Boredom can make people do strange things. In Mangal Dalal and Nachiket Shetye’s case, it started off as a personal project called Restaurant Week India. Taking off from the concept started in New York in 1992, the pan-India culinary event gives foodies a chance to experience fine dining at a fraction of a la carte rates. Now in its tenth edition, the bi-annual affair will be held in Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and for the first time, in Chennai.
The idea came about when Mangal got tired of writing about food — he studied computer science at Imperial College, London, and then underwent culinary training at Le Cordon Bleu, Paris and interned at Le Cirque in New Delhi and Noma in Copenhagen. Along with Nachiket, chef of 36 Oak & Barley in Mumbai, he wanted to bring the same experience that diners from Sao Paulo to Singapore have. Mangal, who was in the city recently, says, “When Nachiket was a culinary student in New York, he knew the importance of having such an event simply from the price point of view. It’s great for anyone who cares about food. A lot of people think twice before opting for a fine dining restaurant because of the cost involved and Restaurant Week takes away that risk. It’s a little bit like speed dating; you just might go back there again.”
After a lot of convincing and explaining done by Cellar Door, the culinary consulting firm the two friends put together, the first Restaurant Week was held in Mumbai in September 2010 for seven days with seven restaurants participating. Now that number has grown, and the celebration of food is spread over 10 days, and is held in April and September. “Initially, we picked the places we loved to eat at, and even today, we try to do that as much as possible,” says Mangal. Kolkata will also be part of the next edition, he adds. At participating restaurants, customers will be offered a three-course prix fixe (fixed price) menu. Mangal says, “I hate buffets as much as Chennai seems to love them! To me, that’s just food that has been sitting around. With the prix fixe menu, you know that it has been made freshly for you.”
As for the restaurants, it gives them a chance to reach out to a wider audience without compromising, as most fine dining institutions are sensitive about offering discounts. By restricting reservations to the online medium, the event gives them flexibility and helps utilise unused capacity, and as Mangal puts it, a way of inculcating the culture of going somewhere not just for the food, but for the whole experience.
Feedback from both diners and restaurants has helped them iron out the kinks. “When we had a few no-shows in the first edition, we added a nominal fee of Rs. 100 per booking. That would make people think twice before booking or cancellation. And at one place, the diners felt that the portions were too small. We worked on that with that particular restaurant, and they are still with us,” he says.
“In every city, we try to ensure diversity in terms of cuisine and geography. As it’s our inaugural event in Chennai, we have nine restaurants, including two standalones, on board, and are looking to expand. We don’t want this to be restricted to five-star places. I believe that in 15 years, the best places to eat in India will be standalone restaurants, quite like it is in the U.S. and Europe now,” says Mangal.
The participating city restaurants are Ayna at Hilton, Benjarong and Teppan in Alwarpet, Beyond Indus and Kefi at Taj Club House, Hip Asia and The Raintree at Vivanta by Taj - Connemara, Samudra at Trident and Sian at The Gateway Hotel.
Through Cellar Door, Mangal and Nachiket also organise Chef’s Table Week and pop-up restaurants. “Basically, we just want to add value to the food scene and bring in diversity to the dining experience,” says Mangal.
For bookings and more information, visit >restaurantweekindia.com
