Chef Rahul Akerkar a biochemical engineer by education, started his culinary journey working in many of New York’s top kitchens, over a ten-year period during the 1980s while pursuing his Master’s degree at Columbia University. He returned to India in late 1989 and since then, has been busy changing the way India eats. His first eatery called Under the Over, a bistro serving global cuisine, which opened in 1992, was a runaway success, making Time Publication’s, Best of the Best of Asia. Later he moved to Bangalore with his wife Malini before returning to Bombay to set up the critically acclaimed Indigo in 1999, India’s first stand-alone, fine dining restaurant independent of 5-star hotels, that showcased his eclectic, modern European-American cuisine expressed with a healthy dose of local Indian flavour. Condé Nast Traveller in 2000 called Indigo one of the “World’s Hottest 60 Tables,” Travel & Leisure Magazine, said Indigo was one of the “Top Reasons to Visit Mumbai” and in January 2006, Indigo was named one of India’s best restaurants by Time Magazine. Known for setting industry trends with his creative, ingredient-driven cuisine, and warm attentive hospitality, Rahul’s award-winning restaurants secured his position as one of India’s first successful, chef-restaurateur entrepreneurs. Among his many accolades, he was featured in AsiaWeek’s Survey of “Kitchen Gods” in 2001 while Indigo made San Pellegrino’s List of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2013. In 2016, he won Chef of The Year at the Times Food Awards, Mumbai. In early 2015 he sold out of deGustibus Hospitality, his restaurant company and after a short hiatus, jumped back into Mumbai’s food scene with Qualia, a restaurant that he opened in mid-April of 2019. Recognized as the Best New Wine Destination at the India Wine Awards 2019 and as the Best New Restaurant at both the Indian Food Food Awards 2019 and the Condé Nast Traveller Himalayan Top Restaurant Awards 2019, Qualia’s resounding success heralded Rahul’s comeback, and earned him the accolade for Restaurateur of The Year at the Indian Food Food Awards 2019. In 2021, Qualia also made the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants Discovery List before being shut down permanently because of COVID. In 2022 Rahul joined hands with the newly formed Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality, to help usher them into becoming a leading F&B company in India. Ode, their first restaurant together, is set to open its doors in the last quarter of 2023.