When fine dining finds its rāga

“If music be the food of love, play on.” Shakespeare’s immortal words from Twelfth Night could hardly find a more fitting contemporary stage than rāga, chef extraordinaire Gaggan Anand’s much-anticipated fine-dining restaurant in India, opening in New Delhi on August 26, 2026.

The name itself strikes a musical note. rāga draws its identity from the first names of Anand’s long-time associate and Group Executive Chef, Rydo Anton, and Gaggan Anand himself, while hinting at the rhythm, improvisation and layered composition that define both music and his cuisine. Here, the performance unfolds over 22 courses—an ambitious gastronomic symphony that restaurateur and Anand’s partner, Zorawar Kalra, describes as “ethereal.”

Priced at ₹11,111 plus taxes per person, rāga has already become one of the the country’s most coveted culinary tickets even before its doors are officially open. Reservations are booked for several weeks, turning the anticipation into a delicious exercise in patience. For those hoping to hear the music of rāga firsthand, the only note left to play is... wait your turn.

How did it all begin? “I've always been a very big fan of Gagan Anand's food, I think he is the greatest chef in the world across any cuisine.  We were going to open our own Masala Library, we always had a Masala Library in this location,” says Zorawar. “We were just going to re-open that at the same location in Janpath New Delhi. Because of no fault of ours it had been shut down 8 years ago. Then my wife said why don't we go to Bangkok once to meet Gaggan and try the food?” During that meal both got so overwhelmed that the Zorawar actually had to stand up and give a speech. “Both my wife and I gave a speech at the end of that because we were truly blown away by it, it's the greatest meal I've ever had, the food was just unbelievable!” 

It was then Zorawar realised that the Masala Library concept is fine, but this food is another level. So without any agenda or any plan he and Anand met the next day, and started a conversation. “I’ve known Gaggan for many years, and the conversation did hit it off. We are both very similar and very compatible and that's how the whole thing started. The rest is history!” 

Chef Gaggan’s restaurant in Bangkok is known to be booked for months. Did being a friend of his managed to sneak the couple in without having to wait for months that time? “The long wait was there but he organised something for me and my wife. Gaggan was gracious enough to organise something although he's booked out for months in advance,” says Zorawar. 

Zorawar himself has many restaurants such as Farzi Café, Masala Library, Pa Pa Ya, Bo-Thai, Swan, MIP, Louis Burger, Slyce... and has come out with several Indian dishes with a modern twist that the connoisseurs haven’t seen or tasted before. What aspect of Chef Gaggan’s did he find astonishing? “Well, this is another level of food, this is to be very honest food that is ethereal in nature and extremely cerebral,” he says. “The kind of effort that goes into making each dish is minimum three days, so there is at least one element in every dish on the menu that takes minimum three days to prepare! So, you're talking about a different level of food, this is in my opinion Gaggan, Bangkok and hopefully soon rāga will be considered as the top three restaurants in the world! And the kind of effort that goes into making this food, the flavours that Indian cuisine naturally provides us...  Indian cuisine provides us with the most beautiful canvas on which to paint our own picture. Because Indian cuisine is thousands of years old and is the greatest cuisine on earth anyway.” 

According to Zorawar, Indians already have a big advantage by having the world's greatest cuisine, boldest, most flavourful cuisine. “And then to use that as a canvas on which to draw, to paint our picture is something that gives us a leapfrog ahead of most other cuisines. So, in a way great Indian cuisine is the canvas and then the art and the science and the cerebral thinking is what helps us build this food,” says Zorawar. “In my opinion the food that Gaggan does is extremely cerebral, it's extremely laborious and it's extremely nuanced and detailed,” he says. “When you combine all these, you have the perfect recipe that defines the epitome of cuisine. I found that this cuisine is a level above what anybody in the world can manage. And rather than trying to do it ourselves, why not tie up with the greatest chef in the world who's got a culinary history, a great brand and more importantly, he's a great guy.  But most important thing is, there might be many great people, the compatibility is an absolute must.”

RAGA is a small, specialized dining room.  The main area has 32 seats “and we have a podiaupstairs with 12 seatsbesides a chef's counter table of 5 seats. So, it's a small restaurant. Chef's counter will have the best view because you're going to be sitting at the very edge of the kitchen and all the magic will be happening in front of you,” he says. Menu is going to be modern Indian, same as Gaggan's food -- a tasting menu of 22 courses and we will have a wine paired menu and a whisky flight and we will also have a juice paired menu for people that don't drink.”

Those who want to embark on this exciting culinary journey, booking online is an absolute must as, with the restaurant already booked for weeks, there is hardly any room for a walk-in attempt. “Everything must be booked online, andeverything has to be paid for upfront. We have a website, ragabygagan.com. It's very simple, a two-step process and It's the most frictionless ordering mechanism,” says Zorawar. Or you could just try a walk in and there might be a cancellation, and you might get lucky! “That way, yeah. Otherwise, there's no walk-in system as such.”

“I think it's come out beautifully. It's been designed in a very unique way by Gaggan's team in Bangkok with a very good designer who Gaggan works with -- a genius designer,” says Zorawar. “We’ve got all the crockery and cutlery imported from Japan. It's the most exquisite crockery -- all handcrafted and all custom designed.  And we also have the best glassware and the best machines. So overall it's a combination of everything top-notch giving a truly world-class experience!”

With RAGA, Gaggan Anand is not simply bringing a restaurant to New Delhi; he is bringing an entire culinary language home. Driven by technique, imagination and a distinctly cerebral approach, yet rooted in the richness of Indian cuisine. With all the right ingredients in place, RAGA could well become the place where India’s timeless culinary repertoire meets one of the world’s most audacious contemporary culinary minds -- and where, in true Gaggan fashion, the music of food plays on long after the final course.