How Risk and Resilience Shaped Chef Ranveer Brar's Culinary Journey

Unabashed, spontaneous, real and small town—these adjectives define one of India’s most celebrated chefs, Ranveer Brar. Born in Lucknow to a Punjabi family and raised in a Bengali neighbourhood, Brar’s culinary journey is as rich and diverse as his cultural background. Lucknow’s love for food and the reverence it shows to the ones who cook has shaped Brar’s relation with food.

Brar’s decision to pursue cooking professionally wasn’t met with applause. In the early ‘90s, the idea of being a chef wasn’t mainstream. “What we don’t know, we fear,” he says. His family, like many others, feared the uncertain future of such a career. But Brar persevered. “Kitchens can be overwhelming places sometimes, homogenising chefs. Instead of losing myself in my profession, I chose to find myself.”

His philosophy in life is to be curious and accept failures. One of the most defining moments in his journey was when his first independent restaurant in the US had to shut down due to the recession. “You can be the best cook, but if you don’t know who you’re cooking for, it’s not going to work,” he reflects. Brar believes that kitchen lessons are life lessons.

His early mentor, an ustadji, never let him cook. “He’d always ask me to grind spices or do prep work,” he recalls. Frustrated, Brar once questioned this, only to be told: “Food works on belief—you have to believe your time will come, and you can’t give up when it comes to food.” That philosophy has stayed with him.

After fighting through the initial hurdles, he is now a household name. Brar has featured in television cooking shows and judged several seasons of MasterChef India. He also hosts a YouTube channel with millions of subscribers following his cooking style garnished with interesting storytelling.

While television gave him fame, YouTube gave him freedom. “I felt I wanted to say more. All of it wasn’t making it to the edits. I needed my own space to talk and cook at my own pace.”

Among the many milestones in his career, cooking for former Pime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee remains special. “Vajpayee used to run for elections from Lucknow. The city always held him with love and high regard. For a boy from the same city, it was truly gratifying.”

While he is among the best chefs in the country, cooking is not his only interest. He writes poetry, practices photography and is a brand ambassador for the iconic camera brand Leica.

Over the past decade, Brar has worked with nearly 50 brands. What stands out is the longevity of these associations. “It’s been more than 12 years with Phillips, above 10 with Kellogg’s. None of these were transactional. They were built on trust.”

His creative pursuits are driven by the same urge to express himself. “We need to keep discovering ourselves as professionals. We must take risks and not fear failure,” he says, echoing the reason he acted in the film The Buckingham Murders (2023). He keeps taking on new challenges and has the same advice for the young professionals: Do not give up too early.

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