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meet Ravi

Chef Ravi Kapur’s exceptional palate is deeply influenced by his mixed Indian and Chinese-Hawaiian heritage. Voted a Food & Wine Best New Chef in 2016, Ravi draws on his multicultural background to create the delicious dishes at Liholiho Yacht Club and Good Good Culture Club, both based in San Francisco, as well as unique ventures like his new turmeric and ginger-based distilled spirit Olehna. “Creating meaningful connections with food is what I love to do,” he says, “and connecting with my heritage is what inspires me.”

For Ravi, food and travel are bridges that connect cultures and break down barriers. He’s teaming up with Delta Air Lines for Faces of Travel, an initiative to increase representation and visibility within travel culture for people of diverse races, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, religious beliefs, and physical abilities. In his own words, Ravi shares what travel means to him.

Follow along

I was born and raised on the island of Oahu. Growing up in Hawaii with so many different races and ethnicities represented, there is a different level of acceptance. It shaped not just how I see others, but how I taste and appreciate different cuisines. Food is a great connector, bringing people from all walks of life to the same table.

I often travel back home. Now that my son is getting older, I think it’s important for him to know where he comes from. Each island is uniquely different. When I visit, I try to think of ways I can be a better steward of this culture.

Travel can transport you to a new way of thinking, if you’re open to it. When I visited Italy, it was obvious the appreciation for life — that life is meant for living, not working. In Japan, the attention to detail is remarkable. The respect for people at all levels, and the emphasis on doing even the simplest things well, has impacted me in so many ways.

“It’s our differences that make us beautiful. Travel helps us view our differences as texture, not as barriers.”

Forging a deeper connection

I like to stay in the same place at least for a few nights, if not weeks. We were fortunate to spend almost a month in Goa, India. Because of colonization, the cuisine there has strong Portuguese influences: fresh herbs, coconut milk, seafood, pork. When we connected with a family that ran a small restaurant there, they made us traditional Goan specialties that are actually really hard to find, like turmeric-marinated fried fish. It was one of the most profound food experiences I’ve ever had.

Seeing what brings people together, the flavors that excite them, how they show love through food — as a chef, that’s what I really love about travel. It’s important to go beneath the surface, to leave the resort and connect with people on a deeper level. When you enter a new place with an open mind and an open heart, you realize that our differences do not need to keep us apart. It’s our differences that make us beautiful.

Connect with Ravi on Instagram @chefravikapur.

A global traveler, blogger and photographer, Jules is dedicated to sharing honest, authentic stories in the BIPOC community. “It makes the world of travel more tangible for people who grew up thinking it was out of reach.”

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