Ranveer Brar needs no introduction for anyone who follows Indian food television. He is a celebrity chef, restaurateur, author, and one of the most familiar faces on cooking shows across the country. Born Ranveer Singh Brar, his journey from a small kitchen apprenticeship in Lucknow to judging MasterChef India is honestly one of the more inspiring stories in Indian food and television.
Early Life and Education
Ranveer was born on February 8, 1978, in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. His family actually hails from Kotla Raika village in Moga district, Punjab, and they belong to a Jat Sikh household. His father, Ishwar Singh, worked at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, and his mother is Surinder Kaur.
He did his schooling at H.A.L. School in Lucknow. Growing up, Ranveer was pulled toward food from a surprisingly young age. He used to hang around the local kebab vendors in Lucknow, watching them work, and that fascination slowly turned into something bigger. He even ended up volunteering as an apprentice under one of these vendors, a man named Munir Ustad, learning the ropes firsthand.
Interestingly, his family wanted a very different path for him. They hoped he would pursue engineering, medicine, or the defence services, and he actually cleared the NDA exam at one point. But his love for cooking kept growing, and eventually his family gave in and let him join the Institute of Hotel Management in Lucknow to pursue food formally.
Career Beginnings
Ranveer’s professional career kicked off with the Taj Group of Hotels, where he started at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Delhi. During his training days in January 1999, he worked as a chef de partie, and by 2001 he was working as a sous chef with the group.
While with Taj, he opened and ran two restaurants at Fort Aguada Beach Resort in Goa, an Italian spot called “il Camino” and a seafood restaurant named “Morisco.” He also ran a small open-air barbecue eatery called Fishtail. After that successful run, he returned to Delhi in 2003 as part of the newly opened Radisson Blu Hotel in Noida, and at just 25 years old, he became the youngest executive chef in the country at the time.
In 2005, he joined Claridge’s Hotel as executive chef, where he opened Sevilla and Senate and also gave a makeover to existing restaurants called Jade and Pickwicks.
The Boston Chapter
Things took an interesting turn when a friend invited Ranveer to Boston, Massachusetts. There, he and his team opened Banq, a fine dining Franco Asian restaurant, in 2007. The restaurant did remarkably well and even won Best New Restaurant in the World from Wallpaper magazine, along with recognition from local publications. Banq has since closed permanently, but it remains a big highlight of his career.
Following that success, he became Corporate Chef for the One World Hospitality Group, one of the oldest restaurant groups in Boston, where he worked for a few years before eventually making his way back to India.
Building His Restaurant Empire in India
Once back in Mumbai, Ranveer joined Novotel Juhu Beach as Senior Executive Chef. From there, his career as a restaurateur really took off. He got associated with the MTV India restaurant chain, and the first FLYP @ MTV outlet opened in Delhi in December 2015, followed by Chandigarh and then Mumbai in 2017.
In 2016, he launched a premium vegetarian patisserie called English Vinglish in Mumbai, and by the end of that year, he opened TAG GourmArt Kitchen, an all-vegetarian fine dining restaurant in South Mumbai. He also opened a restaurant called Mayura in the Greater Toronto Area of Canada in 2017, though it has since shut down.
More recently, in September 2023, he opened an Indian restaurant named Kashkan in Dubai Festival City Mall, serving a menu that spans the length of the country, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
Television Career and MasterChef India
Ranveer has hosted an enormous list of cooking and travel food shows over the years, including Thank God It’s Fryday, The Great Indian Rasoi, Station Master’s Tiffin, Raja Rasoi Aur Andaaz Anokha, and Himalayas the Offbeat Adventure, among many others.
He is perhaps best known for being a judge on MasterChef India, where he first appeared in season 4 alongside Sanjeev Kapoor and Vikas Khanna and later returned for seasons 6, 7, and 8 with different co-judges. He also judged the first-ever Celebrity MasterChef India in 2025 alongside Vikas Khanna and Farah Khan.
Beyond MasterChef, he has hosted a travel-based biryani hunt show that streams on Disney+ Hotstar and a survival-themed food show with film personalities that airs on Discovery and Discovery+.
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Books, Acting, and Other Ventures
Ranveer released his autobiography titled Come Into My Kitchen in 2016, chronicling his journey from Lucknow to Boston to Mumbai. He followed it up with a recipe book called A Traditional Twist in association with Bertolli India.
He has also stepped into acting, appearing in projects like The Buckingham Murders and Modern Love: Mumbai, where he starred alongside Pratik Gandhi in a story about a gay couple navigating an unwelcoming society.
In 2019, he launched his own recipe app in collaboration with Hungama Digital Media, and he runs a self-titled YouTube channel with a large subscriber base.
Personal Life
Ranveer married chef Pallavi on July 14, 2013, after the two met while working together at a hotel and slowly fell in love. He proposed to her in Marco Island, Florida, cooking the proposal dinner himself. The couple had a Maharashtrian wedding and now have a son named Ishaan Brar.
He has a sister named Shalu. Ranveer is also known to be a dog lover and once had a pet dog named Bo.
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Awards and Recognition
Ranveer has picked up a fair number of honours over the years. He won the Indian of the Year award for Chef and TV Host in 2017, followed by the LFEGA Food Entertainer of the Year award in 2018.
In 2021, he received recognition for Outstanding Contribution to the Food and Beverage Industry, and in 2022 he picked up both the People’s Choice Culinary Icon award and the Pinkvilla Style Icon award for Super Stylish Chef.
He is also an honorary member of the James Beard Foundation and has been recognised by bodies like AIWF and AICA, along with the Mayor of Boston, for his culinary contributions.
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Quick Facts
| Full Name | Ranveer Singh Brar |
| Born | February 8, 1978 (Age 47) |
| Birthplace | Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Hometown | Kotla Raika village, Moga district, Punjab |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Education | Diploma in Hotel Management, Institute of Hotel Management, Lucknow |
| Occupation | Celebrity Chef, Restaurateur, Author, TV Show Judge |
| Known For | MasterChef India, Come Into My Kitchen, Kashkan Restaurant Dubai |
| Wife | Pallavi (chef), married July 14, 2013 |
| Children | Son – Ishaan Brar |
| Parents | Ishwar Singh (father), Surinder Kaur (mother) |
| Sibling | Shalu (sister) |
| Notable Restaurants | Banq (Boston), TAG GourmArt Kitchen, Kashkan (Dubai) |
| Awards | Indian of the Year 2017, LFEGA Food Entertainer 2018, Pinkvilla Style Icon 2022 |