There is something particularly interesting about speaking to someone who has built a career around food and then hearing them talk about Instagram in terms of soul, impact and authenticity. My conversation with Chef Vikas Khanna was one of those interviews where I found myself thinking about the platform quite differently by the time we were done. Vikas is part of the jury for Instagram Rings this year, Instagram’s award that celebrates creators who are willing to take creative chances, bring people together and create in their own way. The award is not about a particular genre of content or simply about numbers. It is about the spirit behind the work and the impact it has on people.
I only use Instagram for the restaurant, and I wanted to be extremely myself when I announced Bungalow. Vikas Khanna: Not really. This is a very different space for me. This restaurant comes after a lot of pain and a lot of long journeys. It represents a civilisational cuisine, and I wanted to tell that story. I wanted the idea to be important. Vikas Khanna: Absolutely. Look at what we are doing at Bungalow. One day we might bring green bananas from Chennai. Every day there can be different dances to honour different goddesses. We tell the story, and we tell the story of the Prasad. Which restaurant can do that? It came from a very deep sense of authenticity on Instagram. We started something called Celebrating India, where every week we celebrate one part of India. We have crossed more than two billion views since we started. Not just staged food content. It takes a lot of effort, time and money to tell these stories, but there is an audience that wants to hear them. Vikas Khanna: I can promise you, when I talk about this on Instagram, there is a whole new idea going to younger generations about being connected to what a country is. After grandparents, we are all learning that. Bungalow brought the entire country and many different parts of the world under one thought. Authenticity was the answer. And that is what I am looking for right now.
We announced the restaurant 50 days in advance by talking about how it would have been my sister’s 50th birthday and how I did not want her to be alone on that day. I did not want to seek validation 24 hours a day. Because people are coming for an authentic experience, not something that is completely staged, and that idea became so important that a restaurant without a PR company could open in Manhattan and, three years later, it is still extremely difficult to book a table. Because navratri is starting, another day there could be Mogra from Bombay. Because everybody is so divided, it has become difficult to continue cultural activities at home.
A lot of PR companies told me it was the worst idea they had ever heard. I was told that nobody wanted to hear brown people’s stories and that I should simply show two or three dishes. I said no.
What is working today?
So, what will make this year’s Instagram Rings winner special?
His own experience with Bungalow makes that argument particularly convincing. He did not follow the conventional advice he was given. That seems to be the heart of Instagram Rings too. I went to Chandigarh to learn golf and came back with a new way to holiday; Golf-cation decoded
Instead, he told a personal story, brought Indian culture into the conversation and built a restaurant identity around something that was deeply connected to who he is.
