OUR TEAM

Chef Vikram Sunderam, Group Executive Chef

Vikram Sunderam, who has been with Rasika since pre-opening, is also a multiple times nominee for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic from the James Beard Foundation, as well as being a “Chef of the Year” candidate of the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. He oversees the kitchens of both Rasika restaurants and his culinary team.

 

Chef Manish Tyagi, Chef De Cuisine

Manish joined the pre-opening team of Rasika West end in January, 2012, as Chef De Cuisine. He brings with him 11 years of experience having worked as Executive Chef for the Taj Group of Hotels. He won the Editor’s choice best chef of the year 2009 award from Gallivanter’s guide, UK to promote and work on Regional Indian Cuisine where he mastered himself in the regional Madhya Pradesh cuisines.

Manish possesses a can-do attitude and is a hands-on chef. He strives to ensure that each dish is fresh, aromatic, and balanced. He has honed his skills working with master chefs of Kashmiri, Awadhi and south Indian cuisines.

 

Simon Stilwell, Beverage Director

In June 2012, Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj announced the appointment of Simon Stilwell as beverage director for Rasika West End.  Stilwell joined the Knightsbridge Restaurant group in February of 2011 to work at 701 Restaurant. There he filled a variety of roles before becoming part of the opening team for Rasika West End.

A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City, Stilwell’s career includes working as assistant general manager at Hook Restaurant in Washington, DC from 2007 to 2009. He helped open the 175-seat restaurant before being transferred to Tackle Box in Georgetown as the general manager while still maintaining a supervisory role at Hook Restaurant until 2010.  His experience includes working in fine dining restaurants along the east coast from New Jersey to Florida before settling in Washington to pursue a degree at American University in Organic Chemistry focusing on food science.  Stilwell builds his wine list with vintages that add complementary flavors and aromas to dishes on Executive Chef Sunderam’s award-winning menu.  He selects wines from areas where similar ingredients or cooking methods are used for an excellent pairing.

 

Atul Narain, Group General Manager

Atul Narain is the group general manager of both Rasika and Rasika West End.  He joined Restaurateur Ashok Bajaj in August of 2002 to work at The Bombay Club.  A native of New Delhi, India, Atul earned a hotel management diploma from the University of Delhi, and then launched into his hospitality career with Taj Hotels & Resorts in operations management. He would serve this prestigious company for over a decade and was tapped to be the food & beverage manager for the Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi. Atul also worked at Hyatt Regency Delhi as assistant director of food & beverage while living in India.

At Knightsbridge, Atul has worked as part of the management team for The Bombay Club, 701 and The Oval Room before being tapped to open the highly acclaimed Rasika in Penn Quarter in December 2005 as general manager. Then in 2012, his role was expanded to oversee two restaurants, and Atul was integral to the successful opening of Rasika West End which earned three (out of four) stars in The Washington Post’s Fall Dining Guide. Atul was also named by Nycci Nellis of The List and featured in Eater as one of Washington’s top five general managers providing exceptional service for diners in 2012.