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Indian origin chefs named finalists for James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards
Sujan Sarkar and Arvinder Vilkhu are nominated for the coveted Best Chef award by the James Beard Foundation. Winners will be announced on Jun. 10
Chef Sujan Sarkar (L) and Arvinder Vilkhu (R) are the finalists in the Best Chef category in the Great Lakes and Southwest region respectively / Sujans.com/Instagram/@arvindervilkhu
The James Beard Foundation announced the 2024 nominees for the restaurant and chef award, and the honorees of the leadership awards -- humanitarian of the year, and lifetime achievement award, on Apr. 3, at a live ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington D.C.
Two Indian origin chefs, namely, Sujan Sarkar from Chicago, Illinois, and Arvinder Vilkhu from New Orleans, Louisiana, are among the finalists in the Best Chef category in the Great Lakes and Southwest region respectively.
Winners will be honored and celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Jun. 10, 2024, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Sujan Sarkar
Sarkar earned the James Beard Award nomination for Indienne, his Chicago-based fine-dining restaurant which is also the first Indian restaurant in the city to have received a Michelin star. Sarkar describes Indienne which launched in 2022, as a “progressive Indian fine dining restaurant” with an affordable menu that ensures access to a large number of people. The menu offers vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and vegan Indian food options infused with European techniques.
Sarkar also opened 'Rooh' in San Francisco and 'Baar Baar' in New York in the past and was associated with other food joints back in New Delhi and in the UK.
Kolkata-born Sarkar’s choice of career was fashion design. He started in the F&B industry by “sort of a fluke,” after which there was no looking back, he told the Michelin Guide. After graduating in culinary school, he started as a cook at the JW Marriot in Mumbai. He moved to London in 2004 where his career took exciting turns. After a decade in the UK and different parts of Europe, Sarkar returned to the motherland and worked at Olive Bar & Kitchen as executive chef. He also launched 'Tresind' in Dubai and launched India’s first artisanal cocktail bar called 'Ek Baar' in New Delhi.
Arvinder Vilkhu
Arvinder ‘Dickey’ Vilkhu is the founder of Saffron Nola and Saffron Caterers, and has been in the F&B industry for four decades. Vilkhu has earned the nomination for Saffron Nola for the third time, the other two times being in 2023 and 2018.
Vilkhu developed a passion for hospitality at age 8 from watching his elders cook. At that age he was enamored with the dining table and execution of a meal, and ensured everything was perfect, so much so, that he was the only one in his family, to pursue a career in the F&B industry, coming from three generations of engineers.
He graduated from the Institute of Hotel Management in New Delhi in 1977 after which he joined the Maurya Hotel group and then moved to the Taj Group of Hotels. He trained under international chefs at both places. He moved to the US in 1984 to run the Food and Beverage department of the InterContinental hotel in New Orleans. He was then offered the General Manager position at the elite Pickwick Club, a position he held for three decades.
During this time, Vilkhu also continued to nurture his passion for cooking. Along with his wife, he began catering for close friends, and shortly after started a catering company. His unique dishes became the talk of the town and the company then expanded to a catering facility Saffron Caterers due to the demand for their food and services.
Tickets for the 33rd annual James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards will be available for sale starting Apr. 9. The ceremony will be livestreamed here.
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