When chef Sanjay Rawat cooks, he thinks about the vibrant culture and vivid colors of India. He thinks about the path that has taken him from New Delhi to Orange County. He thinks about cooking with his grandmother as a teenager and how he was making meals for his brother and sister even before that. He thinks about what Indian food was, is and can be.
“My vision for this restaurant is to bring this Indian cuisine, which is very versatile, and showcase it in a way that lets the new generation of chefs know that they can adapt,” Rawat says of Kahani, which he opened at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel in October 2023. “But at the same time, it’s about not losing the comfort and authenticity of Indian food.”
So in addition to crowd-pleasing traditional curries, Kahani (which means story in Hindi) is serving elegantly plated modern dishes that are rooted in tradition but take Indian food to new heights in Southern California. Rawat’s version of beef rogan josh involves making garam masala in-house; grilling, marinating and sous-viding (for 48 hours) Snake River Farms short ribs; and roasting veal bones and letting the marrow infuse a 12-hour curry. A wondrous Lumina lamb dish involves creating a special spice blend for chops and also roasting bones, fat and neck to make a sauce with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, mint and other aromatic herbs. Rawat clearly understands the transformative power of slow cooking. He also plays off textures as he pairs tender lamb with forbidden rice that has “a little bit of bite to it.”
He’s weaving in local produce as he reimagines Indian staples like puri, which he makes with tuna, avocado chutney and mango as he embraces the Ritz-Carlton’s oceanfront perch and the bounty of ingredients in California. He’s eager to offer an assortment of seafood dishes, like Chennai sea bass with bean ragu, as he considers his surroundings. He builds colors and flavors as he composes resplendent dishes that snap, crackle and pop, like pakoda chaat with spinach fritters, mango, smashed garbanzo, pomegranate, tamarind, yogurt and mint sauce. He’s incorporated mango into curries and also prepares mango three different ways in one dessert.
Rawat knows that being at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, which he first joined in 2022 as a chef de cuisine who spearheaded elaborate Indian-wedding feasts, gives him the opportunity to flex in luxurious ways. He’s grateful for this platform. He says he’s always had the belief that he could open this kind of Indian restaurant. And cooking for his customers still reminds him of the meals he made for his brother and sister when he was 8 years old and being raised by a single father who traveled a lot. Rawat also remembers making pasta from scratch and preparing it with Indian flavors in his grandmother’s kitchen.
“I’ve always been doing that outside-the-box kind of thing,” he says. “It’s part of me.”
But things are obviously on a different level now.
“My goal is to get a Michelin star and have this Indian cuisine recognized on a broader scale,” Rawat says. “I want this new generation of chefs to have a different perspective about Indian food.”
Rawat, who moved to California a decade ago after getting a culinary degree in Malaysia, working at New Delhi’s lavish Taj Palace hotel and cooking in Bermuda, has had quite the journey already. And it turns out he traveled across the world to find a hotel that very much wants him to tell his own story, a hotel where he was hired for weddings where he made tandoori tacos and masala nachos and also cooked lobster and lamb in front of guests. The Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel even put together an Indian cultural committee (with members including food-and-beverage managers and directors in finance, operations and banquets) that supports Rawat at Kahani and during the over-the-top Diwali feasts he’s created at the hotel. And a March 15 Holi celebration just kicked off Kahani’s month-long afternoon tea service.
It’s all part of a free-spirited food-and-beverage program at a resort that also features Richard Sandoval’s pan-Latin Raya restaurant and an intimate outpost of born-in-New York omakase destination Taikun. The hotel has hosted cookouts with guest chefs like Heritage Barbecue’s Daniel Castillo and breweries from California and beyond. And Cure, Neal Bodenheimer’s beloved New Orleans bar, is popping up at the resort through March. Cure, recognized as one of North America’s 50 Best Bars, is getting playful in Orange County as it makes Hurricanes with local passionfruit, guava and pomegranate while also putting in the work to create Sazeracs with three kinds of vermouth and two kinds of bitters.
In May, the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel will start a series of dinners where chefs from around the property will showcase their own cuisine and history. Think seven-course meals for 25 to 30 guests at a time.
It might seem like a risk for a luxury hotel to offer such an eclectic dining collection instead of the typical steakhouse and Italian fare many travelers expect. But the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel is responding to the desires of its customers. Indian weddings are an important part of the hotel’s business, of course, and this ultimately led to the creation of Kahani.
“Everything we’re putting out has a story behind it, and it’s something that engages the guests,” says Stacy Kolios, director of marketing at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel. “They’re telling their friends because they’re having this really authentic experience that resonates with them.”
And when you’re at a resort where you can enjoy breathtaking sunsets and expansive ocean views, you might crave transporting experiences more than you do on your regular days. Why not take a journey around the world?
So at Kahani, Rawat marinates lamb for 24 hours and makes handi sauce in 50-gallon kettles. Then he plates his lamb chops with the precision and playfulness of a confident fine-dining chef.
It’s about merging “all those authentic flavors with a beautiful presentation, with colors and modern plating,” he says. “This was always my dream.”