Quick Facts
Biography
Ranveer Brar (born 8 February 1978) is an Indian celebrity chef, TV show judge and food stylist. His television shows include Breakfast Xpress, Snack Attack, Homemade, The Great Indian Rasoi, Health Bhi Taste Bhi, Ranveer's Cafe, Food Tripping, Thank God It's Fryday, Global Cuisine, Raja Rasoi aur Andaaz Anokhaa, Station Masters Tiffin and many more. He was also one of the judges for season six of MasterChef India, which is based on the British competitive cooking game show, MasterChef, alongside fellow chefs Vineet Bhatia and Vikas Khanna and is currently a judge in its sixth season.
Early life and education
Brar was born in Lucknow, India, into a Jatt Sikh family to Ishwar Singh and Surinder Kaur. When fairly young, he was inspired by the local Kebab vendors in Lucknow to pursue his love of food, and was also a volunteer apprentice to one of them. Eventually he joined Institute of Hotel Management, Lucknow, for a more formal initiation into the culinary world.
Career (Restaurants and Associations)
After completing his education at IHM, Brar began his career at the Taj Mahal Hotel. In 2001, at Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa, he opened "Morisco" a seafood restaurant, "il Camino" an Italian restaurant and "Fishtail" a small open air barbeque eatery. Back in Delhi in 2003, he was part of the newly opened Radisson Blu Hotel, Noida. He also became the youngest executive chef of his time in the country at the age of 25.
He then left for Boston, Massachusetts, United States, where he opened "Banq", a fine Franco-Asian restaurant. Banq won numerous awards including the Best New Restaurant in the World by the magazine "Wallpaper".
Following this, he was appointed Corporate Chef for the One World Hospitality Group, one of the oldest restaurant groups in Boston. Back in India, he joined Novotel, Juhu Beach, Mumbai, as the Senior Executive Chef.
Designed and created an exclusive menu for the MTV India chain of restaurants, launched by Viacom 18 consumer products wing. FLYP @ MTV, the first restaurant opened in Delhi in mid-December 2015 with the next launch in Chandigarh. and the third instalment in Mumbai fall of 2017
Created and launched an 'artisan' line of meal kits in association with Haute Chef in December 2015.
Launched a premiumpatisserie called English Vinglish in Mumbai in spring 2016 featuring fusion Indian desserts, breads and bakes.
Opened an all-vegetarian fine-dining restaurant in Mumbai in Dec 2016 called TAG Gourmart Kitchen by Ranveer Brar.
Opened a restaurant called Mayura in GTA, Canada in 2017.
Was responsible for the F&B conceptualisation for the restaurants at the heritage property Alila at Bishangarh by Alila Hotels and Resorts
Associated with Royal Caribbean International for curating gourmet Indian food on two of their cruise liners on their Singapore sailings.
Associated with Thomas Cook India for curating the menu for niche Indian travellers travelling abroad.
Associated with Mercedes-Benz India via the Ranveer Brar Culinary Academy, hosting cooking workshops and demos pan India, as part of the former's Luxe Drive Live campaign.
TV Shows, Web series and Books
He has hosted various cookery shows on Living Foodz (formerly known as Zee Khana Khazana Channel):
- Breakfast Xpress & Snack Attack
- The Great Indian Rasoi Seasons 1 & 2
- Health Bhi Taste Bhi
- Ranveer's Cafe
- Food Tripping along with Chef Gautam Mehrishi.
- Global Menu
- Northern Flavours - Meethi Masti
Other shows he has hosted include Seasons 1, 2 and 3 of Thank God Its Fryday in association with Philips India on Zoom (TV channel)
He was a judge on MasterChef India along with chefs Sanjeev Kapoor and Vikas Khanna
In the summer of 2018, he curated and presented Secrets Behind Food for Sony BBC Earth comprising three shows: Supermarket Secrets, Food Factory Supersized and Food Detectives.
In October 2018, he hosted a unique travel and food show based on Indian Railways for Living Foodz
Hosted 2 seasons of a back to roots and explorative food show for Epic TV titled Raja Rasoi Aur Andaaz Anokha
Featured as a Judge in a cooking based reality show on Colors TV (Viacom 18) called Rasoi ki Jung Mummyon ke Sung in November 2017.
Launched a new mini-video series on Twitter titled Ranveer On The Road, in July 2016, covering his culinary sojourn through Australia, Seychelles, Turkey and Thailand.
Hosted a landmark travel show covering lesser known places, tribes and cuisines across the Himalayas for Living Foodz called Himalayas the Offbeat Adventure
Hosted a successful digital series on his social media channels titled Maa ki Baat He also has over 1.45 million followers on his personal YouTube Channel.
Hosted a similar digital series presenting festival special recipes from homemakers across different cuisines for TLC (TV network) India YouTube channelLaunched his first book titled Come Into My Kitchen in summer 2016.
This was followed by a second book titled A Traditional Twist
Launched his own mobile app at the beginning of 2019, in collaboration with Hungama Digital Media.
He is currently a judge on MasterChef India season 6 along with chefs Vineet Bhatia and Vikas Khanna
Awards, associations and recognition
- Honorary member at the James Beard Foundation.
- Received recognition for his contribution to various cuisines by several institutions such as AIWF, AICA, as also the Mayor of Boston. In addition he has also represented India at the WPF.
- Featured among the top 50 chefs in the Indian Culinary Forum book.
- Handled banquets at the Rashtrapati Bhawan and at the Prime Minister's residence, plus he cooked for several Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities,both in the US and India.
- Featured in the book Celebrated Chefs of India by Marryam H Reshii.
- Appointed Brand Ambassador for SunGold Kiwifruit in India marketed by Zespri International - June 2015
- Appointed Brand Ambassador for Assocom Institute of Technology and Management(AIBTM) -June 2015.
- Appointed first-ever Brand Ambassador for Philips India Kitchen Appliances - July 2015.
- Appointed Brand Ambassador for Go Cheese India (Oct 2015).
- First Indian Brand Ambassador for Italy's Bertolli Olive oil.
- Appointed 'Brand Friend' for Swiss Army Knives pioneer Victorinox.
- Appointed 'Brand Friend' for one of the leading exporters of sea food, Gadre Marine Export Pvt Ltd.
- Awarded 'Indian of the Year' for Chef and TV Host of the year 2017.
- Awarded LFEGA ‘Food Entertainer of the Year’ for 2018.
