During the pandemic, Chef Vikas Khanna organised large-scale food distribution drives, winning appreciation from many. In an interview with the BBC in 2020, he was asked by an anchor if his sense of hunger comes from India. Khanna responded, “My sense of hunger came from New York.”
He explained further but did not elaborate in this particular interaction, where he credited New York as the source of his hunger, which has left many wondering. Wasn’t it India, with its struggles with poverty and food scarcity, that could have driven such a sentiment? Khanna’s story goes deeper than geographical boundaries.
Vikas Khanna, born on November 14, 1971, is an Indian chef, restaurateur, cookbook writer, filmmaker, and philanthropist. He has been one of the judges of MasterChef India since its beginning. He is based in New York City.
He did his schooling at St. Francis School, Amritsar. He was born with a leg deformity (clubfoot) and wasn't able to run until he was 13 years old.
He began his culinary journey with his family’s banquet hall business before moving to New York. There, he worked various jobs before rising to prominence in the culinary world.
He has hosted four seasons of the show Twist of Taste on Fox Life. Khanna was featured as a consultant chef to help a failing Indian restaurant named Purnima on the Gordon Ramsay TV series Kitchen Nightmares. Khanna appeared as a judge and an Indian cuisine specialist on the two-part season finale of Hell's Kitchen.
Khanna addressed the renewed interest on Instagram, writing, "As this is trending worldwide, I must address this issue." He highlighted India's diverse culture and contributions. "Our cuisine is valued as our greatest soft power; our family structure, spiritual power & wisdom, literature, science, research, technology, music, and culture have defined its space in the world," he added.
Khanna elaborated that while his roots are firmly planted in India, it was New York’s intense, competitive culinary scene that truly awakened his hunger. The drive to succeed in a city as cutthroat as New York pushed him to tap into reserves of ambition, creativity, and resilience he never knew he had. “New York is where my hunger for excellence and compassion grew,” Khanna noted.