Vikas Khanna

Chef Vikas Khanna was born on 14 November , 1971 in the city of Amritsar . He was born to Davinder and Bindu Khanna and is the second child. As a young child Vikas Khanna was unable to walk until 13 years of age . He was born with misaligned legs and feet . Due to this Vikas Khanna spent much of his time in the kitchen with his grand mother and started to learn the art of cooking . He started cooking and developing recipes at a very young age . When most kids of his age were busy playing outside in the fields , Vikas Khanna was cooking with passion . Soon he decided to open up a small business in the form of a small cholla bhatura vendor at Lawrence gardens banquet. It was all going smooth until his uncle questioned him that if this was what he wanted to do all his life and took him to a famous caffe and told him that this is the bench mark that he has to beat .Vikas Khanna started taking things seriously and applied to join Welcomgroup graduate school of hotel administration (WGSHA) . He graduated from WGSHA , Manipal . Post graduation he decided to go to the U.S and make the country proud. Before moving to the states he worked under many renowned chefs of Taj group of hotels , Oberoi and Leela group . Vikas Khanna struggled in the USA , adjusting to a new culture and coping with daily needs . But it was his love for food and determination which kept Vikas Khanna going even though there was a time when he stayed at a homeless people shelter due to lack of money . After roughly struggling for 9 years , Vikas Khanna opened his world class Indian restaurant in new York by the name of ‘Junoon’ . Within a year his restaurant shot to fame for the service and quality of food provided and was awarded the prestigious Michelin star by Michelin guide in 2012 . Vikas Khanna has hosted the likes of Richard Gere , Tyra Banks , Salman Rushdie , Harrison ford , Christina Hendrix , Martha Stewart and Andre Agassi at his world class restaurant . The restaurant has been widely written about by the new York press . Vikas Khanna rose to fame in the states and became the face representing Indian cuisine in the west . Khanna has even served the US president Barrack Obama in 2012 for a fundraiser at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York . On charity fronts , Vikas Khanna inaugurated , ‘ South Asian Kid’s Infinite Vision ‘ (SAKIV) which focuses on the world wide issues that demand urgent action such as tsunami relief , hurricanes and natural disaster relief funds . He has collaborated with other charitable organizations such as , ‘Save The Children’ and hosted many events world wide . Khanna became a household name in India when he took over Akshay Kumar as one of the judges in ‘Master Chef India’ (season 2) . Currently he is judging ‘Master Chef Junior Swaad Ke Ustaad’ alongside chef Kunal Kapoor and chef Jolly . His other media appearances include him featuring as a consultant chef on Gordon Ramsey tv show ‘Kitchen Nightmare’ on FOX . He also appeared as a judge on the two-part season finale on ‘Hell’s Kitchen’ . Apart from being a chef , a luxurious restaurant owner and appearing for several shows , chef Vikas Khanna has also written several books . Some of these books are , ‘Flavors First : An Indian Chef’s Culinary Journey’ , ‘My Great India Cookbook’ , ‘Everyone Can Cook’ , ‘Savor Mumbai’ , ‘Modern Indian Cooking’ and ‘Ayurveda – The Science of Food and Life’ . Chef Vikas Khanna also produced the film series , ‘Holy Kitchens’ . In the series he explores the food sharing traditions of different cultures . The first film in the series , ‘True Business’ , features Sikh community kitchens ( Langars) with the introduction by Deepak Chopra . The episode premiered at the Sikh international film festival . His second episode , ‘Karma to Nirvana’ , premiered at the New York Indian Film Festival . The third episode , ‘Moon of Eid’ , premiered at Harvard university . Vikas Khanna has been featured on the cover of Men’s Health India Magazine (October 2012) . He also featured in the Top Sexy and Successful list of ‘Anokhi Magazine’ in their 5th Anniversary Issue and as the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’ by People Magazine in 2011 .