Nikhil Abuvala

Growing up with a love for cooking and working in kitchens professionally since the age of 13, Chef/Owner Nikhil Abuvala of Roux 30A in Grayton Beach has gone on to create a new and different kind of “restaurant.” 

“It really is a Chef’s Table,” Abuvala said. “It is different from a restaurant because there are no boundaries between the kitchen and the dining space. It’s all one room and has an experience of total transparency. You come in and have a five-course tasting menu, with the chef right there in front of you.” 

Abuvala can’t recall the first time he was called chef, but said the title is a level of respect someone has for you. He believes he officially became a chef when he opened Roux 30A. 

Cooking was always fun for him and a fun job to have, but he never considered a career in it until he was about 17 or 18. A culinary school dropout, Abuvala began attending classes in South Florida, but soon realized he had already learned what he felt he needed to know.

“Except for the very first class I took, which taught the fundamentals of cooking, I already knew what I needed to from the several restaurants I had worked in,” he said. “I really didn’t need to waste my time with it. I think that every place I worked taught me a lot, and gave me the training I needed. I still am training, and I learn something new every day.” 

Growing up in a family with generations of cooks and chefs, Abuvala has always had a love for cooking, and some of his first memories are cooking with his Indian grandmother. 

“The first thing I remember making with her were the Indian flatbreads called roti. I must have been four or five at the time. The way she moved about the kitchen, like a general commanding an army of spices and herbs, sparked a passion for food in me.”