Today we’d like to introduce you to Nitin Kamath.
Hi Nitin , so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m from Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Because of my parents’ jobs, we moved often, which gave me the opportunity to live in and experience several states across the country. I spent my early school years in Northern India, absorbing different cultures, languages, and ways of life without realizing how much they were shaping me.
At the age of ten, due to family circumstances and the need for self-sustenance, I had to learn how to cook. What felt like a necessity at the time turned out to be the greatest blessing of my life. I learned by watching and practicing alongside incredible everyday home cooks, neighbors, friends’ mothers, and everyday kitchens filled with warmth and generosity. Food became my anchor.
Just as I was grasping the basics, we moved back to South India. The shift in culture, language, environment, and cuisine was enthralling. It sparked a deep curiosity in me. Around the same time, television introduced me to cooking shows, and I began experimenting, failing, learning, and slowly evolving in my own way.
My professional career later gave me the chance to travel extensively within India, allowing me to explore regional cuisines from the heartland to the coast. Each journey added another layer to my understanding of food. But the experience that truly transformed me was moving out of India to Singapore; something made possible because of my wife, Vidhya, who is the biggest blessing in my life.
Singapore opened my eyes in ways I couldn’t have imagined. The culinary culture there, combined with the opportunity to travel across four continents, through Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa, completely reshaped my relationship with food. Some of these travels were for work, many for leisure, but every journey and every plate taught me something new. My understanding of food evolved from simply cooking to thinking, feeling, and creating like a chef.
I had always known, even from a young age, that food has a tremendous power to bring people together, but in Singapore, I truly lived that truth. That’s where the dream of creating a supper club was born.
The next chapter of our lives brought us to New Jersey, USA. Here, I finally found the courage to fully follow my passion. In 2022, I started swaadbynitin (taste by Nitin), turning a lifelong journey into a purpose-driven expression of storytelling through food.
And now, I look forward with curiosity and gratitude to what comes next.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a smooth road? Not really. In fact, the only truly smooth thing about this journey has been the silky-smooth curries I make 🙂🙂
I don’t want to sound philosophical, because “struggle” is a very subjective and immeasurable word, it really depends on one’s perspective. Beyond the personal challenges of constantly starting over and finding my footing in new places, establishing myself professionally came with its own set of hurdles.
Building something from scratch takes time, patience, and a lot of faith. There were moments of doubt, learning curves, and plenty of trial and error. But I’ve come to see that struggles are simply part of the rhythm of any business and every one of them has helped shape the cook, the chef, and the person I am today.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
At the heart of what I do, I’m a chef and storyteller. Through swaadbynitin, I create intimate dining experiences, supper clubs, and private chef events that are rooted in memory, travel, and culture rather than just recipes.
I specialize in Indian and Southeast Asian–inspired cuisine, with a strong focus on regional, often underrepresented flavors, from the Konkan Coast to South East Asian hawker classics, from home-style comfort food to refined, plated experiences. My food is deeply influenced by the places I’ve lived and traveled through: India, Singapore, and now the United States, along with journeys across Southeast Asia, Europe, Middle East and Africa. I’m known for building menus that balance bold flavors with approachability, where every dish has a story and a sense of place.
What I’m most proud of is not just the food itself, but the experiences I create around it. I design meals to slow people down, spark conversation, and bring strangers together at the same table. Storytelling is a central part of my work; whether it’s explaining a dish, its origin, or the personal memory behind it; because I believe food tastes better when you understand where it comes from.
What sets me apart is that my journey into cooking didn’t begin in a professional kitchen, it began out of necessity, at a very young age, in home kitchens across India. That foundation shaped how I cook today: with intuition, respect for ingredients, and deep appreciation for home cooks and traditional techniques. I don’t chase trends; I reinterpret classics through my own lived experiences.
Above all, I’m proud that I finally had the courage to follow this path fully. swaadbynitin is the culmination of decades of movement, learning, and evolution; from a young boy cooking to survive, to a chef using food as a way to connect people, cultures, and stories across continents.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I don’t have any one specific app, book, or podcast, and I wouldn’t say I have clear favorites. What helps me most is staying curious and observant.
That said, I closely follow the blogs and work of Joya Dass, my coach, who has helped me immensely; especially with storytelling. Her perspective has shaped the way I think about how food, memory, and narrative come together, and it’s had a big influence on how I present my work today.
Beyond that, I consume a lot of food-related content across- platforms, cuisines, and cultures. Watching how others cook, plate, explain, and honor their food constantly inspires me to experiment, evolve, and explore new recipes and culinary traditions. For me, inspiration comes less from a single source and more from staying open to learning wherever it shows up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.swaadbynitin.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/swaadbynitin?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
