Review / We review Bangkok’s new Gaggan Anand Restaurant: where you must tell the chef your favourite rock band, swear word and Karma Sutra position before dining

It’s also always fascinating to see a person embarking on his second act. Just two and a half months after the shuttering of his first restaurant, his next venture, Gaggan Anand Restaurant, opened in a quiet quarter of Sukhumvit Soi 31 on November 1.

At 41, the rock music-loving, vinyl-obsessed chef is ready to put another stamp on Bangkok’s food scene, one that’s arguably Southeast Asia’s most electrifying, competitive and varied (sorry, Singapore).

Expectations are running high. What can one expect from a venture by one of the region’s most memorable food personalities?

First of all, the vibe is more relaxed. It’s as if you’re chilling out at your best friend’s man cave. Any hint of pretension is checked at the door. Upstairs at Arena G, diners sample the 25-course tasting menu (8,000 baht++ or US$265 per person) in a communal space that’s part urban zen garden and part rock concert. For the high rollers, there is the option of the eight-seat private table (minimum spend of 120,000 baht).

There’s unmistakable showmanship with Anand and his young band of 65 chefs. People are often the sum of their experiences, so Anand’s formative stint at Spanish chef Ferran Adrià’s think tank, which was part of the Michelin-starred El Bulli, is presumably a reason Anand is replicating the same incubatory environs.

At the unabashedly named G Spot, the 14-seater chef’s table, Anand puts large parts of his personality on show. With an open kitchen, diners sit by a rectangular table at the centre of the action. And, there is quite a lot of it. The old Gaggan had a glass enclosure that divided the kitchen and the restaurant. Though not stuffy, it was still a conventional restaurant. At the Sukhumvit joint, one gets ready for over four hours of fun, laughs and Anand’s recalibrated cuisine.