Garima Arora

Some Lesser Known Facts About Garima Arora

• Garima Arora is an Indian chef whose culinary skills earned her a Michelin star after which she became the first-ever female Indian chef to receive the distinction.

• When Garima was 15 years old, her father took her to the hotel Taj in Mumbai for dinner. After finishing supper, Garima’s father showed her the bill and told her if she wanted to eat quality food, she would have to earn a lot.

  

• In an interview, Garima talked about her father and said,

• If it wasn’t for him, I would never have got into food.”

• Initially, Garima worked as a journalist for six months before she made a career in Culinary arts, taking her cooking skills to a whole new level.

• In 2010, Garima moved to France to complete her diploma at Le Cordon Bleu following which she moved to Dubai to intern at legendary chef Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant.

• In 2013, she went to work under the guidance of René Redzepi at Noma, Copenhagen, one of the world’s finest restaurants. In an interview, she talked about René  and said,
  

   He changed the way I am as a person and not just as a cook. Working with him you understand that being a cook is an intellectual pursuit.”

• In 2015, she shifted to Bangkok and worked as a sous chef alongside Indian chef Gaggan Anand at his restaurant ‘Gaggan.’

• In 2017, Garima Arora launched her own restaurant named ‘Gaa’ in Bangkok, Thailand, which serves a mix of Indian and Thai cuisine.

  

• In February 2019, when she won the title of Asia’s Best Female Chef for the year, her restaurant Gaa was listed among the world’s 50 best restaurants list claiming the highest new entry award.

• In 2020, Garima Arora founded a nonprofit origination Food Forward India.

• In 2023, Garima Arora appeared as a judge in MasterChef India- Season 7 along with celebrated chefs Vikas Khanna and Ranveer Brar. She is the first female chef to judge the show in the history of MasterChef India. ^[2]India Today

• In an interview, Garima said had she not become a chef, she would have become a pilot.

• Garima likes to consume alcohol, wine to be specific.

  

• In an interview, Garima talked about her childhood crush Kabir Bedi and said,
  

  Kabir Bedi came to the restaurant when I wasn’t here. He’s been my childhood crush since I was a kid. Since I watched Khoon Bhari Maang, in fact. But I wasn’t in the kitchen the night he came to GAA. When I came back the next day and someone told me, I completely flipped and kept asking why no one told me when he was there.”

• Garima has a dog named Alooji. ^[3]Instagram – Garima Arora

• In 2023, Garima appeared on an Indian talk show titled The Kapil Sharma Show. Before that, she had appeared in Indian Idol- Season 13 and Kaun Banega Crorepati- Season 14.