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, India, Bajaj earned his 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, which relocated him to London, Bajaj took some time to travel to Sydney, Australia, before deciding to found Knightsbridge Restaurant Group in the nation’s capital in 1988.  He has opened several highly successful landmark restaurants in DC, including the polished landmark power dining oasis, The Bombay Club, and leading four-star Rasika. Many of his restaurants have reigned in DC’s 100 best lists for over two decades, earning top rankings for exceptional service and outstanding fare.

 

Bajaj is renowned for keeping his dining concepts fresh and exciting. In August 2016, he merged Ardeo and Bardeo into one restaurant, giving him the space to open his casual Indian street-food and craft-cocktail oasis, Bindaas, meaning carefree, like the concept itself. Next came the opening of the second, larger Bindaas in early November 2017, at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, along with the publishing of his first cookbook, Rasika: Flavors of India. In March 2018, Bajaj retired Ardeo+Bardeo after 20 years as a neighborhood landmark, to make room for his new “modern Israeli” concept, SABABA in Cleveland Park. In January 2019, Bajaj opened Olivia, a rustic Mediterranean concept in the heart of Penn Quarter. Olivia replaced Bajaj’s American brasserie concept Nopa Kitchen + Bar, which opened in April 2013 with excellent reviews from critics and patrons, as well as being lauded in the 2018 Michelin Guide for Washington, D.C.  September 2019 brought the unveiling of his latest Italian restaurant, Modena. It replaced 10-year-old Bibiana, which had topped Esquire’s list of best new restaurants when it opened in September 2009.  Worth Magazine featured it as one of the Best Restaurants for Power Dining in May 2011.

 

In December 2019, Bajaj opened Annabelle, an inviting American restaurant with an art gallery, just off Dupont Circle, helmed by James Beard award-winning chef Frank Ruta. Then in 2021, he shuttered the iconic Oval Room to open the 21st-century French restaurant, La Bise, just steps from the White House, in June 2021, which captured an award for one of the “100 Best Restaurants in 2023,” from Washingtonian magazine and was more recently named among “ The 40 Best Restaurants in and around D.C. by The Washington Post Food Critic Tom Sietsema in October 2025.  In June 2022, Bajaj opened the 25-seat eatery with a to-go menu, Bindaas Bowls & Rolls, on 415 7th Street, NW. Then, in August 2023, he closed the Bindaas location in Cleveland Park, NW, to open a neighborhood wine bar, Little Blackbird, the following month after a makeover of the interior with a menu created by Executive Chef Ryan Moore. In October 2024, Bajaj opened an American farm-to-table restaurant, Rosedale, on Connecticut Avenue in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of D.C, tapping Frank Ruta as the executive chef and culinary director. Then, in January 2026, he replaced the American concept with Malabar, bringing coastal Indian fare to upper northwest Washington, with Group Executive Chef Vikram Sunderam helming the kitchen. Next, in April 2026, Bajaj opened an Italian restaurant, Rosselli, bringing a stately decor inspired by the grand historic apartments of Milan and Rome combined with a talented Michelin-star chef, Carlos Cardona.

 

Bajaj’s collection of power, neighborhood, and fine dining establishments captured 10 RAMMY nominations from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington (RAMW) in 2012, and Rasika captured Chef of the Year. Then, in 2013, Bajaj won the Restaurateur of the Year award, and he was nominated for it again in 2022. He was also named the Washington Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO.  In May 2017, RAMW once again recognized Bajaj for his leadership and dedication to the restaurant industry, presenting him with the Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award. This honor is determined by RAMW’s Executive Committee and 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.

Bajaj’s restaurants have also been consistently proposed for prestigious 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, including being a finalist for the coveted award in 2022.  Rasika’s Group Executive Chef Vikram Sunderam captured the James Beard Foundation’s Best Chef Mid-Atlantic in May 2014. Recognized among the best in the city, his restaurants are frequently featured in The Washington Post, Washingtonian, Eater, DC Modern Luxury, Forbes, CNN, Food & Wine, and Washington Life, among others.  The Bombay Club, Rasika, and Bibiana have each been named by Esquire among the “Best New Restaurants in the USA.” In October 2025, The Washington Post Food Critic Tom Siestema named the Bombay Club and Rasika in his “D.C. Restaurant Hall of Fame 16 Monuments to Good Taste.”

Brett Anderson of The New York Times reported the following on July 11, 2022. “Few people understand the power lunch better than Ashok Bajaj. The restaurateur began his career here in the waning days of Ronald Reagan’s presidency when he opened the Bombay Club, a short walk from the White House. Eight of the 10 restaurants he operates today are, like his first, located downtown. They’re conveniently clustered near one another, making it easier for Mr. Bajaj to preside over multiple dining rooms, and near customers who work on Capitol Hill, at the State Department, and in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building — crucial sources of what Mr. Bajaj calls his “lunch crowd.” Additionally, renowned restaurant critic and hospitality industry expert John Mariani wrote exclusively about Ashok Bajaj and his collection of award-winning restaurants in Washington on July 25, 2022, in Forbes, titled, “With Ten Restaurants In DC, Ashok Bajaj Is The City’s Gastronomic Powerbroker.”

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Named as Washington’s leading host and restaurant leader in October 2009, Ashok was tapped as one of the 50 Most Powerful People in Washington by GQ magazine. He was also recognized by GQ in October 2019 for his commanding role in Washington at landmark Rasika. The New York Times referred to Ashok Bajaj as “One of the influencers who helped change the city’s dining landscape” in October 2019.  The Washington Post featured him in the Style Section in February 2011, stating, “And so it goes in the Empire of Ashok, a land of power dining and power appeasement that encompasses six see-and-be-seen restaurants, each with a distinct menu and vibe but a similar Ashokian polish.”  Washington City Paper named Ashok Best Restaurateur for 2010 and 2011, and then in January 2012, Washingtonian magazine awarded Bajaj as Washington’s Restaurateur of the Year.  Washington Business Journal has included Bajaj in its list of Washington’s 100 Most Powerful Leaders, multiple times since 2012. In August 2013, The New York Times featured Ashok in an article titled “Right This Way, Senator,” highlighting his achievements as the “New Delhi-born restaurateur masters power dining in D.C.”  The New York Times also featured him again in July 2022, with a lead that, “Few people understand the power lunch better than Ashok Bajaj.”

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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.