TUESDAY TALKS

James Beard finalist for “Outstanding Restaurateur,” Ashok Bajaj, has owned and operated award-winning restaurants in London and the United States for over 30 years. Born in New Delhi, Bajaj earned a degree in Commerce from the University of Delhi and completed his postgraduate studies in Hotel Management and Tourism while working for one of India’s leading hotel chains, the Ashok Group. After a six-year tenure with Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, Bajaj took some time to travel before founding Knightsbridge Restaurant Group in DC in 1988. He has opened several highly successful landmark restaurants here, including The Bombay Club and leading four-star Rasika. Many of his restaurants have reigned in DC’s 100 best lists for over two decades.

 

Bajaj is renowned for keeping his dining concepts fresh and exciting. In August 2016, he merged Cleveland Park's Ardeo and Bardeo into one restaurant, giving him the space to open his casual Indian street-food and craft-cocktail oasis, Bindaas. He then opened a second Bindaas in 2017, at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, and published his first cookbook, Rasika: Flavors of India. In 2018, Bajaj retired Ardeo+Bardeo after 20 years as a Cleveland Park landmark, to make room for his new modern Israeli SABABA. Other concepts and restaurants followed in locations around D.C., including Annabel near Dupont Circle and closing his Oval Room to open the 21st-century French restaurant, La Bise, just steps from the White House, which captured an award for one of the “100 Best Restaurants in 2023,” from Washingtonian magazine and was named among “The 40 Best Restaurants in and around D.C." by Food Critic Tom Sietsema in 2025.  In 2023, he closed the Cleveland Park Bindaas to open the neighborhood wine bar Little Blackbird. In 2024, Bajaj opened an American farm-to-table restaurant, Rosedale with Frank Ruta as the executive chef and culinary director. And, in January 2026, he replaced that concept with Malabar, featuring coastal Indian fare with Group Executive Chef Vikram Sunderam. Rosselli is his latest restaurant opening, with Michelin-star chef Carlos Cardona.

 

Bajaj has collected scores of local and national awards and recognition since 2012, including accolades from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) and being named Washington Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO. In 2017, RAMW presented Bajaj with the Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual whose hard work and outstanding initiative have increased the profile and success of the metropolitan Washington food service community and dining landscape.

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Bajaj’s restaurants have also been consistently nominated for awards by the James Beard Foundation, including Best Chef-Mid Atlantic, Rising Star Chef, Outstanding Restaurant, and Restaurateur of the Year, for which he has been nominated 10 times. His restaurants are frequently featured in The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Eater, DC Modern Luxury, Forbes, CNN, Food & Wine, and Washington Life, among others.  

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Bajaj captured the TiE DC Legends Award from Indus Entrepreneurs in 2014, and in December 2015, Washington’s Downtown BID announced its Momentum Award winners, with Ashok Bajaj named “Person of the Year” for his contributions to the city. Community-minded, Bajaj has served on the board of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington and presently serves on the board of Arena Stage.