Shah Rukh Khan has been to many restaurants but only considers one to be a ‘temple’: ‘When I came here…’

Vikas Khanna has become an indomitable force in the world of food. The former Master Chef India judge took the world by storm by putting Indian cuisine on a global map. His restaurant Bungalow, which was launched in New York City in 2024, was awarded a prestigious Michelin Bib Gourmand that same year and remains one of the most popular eateries in NYC. Recently, the food icon appeared on the talk show Shekhar Tonite and recalled how Shah Rukh Khan’s earnest praise when he visited the restaurant in 2024 left him deeply touched. The ‘Pathaan’ star compared his eatery to a temple.

“There are so many restaurants in the world, but Shah Rukh Khan said, ‘Every restaurant I’ve visited until today has felt like a shop to me, just a transaction. But when I came here, it felt like I had entered someone’s temple. It felt as though you were trying to represent our rich culture, our parents, and our ancestors. That’s an incredibly difficult thing to do,” he recalled.

In 2024, chef Vikas Khanna shared an emotional memory on Instagram about a visit from Shah Rukh Khan to his restaurant, Bungalow. Reflecting on the encounter, Khanna explained that three people hold an especially important place in his life: his mother, renowned chef Sanjeev Kapoor, and Shah Rukh Khan.


Khanna remembered how Shah Rukh Khan invited him to sit beside him during the actor’s visit to Bungalow. Their conversation turned toward Khanna’s childhood and his enduring admiration for the actor. He spoke about going to the cinema almost every day with his sister to watch Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and experiencing Shah Rukh Khan’s films repeatedly. Over time, Khanna said, his admiration grew beyond the actor’s performances. He came to appreciate Khan’s personality, including his distinctive voice, patience, self-assurance, kindness and warmth as a friend.

The encounter left Khanna deeply moved. As he struggled to control his emotions, he looked upward through the restaurant’s glass ceiling and saw a delicate crescent moon in the night sky. The sight reminded him of the way people who have lost those closest to them often search for comforting signs that their loved ones are still present and watching over them.

Khanna dedicated the heartfelt message to Shah Rukh Khan, recalling the significance the actor attached to Bungalow during their conversation. For Khanna, Khan’s words connected the restaurant with family, heritage, ancestry and India itself. The sentiment carried enormous emotional weight for the chef, particularly when viewed through the lens of his difficult childhood in Amritsar and the struggles he had endured before achieving success.

The memory ultimately became more than an account of a celebrity meeting. For Khanna, it represented gratitude, childhood dreams, emotional connection and the profound influence that certain people can have on a person’s journey through life.