Vikram Sunderam

The Path

Formal training at Osmania University, Sophia Polytechnic, and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London gave Vikram Sunderam a broad but exacting base before he fully entered professional kitchens. He then worked in the kitchens of the Taj Group of hotels, serving as chef in Mumbai (1985–1991) and later as chef in London (1991–2005). Across those years and two cities, the work was defined by hotel service, repetition, and the kind of discipline that makes flavor read as controlled rather than forced. From there, Vikram Sunderam became Executive Chef at Bombay Brasserie in London, extending the London phase of his career. Today, Vikram is chef of Rasika (since 2005), where that accumulated experience has a lasting home. The move from Mumbai to London and then to Washington, DC marks a progression toward clarity: a way of cooking that keeps faith with tradition while leaving room for restraint and refinement.

The Work Today

At Rasika, Vikram Sunderam serves as Group Executive Chef. That continuity ties his earlier hotel training and London kitchens to a long-running American dining room under one chef’s direction, giving the work time to develop in public rather than as a fixed point. At Rasika, his cooking reflects years of service and repetition, along with a modern discipline that values balance, texture, and careful handling of familiar dishes. “My cooking is a simple fusion of traditional methods and contemporary techniques and ingredients.” The line is plain, and it is useful: Vikram Sunderam is not describing ornament but adaptation. At Rasika, he frames the work as a balance between keeping the essence of traditional dishes intact and presenting them in a modern way. In that approach, the emphasis stays on essence, balance, and presentation. The ethic behind the kitchen is equally direct. “My philosophy is to work sincerely, honestly and to the best of my ability. The rest is up to God. It’s the drive to excel and constantly improve that keeps me going. Complacency is a chef’s downfall!” For Vikram Sunderam, the career reads as steady pressure rather than sudden breakthrough: humility joined to ambition, and a standard that has to be renewed every day.

Signature

Vikram's signature dishes include palak chaat, black cod, Goan halibut curry, and crispy spinach. Together, they show the span of his cooking: familiar forms placed beside less expected ones, all held by control and contrast. In Vikram Sunderam’s kitchen, the common thread is traditional flavor shaped through modern presentation and precise execution.

In Their Words “My philosophy is to work sincerely, honestly and to the best of my ability. The rest is up to God. It’s the drive to excel and constantly improve that keeps me going. Complacency is a chef’s downfall!” “At Rasika, we work to achieve a delicate balance between retaining the essence of traditional dishes while presenting them in a modern way.”

Acclaim

Vikram's honors include James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic (2014).