Behind the Michelin stars: Finding out why money and accolades no longer matter to chef Vikas Khanna

Every day at 4:30 p.m., before The Bungalow opens its doors to guests, chef Vikas Khanna takes a short, deliberate pause amid the chaotic, high-stakes preparation of the kitchen for a quiet moment of prayer.

For Chef Khanna, this daily ritual is the anchor of his existence in one of the most brutal restaurant markets in the world, New York. Having won laurels in the culinary world and beyond – from collecting Michelin stars, writing acclaimed books, directing films, leading one of the largest food aid events in history to now being featured in the TIME 2026 TIME100 – he has reached a rare pinnacle.

Yet instead of chasing endless expansion, it asks a different question: What gets you out of bed when you’ve achieved everything?

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Gratitude ritual at 4:30

In the tough hospitality industry, which – as Khanna says – requires being present “every night, in sickness and in health, 16 hours a day”, his energy no longer comes from chasing awards.

“Every day I open my door at 4:30 am to pray. I feel that God has given me one more day to serve my country and my people,” Khanna told LiveMint in a recent interview.

“I take it completely differently because after a certain point money is no longer your motivation. Awards or recognition is not your motivation. You have to find a new motivation to wake up every day and fight for something.”

Rejecting a billion dollar empire

Modern culinary success is often measured by a yardstick. The standard trajectory for celebrity chefs involves aggressively expanding their footprint—launching global chains, franchise concepts, and building massive hospitality groups. Khanna deliberately deviates from this plan.

“Everybody wants to have 6 billion restaurants, a $2 billion empire. I don’t have to fight for that. God gave me everything,” he said bluntly.

Chef Khanna said his goal is to run his one restaurant so perfectly that 1.5 billion people can look at it and feel truly represented. To him, creating something with “sustainable beauty” means honoring its unique origins rather than endlessly replicating it for profit. “His beauty is that he was born completely different from the rest of the world,” he said.

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Survive the Culinary Olympics

New York is merciless; affluent and hyper-competitive, it’s a place where a $10,000 dinner sits side by side with a $1 fast food meal. Khanna said he sees the city as the ultimate proving ground, a city without proxies where the world’s best chefs are expected to be on the floor every night.

“I always say this is the Olympic pitch,” he explained. “If you win a gold medal in this field, it will give many players and athletes the strength to work harder.”

He believes that if Indian cuisine can secure its place at the top of this platform, New York will give the rest of the world permission to embrace and elevate it.

Embracing the alphabet of taste

For him, part of that promotion requires a surprising tactic: leaning on stereotypes. While many chefs brag about the fact that Indian food is often reduced to dishes like butter chicken, Khanna doesn’t see these staples as an insult, but as a basic entry point.

He drew a parallel to teaching a child to read, arguing that an introduction to any foreign culture begins with just a few recognizable “alphabets” before developing into complex sentences. By letting go of the frustration surrounding culinary stereotypes, he frees up his energy to focus on what really matters: ensuring that Indian food remains a vital part of the global conversation.

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True Heritage: Feed India

Assessing his life’s work, Khanna does not point to his restaurants or media presence as his defining reference. Instead, his proudest achievement comes from one of the darkest periods in recent history.

During the pandemic, his Feed India initiative organized a massive humanitarian effort, demonstrating the sheer power of collective action when the world was divided. “Restaurants and Michelin stars will come, people will write more books, but to achieve something like that is very, very difficult,” he said. It is this spirit of extensive, selfless cooperation that he wishes to preserve for the next generation.

A promise for 10 years

All of this culminates in his current project, The Bungalow, which comes with a definitive expiration date. Bound by a promise to his late sister Radhika Khanna, the chef has committed to the venture for exactly ten years.

“I’ll do it, but I won’t do anything where I’m not 100% present,” he insisted. He admitted the physical toll of working 16-hour days and agreed to have 50 years in the culinary profession by the end of this decade.

In addition, his vision is moving from standing at the stove to investing in the next generation of artists and entrepreneurs through his hospitality group.

But until this decade is over, the routine remains intact. Doors open at 4:30pm each day. A prayer will be said. And chef Vikas Khanna will return to the kitchen, motivated not by the stars next to his name, but by the country he carries on his shoulders.