Chef Rahul Akerkar, a biochemical engineer by education, started his culinary journey over 40 years ago working in many of New York’s top kitchens, during the 1980s. He returned to Bombay in late 1989 and since then, has been busy changing the way India eats. 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 his restaurant, Indigo made number 75 at the San Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants Awards in 2007 and again at number 28 on San Pellegrino 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 his hospitality company and after a short hiatus, jumped back into Mumbai’s food scene with Qualia, a new 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 Awards 2019 and the Condé Nast Traveller Himalayan Top Restaurant Awards 2019, Qualia’s resounding success heralded Rahul’s come back, and earned him the accolade for Restaurateur of The Year at the Indian Food Awards 2019. In 2021, Qualia also made the prestigious World’s 50 Best Restaurants Discovery List before being forced to 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, opened its doors in December of 2023, followed by a specialty Awadhi cuisine restaurant called Waarsa, and an event space with a bar called Bay21 that opened at the NCPA in Mumbai in a year later.
