It would be imprecise to say that restaurant takeovers are a new phenomenon. This F&B trend’s seeds were, in fact, sown more than a decade ago, but it is inarguably more unprecedented today. Take a conversation with film professional Sidharth Mirchandani for instance. Even as he chats about what makes such events appealing to him as a diner, he is gearing up for a Nose to Tail pop-up at Magazine Street Kitchen (MSK), an experiential events space in Mumbai’s Byculla where Chef Shriya Shetty (the mind behind Mangalore’s Cafe Buco) and independent Chef Christopher Fernandes (of Goa’s Cravings By Chris) would be laying out a meaty spread that night. “It’s part pleasure, part unwinding,” he confides. Sidharth finds himself regularly attending one-of-a-kind and often, time-limited culinary experiences. These range from collaborations between two restaurants and pop-ups helmed by guest restaurants to time-bound takeovers by guest chefs and mixologists.
Navu at Magazine Street Kitchen
Incidentally, the brainchild behind MSK, Jay Yousuf and veteran restaurateur Gauri Devidayal, became one of the first few to experiment with these formats back in the day. It was 2012 and Gauri was looking for a way to perk up her kitchen team’s morale at the now-revered The Table, a fine dine — and one among her many restaurant brands — in South Mumbai. But the two-day ‘collab’ dinner that transpired between the diner and California-based Chef John Paul Carmona — also a mentor to Chef Alex Sanchez, who was heading the kitchen at The Table at the time — was a result of happenstance.
“The culinary landscape was so different then; restaurants worked in their little silos. When we brought the chef to spend three weeks with us, the idea was just to have fun together and create some new dishes,” Gauri recalls, adding how spontaneously the dinner menu emerged as a way of introducing newness to the city and also, to recover some costs. “There was no concept of sponsors at the time,” she stresses, referring to an important facet of these experiential shindigs today. But more on that later. That first dinner (and a few more later), Gauri observed a hunger in the market for exclusive soirées. And therein lay the first ripples of this monumental culinary wave.
Chef Alex Parker at Magazine Street Kitchen
While Gauri went on to set-up MSK, an out-and-out events space, where takeovers and pop-ups form the business model (versus a diner hosting the occasional guest chef/restaurant/mixologist), other restaurants, especially those inside five-star hotels, began flying down the teams behind accomplished hospitality brands from countries far and wide. The genesis of takeovers, pop-up, and guest-chef series ie different formats that essentially featured a cross-over or coming-together between two or more F&B entities, was decidedly underscored by an international flavour. “When we started, people were hungry — pardon the pun — for these things: new experiences and different options because there were such few restaurants and bars,” Gauri echoes, explaining why in the first-wave of culinary events the focus was greatly on international players.
Chef Shriya Shetty, the mind behind Mangalore’s Cafe Buco gearing up for her popup at Magazine Street Kitchen
Today, the culture has shifted to focus on local talent with bars, restaurants, and home chefs between Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Pune, (and sparingly from the Northeast) coming in cahoots for unique dining collaborations. “It’s a saturated market and you need to keep it fresh, keep innovating… but how many times will you keep changing your menu? So, you create something for a weekend and it generates buzz to bring people in,” Gauri says about the pivot from “discovery” to “marketing” in this space.
Chef Gresham Fernandes of Bandra Born with Soka’s Avinash Kapoli
Be that as it may, for mixologist Avinash Kapoli, Bengaluru’s latest cocktail bar, Soka’s owner, takeovers and collaborations have proven to be “a great marketing tool”. In its six months of existence since opening doors in November 2023, the bar has already popped up at Mumbai’s Bandra Born and Slink and Bardot. “When we went to Bandra Born, guests who come to us regularly pinged their friends in Mumbai saying, ‘Hey, you know what? A bar from Bengaluru is doing a takeover in your city, you should definitely go.’ So, in that way it helps us spread the word,” he shares, adding that as a 42-seater, they are targeting a niche community and it is crucial for their business for word to go around in similar circles. Avinash and team are working towards launching Lime House Thursdays, cocktail nights celebrating limey drinks, such as daiquiris and margaritas, with twists and hope to host mixologists from India and beyond.
Chef Avinandan and Chef Koyel of Sienna, Kolkata
In another part of the collaborations’ universe, the script has flipped — from Indian establishments playing host to international culinarians to homegrown restaurants taking their oeuvre overseas. In October last year, Mumbai’sSlink and Bardot took over the line and pass at Singapore’s Indian-Mexican restaurant, Ms.Maria & Mr.Singh for the latter’s first anniversary. Whereas, the chef-duo Seefah Ketchaiyo and Karan Bane of Bandra’s Thai-Japanese restaurant, Seefah, flew to Maldives for a pop-up at the Four Seasons Resorts in April 2024. “We love exploring — new cities, different cultures, and new ways of eating,” Karan says of what prompts chefs to pack their bags and showcase food despite the challenges of a new atmosphere. “It also allows for increased exposure; for us and our team,” he adds.
Avinash hopes to host mixologists from India and abroad
“These formats provide a platform for culinary experimentation and innovation, enabling chefs to showcase their creativity to a wider audience. They also facilitate networking opportunities and collaboration within the industry, potentially leading to future partnerships. From a marketing perspective, these formats generate buzz and attract new customers, while also allowing for the diversification of offerings without the need for permanent changes [to the menu],” summarises Avinandan Kundu, head chef, Sienna, Kolkata, which concluded its first international pop-up, Epar-Opar (literally translating to ‘across’) at Singapore’s modern Vietnamese diner, Lo Quay in April.
Ekaa’s Petrichor cocktail
The award-winning, progressive Indian restaurant Ekaa, Mumbai, too has seen its own share of international ‘collabs’ — at The Elephant Room, Singapore in 2022; a bar takeover at Nairobi’s Hero Bar and Sinnerman the same year; and an 11-course degustation menu pop-up at the South Indian and Sri Lankan cuisine restaurant Nadodi in Kuala Lumpur in 2023. You would think this emanated from crucial planning, but chef-owner Niyati Rao feels, “Our thought was never to sit in the beginning of the year and set targets for the number of pop-ups we’d like to do. We prefer natural collaborations with like-minded partners and that’s how most of our national and international pop-ups happened. Although meticulous planning is necessary, the best ones unfold effortlessly.”
Team Seefah with the team at Four Seasons in Maldives
Which brings us to the question of arrangements, and importantly, budgets. From travel to stay, and transportation of ingredients and raw materials — there is quite a bit of logistics involved. Then there is means required for promotions. This is where sponsors come in. And increasingly for F&B experiences, it is the liquor brands, who are already manoeuvring their way around restrictions on advertising alcohol. “For them, it becomes a way of marketing their product. For the bar/restaurant that’s coming, it’s to promote themselves, and for the space that’s hosting it’s to bring in guests. That entire ecosystem is hinged on promotions,” Gauri adds.
For Avinash though it is equally about fostering a sense of community and keeping things fresh. “Consumers always like it when there’s something special. Even Amazon has special discounts, right?” he quips. Which is true; it all boils down to creating a memorable experience, for the industry and its patrons, in equal measure.
