(December 28, 2025) At Global Indian, we are drawn to ambition that doesn’t end with a one-way ticket. This year-end special celebrates chefs who built their craft in global food capitals; from Bangkok, New York, Washington D.C., France and Switzerland to Miami, Nantucket, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Bordeaux, Monaco, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha and Antalya, and then chose to return to India to serve closer to home, carrying with them years of global culinary experience.
They didn’t come back to “settle.” They came back to apply international discipline, technique, and imagination to local towns and cities, creating restaurants and menus that honour where they began while raising the bar in the places they now serve. As part of our 2025 year-end special, we revisit some of the most compelling returnee chef journeys we covered this year. These are the stories of chefs who thrived abroad, absorbed global perspective, and came back to Indian towns and metros to build restaurants, mentor teams, and shape evolving food cultures.
Vardaan Marwah
Vardaan Marwah: From Bangkok to Pune
Chef Vardaan Marwah’s culinary worldview was shaped in some of the world’s most influential kitchens, including the Michelin-starred Gaggan in Bangkok, where he discovered how technique and imagination can turn food into narrative. Mentored by chefs such as Sujan Sarkar and Suvir Saran, Marwah absorbed global discipline before returning to India with the intent to build something personal and grounded.
That intent took form in FARRO, Pune, a restaurant that blends originality with restraint and flavour-first cooking. Raised in Delhi, with early inspiration drawn from his grandmother’s instinctive home cooking, Marwah fused emotional memory with professional precision. Today, FARRO stands as a reflection of his return, and a space shaped by global learning, rooted in Indian sensibility, and committed to developing local talent and culinary identity in Pune. Read More
Vedant Newatia
Vedant Newatia: From New York and Europe to Indore
Chef Vedant Newatia’s journey unfolded across continents as he trained in Switzerland, refined in France, and got tested in the fast-paced kitchens of New York and Washington D C. His time abroad taught him discipline, adaptability, and perspective, while stints in Chile shaped his ingredient-driven approach. Alongside food, his mixology education in Amsterdam added another layer to his craft.
Yet his most decisive move was returning to Indore, his hometown, to open Atelier V. In a city famed for street food, Newatia chose to introduce contemporary European dining with humility and intent. Rather than chasing metros, he invested in his city, trusting its curiosity and appetite for new experiences. Atelier V is not just a restaurant rather a statement that global ideas can thrive meaningfully when rooted in local context. Read More
Chef Prashanth Ravi
Prashanth Ravi: From North America to Coorg
Chef Prashanth Ravi’s nearly two-decade career took him through high-pressure kitchens across the United States and Canada — from Florida and Miami to the summer seasons of Nantucket, and later the reset and rebuild phase in Vancouver. Educated at Christ College and the Culinary Institute of America in New York, he rose quickly, learning leadership through challenge, recession, and reinvention. Canada demanded resilience, as he rebuilt his career from scratch before earning the Red Seal certification.
His return to India was driven by family, responsibility, and a desire to contribute closer to home. Now as Executive Chef at Timbertales Luxury Resort in Coorg, Ravi applies global systems to local abundance designing diverse menus, mentoring teams, and embedding sustainability into everyday operations. His homecoming reflects maturity, purpose, and service. Read More
Vishesh Jawarani
Vishesh Jawarani: From New York to Goa
Chef Vishesh Jawarani’s culinary identity was forged in New York, shaped by training at the Culinary Institute of America and professional exposure to some of the city’s most exacting kitchens. The Michelin ecosystem taught him discipline, structure, and the value of operational excellence. Yet his return to India was not about recreating New York, it was about reinterpretation.
In Goa, he launched JSan, blending Japanese izakaya traditions with the relaxed, unhurried spirit of the state. His global experience informs everything from kitchen systems to service standards, but the soul of the space is unmistakably local. Jawarani’s return reflects a deeper understanding of hospitality where he is using international exposure to elevate everyday dining while respecting the rhythm and culture of the place he chose to build in. Read More
Chef Vivek Salunkhe
Vivek Salunkhe: From France and Monaco to Bengaluru
Vivek Salunkhe’s defining culinary lesson came in France, where working under Chef Raymond Blanc instilled in him a lifelong respect for ingredients and classical technique. Experience in Monaco further refined his understanding of luxury dining and storytelling through food. But Salunkhe always intended to return to India, carrying global precision back to familiar soil.
In Bengaluru, he opened Crackle Kitchen, an intimate, omakase-style space built around seasonal produce, open-fire cooking, and narrative dining. His return is about raising the bar in India with training teams, setting consistent standards, and proving that world-class technique can live comfortably within Indian culinary instinct. Crackle represents his belief that discipline, not spectacle, is the true mark of excellence. Read More
Anuj Sarkar
Anuj Sarkar: From Middle East to Mumbai
Anuj Sarkar’s global career spans luxury hospitality hubs including Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, and Antalya, where he led award-winning kitchens and mastered the fundamentals of consistency, precision, and guest experience. His story began in Lucknow, where cooking was an act of care before it became a profession. Now back in Mumbai, Sarkar brings his international exposure to Torii as consulting chef, shaping menus that balance strong technique with modern creativity. His approach remains grounded as he believes in championing fresh, local ingredients, mentoring young chefs, and treating dining as an immersive experience rather than a transaction. Sarkar’s return reflects a full-circle journey as he applies global learning with local empathy and intent. Read More
The chef stories chronicled above represent some of the strongest returnee journeys in the realm of culinary art that we covered in 2025. The chefs’ global success did not replace local responsibility, but deepened it. Having trained in the world’s toughest kitchens, they chose to return not for comfort, but for contribution. In doing so, they are shaping food cultures in Indian cities big and small, mentoring the next generation, and proving that the most meaningful impact often comes from bringing the world back home.
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