Garima Arora Becomes First Indian Woman to Win a Michelin Star

Garima Arora, who owns an Indo-Thai restaurant in Bangkok, has become the first Indian women to win a Michelin Star.

With this win, Mumbai-born Arora, who owns the GAA restaurant, which she started in early 2017, joins other Indian star chefs like Vikas Khanna, Gaggan Anand, and Vineet Bhatia.

Chef Arora is a Le Cordon Bleu alumnus, who studied at Jai Hind College in Mumbai and has also worked as a journalist before she decided to chase her dream of becoming a chef, Indian Express reported. She has also worked with celebrated chef’s like Gordon Ramsay and Rene Redzepi, as well as Gaggan Anand.

The Michelin Guide, that was started in the 1900s, is a regulatory authority which allows customers to know which restaurants are worth dining, the Indian Express reported.

The GAA is also the first and only restaurant in Bangkok owned by an Indian woman to be given the Michelin star. This is the second edition of the ‘MICHELIN Guide Bangkok, Phuket, and Phang-Nga 2019 Selection,’ and it recognized 27 dining establishments. While 23 restaurants were awarded one star each, four were awarded two Michelin stars, NDTV reported.

Gwendal Poullennec, International Director of the MICHELIN Guides, congratulated the winners and tweeted, “This year’s guide is a reflection of the growing talent in Thailand’s culinary scene with many new restaurants added to the selection, including 13 specializing in Thai food, reinforcing Thailand’s reputation as a go-to destination for gastronomy.”

Previous Michelin Star winners from India were all men and include top names like Vikas Khanna, Gaggan Anand, and Vineet Bhatia.

Arora has also trained at Copenhagen’s Noma, which has been consistently ranked as one of the world’s best restaurants.

“Our restaurant is only a year-and-a-half old, so it was a very pleasant surprise to get the call from Michelin. It’s a huge stamp of approval for us,” Arora told Forbes magazine.