The fine dining restaurant Gaa in Bangkok, headed by Mumbai chef Garima Arora, was included in the Michelin Guide. The restaurant earned this prestigious honour within one-and-a-half-years of its launch.

According to a report by Mid-Day, in an event held on Wednesday, the restaurant earned one Michelin star. The menu of the restaurant boasts of a diverse menu, with dishes inspired by both Thai and Indian cuisines and also makes use of cooking techniques from both the countries.

The Bar at Restaurant Gaa

“I had moved to Bangkok to spend six months in Gaggan’s [Indian chef Gaggan Anand] kitchen since I was supposed to head his Mumbai outpost. When that deal fell through, the same owners decided they wanted to open another restaurant in Bangkok. Everything happens for the good,” she added. 

The chef stated how her biggest influence was her father who used to cook various dishes for her when he returned from his international trips. She told the newspaper: “My father travelled a lot, and every time he returned from abroad, he would cook exotic dishes. Watching him was magical. At the age of seven, I wondered how he put apples in a cake tart! When my mother learnt of the award, she said, ‘I am surprised you have won a Michelin. You never entered the kitchen when growing up!’”

Garima Arora

Chef Arora is a graduate from Jai Hind College in Mumbai who actually ventured into journalism before taking over the culinary industry. A Le Cordon Bleu alumnus, she went on to work with the biggest names in the business like Gaggan Anand, René Redzepi and Gordon Ramsay. Eventually, she moved to Bangkok and took over Gaa, making it the first and only restaurant in Bangkok to be headed by an Indian woman, reports Indian Express.

At such a young age, Arora is already the head of an internationally successful restaurant and has her name included in the Michelin guide, an achievement, that only a few chefs get to earn throughout their career.