Vikram Vij
| Vikram Vij | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 1964 (age 52) Amritsar, Punjab, India |
| Occupation | Restaurateur, chef, cookbook author |
| Known for | Vij's and Rangoli, Vancouver and My Shanti South Surrey |
| Spouse(s) | Meeru Dhalwala |
Vikram Vij (born 1964) is an Indian-born Canadian chef, cookbook author, and television personality. He is co-owner, with his wife Meeru Dhalwala, of the Indian cuisine restaurants Vij's Restaurant and Rangoli Restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also owns My Shanti, a restaurant in South Surrey BC. In 2014, Vij was announced as a new "dragon" investor on the Canadian reality show Dragons' Den for its ninth season and departed at the end of the season.
Vikram Vij grew up in India in Amritsar, Delhi and Mumbai. In 1983, he left India to study Hotel Management in Salzburg, Austria. While there he received his chef's training. Vij later became a certified sommelier.
After working in Salzburg and Vienna for a few years, Vij moved to Canada in 1989, when he joined the Banff Springs Hotel, Alberta, Canada. From 1992 until 1994, Vij worked at Bishop's restaurant in Vancouver, British Columbia, for prominent Canadian chef John Bishop.
Eventually in 1994, at the age of 30 he opened a fine-dining restaurant, Vij's, in Vancouver, soon to be joined in business by his wife Meeru Dhalwala. In the early days his parents would make the curry at their home and deliver it by bus to the restaurant. By 2003, Mark Bittman of The New York Times was praising Vij's Restaurant as "easily among the finest Indian restaurants in the world".
A decade later in 2004, Vij and Dhalwala opened a second restaurant and market, the casual-style Rangoli. Rangoli sells their line of pre-packaged gourmet curries named "Vij's Inspired Indian Cuisine". In 2011, Vij and Dhalwala completed and opened a food processing facility to better meet retailer interest in the product line. The product line is sold in grocery stores across Canada. Foods produced at the facility are also sold at food service sites at BC Place, Whistler Mountain, Loblaws City Markets and more.
Vij and Dhalwala have collaborated on two cookbooks, with Dhalwala writing the text. They published Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine in 2006, which won several awards in 2007, including Cuisine Canada's Gold Award for Best Cookbook and Cordon d'Or Gold Ribbon International Cookbook Award. In 2010, the pair published Vij's at Home: Relax Honey, which placed second in the Best Indian Cuisine Book in the World category at the 2010 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Vij has been an ongoing contributor to The Globe and Mail since November 28, 2007.
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