TFTA Trailblazers 2026
Present prodigies, Future icons
Top young (and underrated) talents in the Indian restaurantscape whose tables you should eat at in 2026
By Anoothi Vishal
(Peer reviewed by India’s top chefs: Varun Totlani of Masque Mumbai, Dhruv Oberoi of Olive Delhi and Hood Bangalore, Dhiraj Dargan of Comorin Delhi and Mumbai and Anirban Dasgupta of The Oberoi Bangalore)
In July 2009, this writer had written what would be deemed by some in India’s then fledgling restaurant world, a landmark article on “Who is India’s no 1 chef?”. Really an impossible and provocative question to ask. But since restaurants were just about beginning to be of larger consumer interest, it was deemed a worthy enough topic and became the cover story for a prestigious financial daily I worked for at the time. This was the era before the cult of the celebrity chef: Hum Tum, the cult Saif Ali Khan movie where he is a cool chef had released a few years earlier. But mostly, India’s dining scape was still ruled by the “five stars” with independent chefs and restaurants attempting interesting, upscale and high-quality formats still few and far between. This was also before the zillion lists and awards that are now part of the ecosystem (though how much these influence paying customers is still up for debate), and much before influencers, Instagram and such.
My list had undoubted stars from the time –respected and influential chefs such as Hemant Oberoi and Ananda Solomon of the Taj, Madhu Krishnan and Imtiaz Quereshi of ITC, and Ritu Dalmia, even then The Diva of all Italian! All had been peer reviewed by credible contemporaries before we ranked them. But then, without any one mentioning them, I added two more names in a “box” under the main story because I believed these would be the “young” chefs to watch in the future. The two names were those of Manish Mehrotra and Manu Chandra. Indian Accent had opened four months prior at the Manor and I had reviewed it. Olive in Bangalore was gaining some reputation too.
Seventeen years later, and at least two generations down the line, what a different world we live in!
Which underscores the fickleness of the world, and of fame, but also why it is important for talent to keep the faith, keep upgrading and keep their sight on the long game. Even in the Insta age, the fruit of your work may not be instant. TFTA Trailblazers is an interesting new section we are introducing, keeping all this in mind. Every year, we will look at India’s most prodigal chefs for the year, but whose journeys we must keep tracking even within a cluttered market and media scape because we believe they will be at peak popularity in the years to come.
The 2026 Trailblazers list is carefully curated by me with inputs from the top chefs in India whose work I admire and who are our present generational stars.
It is a fact that Indian food is at a high with unparalleled interest within and outside the country. It’s a great time to be a chef, but also a challenging time. Because to be a star chef, you must today be a combination of three things: Perfect skill, imagination and openness to new thoughts, but also you have to be articulate, come with solid people’s and communications skills. So, who are the prodigal chefs of today at whose tables you must eat at and whose careers you must now follow? Ranked below in order.
Rahul Gomes Pereira aka Picu: Go into the enchanting Mister Merchant’s, inside the private member’s club Solene in the still-idyllic Moira, Goa, and you will be captivated with what Picu has done. I have known the chef since he did such a good job with Jamun in Delhi (which has been even more successful in Goa) and even cooked a family recipe or two with him. But Mister Merchant’s by far is his most mature work yet. It’s fun, delicious and deceptively simple with the sophistication that forms the bedrock of the layered mezze and other Iberian-Ottoman-West Asian referenced dishes not laboured or even visible. This is as it should be. Moira super ingredients chillies and bananas are worked into dishes as is unfiltered Portuguese olive oil into chocolate — in un-fussed, mellifluous ways, showing imagination with restraint. There’s no desire to show off, just to have fun. This shows confidence and that’s the best ingredient in any dish. The close-knit chef community in India has been talking about this underrated restaurant and chef in the last few months. As chef Varun Totlani says, “Everyone has been talking about what he has done at Mister Merchant’s. I must go to Goa to eat at Picu’s place now!”
Chef Harish Rao: With Hosa, the talented Rao, who has had stints with the grand dame of well-researched south Indian food in the country, Dakshin in Chennai, and later Avartana, has finally found his metier. What he is creating at Hosa is nuanced, well researched but also wholesome and fun. It’s food with soul, with sparks of intelligence which feel pretty effortless even when they are most visible. Rao is a great story-teller too, who has obviously travelled through the countryside eating his way through it, and has great nuggets of information. With that comes technique, and above all a palate that allows him to combine different elements together. Deliciously.
Vardaan Marwah: Pre-covid Marwah headed the superb Rooh in Delhi, working under the aegis of Sujan Sarkar, whose mastery over skilful, technique-led presentations combined with regional Indian flavours is undoubted. Since then, Marwah has shifted his base to Pune, and definitely come into his own. At Farro, Pune, there’s a balance between sophistication and ease that marks the restaurant out as not just Pune’s but amongst India’s best. We are now far removed from the age of painstaking presentations and self-conscious “artistry” in food. The way forward is restaurant food that is delicious, easy while still referencing its local context instead of merely replicating something. Marwah shows how it is done even at a salubrious Sunday “Med” brunch.
Koyel Roy Nandy: With stints with The Oberoi Kolkata and with Ritu Dalmia at Diva Café, Koyel is very much a trailblazer as head chef at Sienna store & café in Kolkata, bringing together knowledge and love for Bengal’s cuisine, ingredients and culture in skilful, modern plates along with co -chef Avinandan Kundu. “What they are doing at rannaghor (a 10-seater, with a modern Bengali tasting menu) is absolutely unprecedented. The internationalism and pushing of the boundaries while keeping the cultural ethos intact is phenomenal”, says chef Anirban Dasgupta.
Chef Shamsul Wahid: It is not easy running a pop chain of restaurants like Social and yet keep pushing the boundaries with dishes that are not just crowd pleasers but which aptly represent city and regional cultures. Wahid is one of my favourite chefs because he understands Indian flavours, spicing and layering in a way that few in the quest for “modern” do. His focus is increasingly on a rigorous rediscovery of the regional even when it is playful. Everything does not have to be visibly “cutting edge”.
Vignesh Ramachandran: One of the most discernible ways in which Indian food within India is going forward is via chefs who have trained at the country’s top restaurants in Delhi or Mumbai or at Michelin starred ones internationally, and have returned to their home towns. They are experimenting with a confluence of local regional cuisines they grew up with and modern techniques to give us what may be called a regional-internationalism! Ramachandran worked with Indian Accent but is now helming a rather tongue-in-cheek Theta Theta Telugu ( “truly, truly Telugu”) in Hyderabad where he does modern Telangana food. “He is innovative and still has a good understanding of the local cuisine which makes him special”, says chef Dhiraj Dargan.
Chef Ralph Prazeres: The fuss free but impeccable elevated European food at Praca Prazeres has found fans including amongst top chefs like Ritu Dalmia and Varun Totlani of Masque, who adds that his pastel de nata (from the Goan bakery Padaria Prazeres) is the best for good reason!
Nitin Bharadwaj: India is perhaps one the only countries in the world where such a high level of Japanese food culture thrives in the metros – and not just “Indian-Japanese” which too has its takers—backed by local talent and not immigrant chefs. India’s upscale restaurants are serving fairly precise, high-quality Japanese cooking without overt Indianisation thanks to both customers and chefs comfortable with Japanese cuisine and culture, via its globalisation (Japanese-American restaurants, TV shows, the culture of Kawaii and anime). Many Indian chefs who trained under Japanese chefs in the era of Wasabi and Ai are now heading stylish standalones with skill and flair and some subtle improvisation. Chef Nitin Bharadwaj, brand chef, of the Karan Johar-backed Oju by Nuema, an Ai and Sakura (one of the first and finest “authentic” Japanese restaurants in India) was the runner-up for the world sushi cup in Tokyo in 2016, and has had stints in the UAE and Ghana. Chef Dhruv Oberoi, who too started his journey with Japanese at the AD Singh-run Ai, says Bharadwaj makes the cut with his skill and understanding of Japanese culture.
Saurabh Sharan: If Guppy in Delhi (the successor to the ambitious Ai) does the best sushi rolls not just in the city but at par with the most classic in India, its head chef the underrated Saurabh Sharan, must be credited. Another Ai alumnus, he began in 2007 and spent years learning Japanese food in all its nuances. While Guppy has served classic and even regional Japanese food including the Osaka-style pressed battera sushi, Sharan has also been at the forefront of innovation (with care) – aka using black rice from north-eastern India in the rolls, and a host of vegetarian fare with Indian touches but Japanese rigour.
Avinnash Vishaal:Vishaal, not related to this writer, is the sous chef at the critically acclaimed farm-to-table Farmlore, Bangalore. Part of the opening team, the chef took a sabbatical with stints at top global restaurants including the 3 Michelin Star Benu, but is back, contributing to the ingredient-led innovation at the restaurant, and leading its operations even as Mythrayie Iyer, also part of the opening troika, has joined Masque as its head of research.
