Vikas Khanna
Amritsar-raised chef, author and filmmaker behind New York’s Bungalow, sharing Indian food and its stories through television, books and everyday moments in the kitchen.
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Vikas’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- Roots
- Amritsar, Punjab, India
- Based in
- New York City
- Work
- Chef, restaurateur, author, television host and filmmaker
- First venture
- Lawrence Gardens, a banquet and catering business
- TV breakthrough
- Host and judge of MasterChef India season two in 2011
- Restaurant
- Bungalow, opened in New York in 2024
Mini bio
A kitchen in Amritsar.
Vikas grew up with family feasts, seasonal Punjabi produce and his grandmother’s cooking. He started Lawrence Gardens, a banquet and catering business, before graduating from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration. Those early food memories still run through his work.
From Junoon to television.
As executive chef at New York’s Junoon, he helped bring Indian cooking to a wider audience. Junoon received a Michelin star in 2011, the same year he became host and judge of MasterChef India’s second season. Fans later followed his teaching into Celebrity MasterChef.
Stories beyond the plate.
His books include Utsav, a photographic exploration of Indian festivals and their food. He directed and wrote The Last Color, which premiered at the 2019 Palm Springs International Film Festival. His documentary Barefoot Empress follows Karthyayani Amma, who began school at 96.
Food as a way to care.
During India’s 2020 lockdown, he coordinated Feed India from Manhattan, helping distribute meals and food kits across India. In 2024 he opened Bungalow with Bombay House Hospitality. The restaurant draws on India’s vintage clubhouses and honours his late sister, Radhika.
Creditschronological, newest first
Television and film
- 2025Celebrity MasterChefJudge and mentor
- 2022Barefoot EmpressWriter and director
- 2019The Last Color, Palm Springs world premiereDirector and screenwriter
- 2011MasterChef India, season twoHost and judge
Restaurants
Books
- 2017Utsav: A Culinary Epic of Indian FestivalsAuthor, Bloomsbury edition
Awards
Quotes
Warmth. The feeling that you’re welcome at the table.Vikas Khanna, Resy questionnaire, May 12, 2026
Asked what he values most in restaurants.
Trivia
- His favourite childhood meal is rajma chawal, kidney bean stew with rice.
- He names a kadhai as the kitchen tool he could not live without.
- His favourite cookbook is Joy of Cooking.
- For a New York pizza slice, he chooses Joe’s Pizza.
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Follow Vikas for kitchen moments, Indian food traditions and life at Bungalow.
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