy Indian masala with a scorching and bitter style); and rogan josh masala (a slow-cooked traditional made utilizing the best chillies from Kashmir).
9. Junoon, New York
Translating to ‘ardour’ in Hindi, Junoon banks on daring flavours. Whether or not it’s their Junoon chaat (dahi vada, candy cumin raita, tamarind chutney, mint cilantro chutney, kala chana masala, beet papad) or their Portrait of India dessert (mango-saffron mousse, jamun plum, pistachio cake), every dish is a celebration of the land.
As MICHELIN Information factors out, the menu at Junoon makes essentially the most of goat as an entire. That is mirrored of their Oriya mutton curry (goat, mustard, garam masala, Kashmiri chilli powder, kala channa salad, tomato chutney) and goat chop pasanda (tandoor roasted marinated goat chops, saffron cashew sauce, garlic naan) amongst different dishes.
Junoon was the recipient of the celebrated MICHELIN Star in 2010, the yr it opened, and in keeping with its web site, has earned the identical coveted award eight years in a row.
10. Gaa, Thailand
Chef Garima Arora is a well-recognized face. We watched with bated breath as she handed the decision on dishes on the units of MasterChef India (Chef Garima was a choose for Season 7). Her culinary prowess is thought throughout India, so when her restaurant Gaa obtained its second MICHELIN Star in 2023 (it obtained the primary in 2018) — making chef Garima the one Indian feminine chef to earn this accolade — the nation cheered.
Chef Garima explores the wedding between custom and modernity at Gaa via dishes corresponding to kuzhi paniyaram (a savoury rice ball made utilizing fermented rice and urad dal batter together with tempered onion and spices), blue swimmer crab in a creamy coconut-based curry spiked with grilled banana leaves, and crispy okra (girl’s finger).
Edited by Pranita Bhat
Sources
What’s a Michelin Star? by MICHELIN Information, Revealed on 1 October 2022.
