What’s Cooking? Success. Mumbai Chef Garima Arora Becomes First Indian Woman To Get Prestigious Michelin Star

The prestigious Michelin Red guide now has the name of a restaurant owned by Indian Chef Garima Arora, reports Forbes Magazine after an interview with her.

The Michelin Red guide is a series of annually restaurant guidebooks published by French tyre company Michelin.

The guide, since 1926 is awarding stars for fine dining establishments. A one-star rating indicates the restaurant has "a very good restaurant in its category", An two-star rating, means "excellent cooking, worth a detour" and the highest, a three-star is an "Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey".

Garima Arora’s restaurant in Bangkok, GAA has been awarded the prestigious spot in the Michelin Guide 2018. The guide describes her restaurant as “Modern eclectic cuisine that blends traditional cooking, and innovative techniques is served here. Locally sourced ingredients are transformed into something unexpected”.

The Journalist turned chef from Mumbai has previously worked with some of the world’s greatest culinary stars in kitchens across the globe. In an interview with Forbes magazine, Arora says, “Our restaurant is only a year-and-a-half old, so it was a very pleasant surprise to get the call from Michelin”.

While speaking about her journey from city journalist to an international chef, Arora says after working as a city reporter, she realised her calling was in the culinary industry.

"I began my career at a newspaper, but I soon began to realise that being a chef is a young person’s game. I had to do it now, if at all. So I quit my job, packed my bags and moved to Paris to study cooking at Le Cordon Bleu”, she says.

While speaking about her plans for her future, she said while she would love to return to India, right now she is “focused on making GAA better with each day”.