Some of us are open to eating out at restaurants to try out different cuisines. Some of us maybe wary of exploring exotic restaurants for fear that they are either too expensive or generally inaccessible. But what if you could walk into a conveniently-located venue, offering varied cuisines, at a reasonable price?
Desi Restaurants Week Events Private limited, an initiative by Nachiket Shetye and Mangal Dalal have for the last few years conducted Restaurant Week India in major Indian cities to achieve that. This year too, the duo has organised the Citibank Restaurant Week, to be held between September 23 and October 2 in Bangalore.
“New York Restaurant Week has for some years been offering a good meal for a good price,” says Nachiket who is a chef of 36 Oak & Barley, an all-day restaurant and bar in Kemps Corner, Mumbai. He has an Associate Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America, and has worked for illustrious restaurants in New York such as Nobu, Per Se and Penang. “We decided to start a similar concept in India. We started with seven restaurants in Mumbai. We initially decided to conduct the event once a year, but we got such an overwhelming response that we began conducting it twice a year. In March 2011, we expanded to include Delhi, and later Bangalore was included.”
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Considering Bangalore has a booming restaurant industry, the city seemed an obvious choice. This year, Citibank Restaurant Week India in Bangalore will feature 23 restaurants. The restaurants have been selected with careful consideration. “We did a reconnaissance of Bangalore. We ate at different restaurants, spoke with journalists, read up food blogs. Then we spoke with restaurant managers if they would like to come on board. We don’t coerce anyone, we leave it to the managers to decide if they want to participate or not.” There is a wide variety of cuisines one can choose from: “The restaurants have creative menus. Olive Beach has a creative Mediterranean menu, Shiro’s an eclectic Asian menu, Caperberry contemporary European menu. We curate the menus thoroughly.” Nachiket adds that the food has been put together to ensure there is variety. “As a custom, Indians like to share each other’s food, that’s why you need variety.”
Reservations for Citibank Restaurant Week opens today. Log onto www.restaurantweekindia.com. For queries email info@restaurantweekindia.com.