Every Diwali, Vikas Khanna finds a way of ringing the festival into ‘Bungalow’, his restaurant in New York.
He does this through mithai — tiny time capsules for Indian immigrants who are transported from America to the epicentre of the festive madness in India.
For Khanna, the festival reminds him dearly of home in Amritsar, where he grew up.
The menu at Bungalow, too, is an ode to the street vendors of India and the crafts they have perfected over generations.
“I hail from a small town, a small community where street food was the only way. In my growing-up years, there was just one restaurant in Amritsar. But it was the food of street vendors that made us go ‘wow’,” he shares.
With a menu featuring a repository of time-honoured recipes documented from across India’s 28 states in all its diversity and hues, the space invites you to reimagine classics like never before. But, along with flavours, it’s also crafted to have a nostalgic touch.
As Khanna shares, it’s the women in his life who’ve been instrumental in shaping his ideals, both towards life and food.
“If you look at it, there was nothing attached to our grandmother’s food except for love; no expectation, no judgement. You were set free when having that food,” Khanna points out.
The menu at Bungalow is crafted to reflect this. The storied restaurant, created in memory of his sister, is meant to fill that gaping hole in the lives of many immigrants.
“She [my sister] would always tell me that I had a sacred gift [cooking]. Through Bungalow, every Indian living in America can know that they have someone who is theirs,” he shares.
Many a night when a youngster or silver-haired guest breaks down after biting into a mithai and being reminded of home, Khanna joins them at the table, shedding a silent tear of his own.
Because he, too, like them, is reminded of the piece of his heart he has left back in India.
Whether by way of ensuring his guests are greeted with traditional dances, lamps and flowers, Khanna is ensuring everyone who enters Bungalow feels at home.