#ELLEGourmetCoverStar: Chef Suvir Saran And His Constant Companion – Food

Self-taught chef, author, columnist, and culinary consultant Suvir Saran has lived a life where food has healed him, comforted him, won his restaurant a Michelin star, and shaped his culinary philosophy. When he got a chance, he showed the world that Indian cuisine wasn’t just greasy and heavy but truly flavourful. Today, he’s an author of three cookbooks, and his memoir is expected to come out soon. His life’s journey has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride – but the one thing that’s stayed constant is food.

Into The Kitchen From Childhood

Saran realised at the age of five that he was different. He didn’t know the word gay but understood that he was interested in the same gender.  “Soon I realised that the kitchen was the safest place, where I would help my mother,” In his words, “I folded myself in the pleats of my mother’s saree” as the kitchen became his sanctuary. “I would lock myself inside and know I wasn’t a threat to anyone — I was doing something people appreciated. That’s how my love for cooking began.” At the same time, he learnt how to sing and started learning the scriptures as well.

Life In The Big Apple

His education took him to New York City to study visual arts, but his passion for cooking never left him. So, in the Big Apple, he continued crafting the vegetarian feast for his friends that he used to help his mother make back home, even as he attended school. They loved it. When he was 21 years old, a birthday dinner he prepared for Steven R. Weisman, a New York journalist, set him off on a new path. “People began calling me to cater for weddings and birthdays.” But he was destined for bigger things. “One thing led to another, and entrepreneur Rakesh Agrawal gave me a couple of million dollars to set up a high-end restaurant, Devi, in New York,” he says.

Creating History In The Culinary World 

Devi went on to create history by redefining Indian cuisine in the U.S. and becoming the first non-European restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star in North America. This put Indian cuisine on the fine dining map and catapulted his restaurant to the top ranks. From okra salad, bhelpuri, veal-brain-and-liver bruschetta, cheese-stuffed kulchas, paranthas, and naan, New Yorkers lapped it all up.  He explains, “We were one of the first ones to introduce a tasting menu back in 2004, and I was charging $125 for an 11-course meal. We took Indian food to a gourmet level where people realised it could be chic, regional and light.”

Where Food Became Medicine 

At one time, Saran had aspired to be a doctor. This shaped his food philosophy, where he always craved for nourishing, tasty, and light food usually prepared in Indian homes. Unfortunately, in 2017, he suffered a stroke that left him temporarily blind, prompting him to return to India. Food once again played a key role. “I stopped eating and wanting to live. My mother brought me back to die, but I lived to tell the tale because she fed me food that was tasty. She gave me comfort and confidence that there is a tomorrow. It wasn't easy to smile, to live, to think, to breathe, but I'm back here because India gave me a second chance to live.” Having kerale ki kachri, bharwa baingan, and other comforting, delicious homemade food, Saran got back on his feet, ready to continue his culinary journey and win more accolades.   

Food And Identity

What Saran finds magical about the kitchen is that food connects people. “Food doesn't belong to groupism. It’s everybody’s.” He has always been outspoken about his identity, but it wasn’t easy. “I was brown skinned and openly gay, and I had to face issues. Is it easy to be different and successful? No? Not at all. But I worked twice as hard,” he asserted. However, always an optimist, Saran feels that things are getting better. “I think life will be a little less hard and challenging in the long run, but it's a slow turn, and it needs people in places of power to come out and speak about their identity.” His commitment to supporting people of different identities extends to his workplace with supportive HR practices and policies.  

His Culinary Philosophy 

Today, as culinary director at Neuma, One8 Commune, and Jolene, Saran says he focuses on a food philosophy that is not chasing the latest trends but which excites the palate while at the same time being sustainable and thoughtful – that is why he would rather look toward home kitchens and forgotten recipes as he continues to take his culinary journey to new heights. “Mindfulness and flavour should come first and drama after,” says the globally acclaimed chef.  

Quick Fires: 

Kitchen Nickname: Chef

Comfort Dish After A Long Day:Dal Chawal Sabzi

Favourite Ingredient Right Now: Cauliflower

Favourite Drink: Coke Zero

Food Trend You Wish Would Disappear: All trends – we need mindfulness, not trends

Dream City To Open A Restaurant In: Paris

If You Were A Dish, You Would Be: Dal – loved by everybody

Favourite Song On Loop: Ekla Cholo Re

Favourite Movie: Earth by Deepa Mehta

Your 3 A.M. Speed Dial Person: Orry 

One ingredient you dislike: Attitude

⁠The first dish you cooked: Île Flottante

Editorial Director: Ainee Nizami Ahmedi; Digital Editor: Isha Mayer; Photographer: Meetesh Taneja; Stylist: Idris Nidham; Jr Graphic Designer: Radhika Trivedi (Cover Design); Set Design: Purnima Nath; Food Stylist: Nikhil Bendre; HMUA: Daniel Bauer Academy; Claire Carmelina Gil (rep by Anima Creatives) for Suvir; Creative production: Anushka Patil and Rishith Shetty; Assisted by: Aafreen Anjum, Ishan Sharma (styling), Sneh Lad (creative production), Vaishnavi Rana; Production: Cutloose Productions.