Celebrity Chef Vikas Khanna can now add to his list of impressive accomplishments the honor of receiving a Michelin Star for his work at Junoon Restaurant in New York City. Chef, restaurateur, food writer, filmmaker, humanitarian and the host of the TV Show MasterChef India, he is an entrepreneur with a vision. Hailing from Amritsar, India, Vikas took the inspiration derived from large family feasts and turned it into a brilliant career. He has received extremely impressive reviews from a wide variety of media sources, his gastronomic peers, as well as recognition from the ever important James Beard Foundation. 1) How has being honored with a Michelin Star effected your professional life? Receiving the Michelin Star was the greatest honor for our entire team at Junoon, who all worked extremely hard toward a common vision. Junoon has achieved a benchmark, and now the commitment is to do even better in the times to come. 2) What’s your next project? I am a person who believes in a vision of togetherness and what we decide as a team along with our mentor Rajesh Bhardwaj, will be the direction. In the meantime, I am working on our film series Holy Kitchens. I just had the honor of spending time with His Holiness Dalai Lama in Bodhgaya. His Holiness will be speaking in the film on Buddhism and the interconnectedness of food and spirituality. 3) You are a writer, television personality, filmmaker and humanitarian. Which one of these delivers the highest level of satisfaction and why? The highest level of satisfaction for me comes from the work that has over the years represented our country, cities and our family in the brightest light. I want my work as a whole – food, books, films and television to...

A chef extraordinaire that has brought the ar t of Indian cooking to the forefront of the international palette, Sanjeev Kapoor continues to forge ahead with new ideas and creative ventures. Already a household name in India as the host of the hit television show Khana Khazana, Sanjeev Kapoor is on a mission to give Indian cuisine a worldwide presence. He has consulted as a guest star on Western cooking shows and keynoted international food festivals. He has penned countless best-selling cookbooks and even created his own line of Indian condiments. Here, seated in the lounge of Junoon Restaurant, NYC, he talks to Varli about his upcoming cookbook, his rise to fame, and his favorite pastimes. As one of the most celebrated names in Indian cuisine today, how did you get your start? I started out by working in several different hotels and restaurants across the world. When I came back to India in 1992 as a young 28 year old, I was made Executive Chef at a fairly large and prominent hotel. Although the honor and experience was amazing, I eventually began to feel like I had reached my professional peak in some ways. In order to push myself beyond managing a group of hotels, I decided to pursue a Master’s in Marketing to broaden my skill set. Soon after that, I was approached by a TV cooking show that initially was only interested in having me participate for one episode with a panel of different chefs to be featured. Although I was just one of the chefs on this show, I was so excited by the opportunity that I began putting in more time and effort than any of the other participants – putting my heart and soul into the project helped me stand...