Fine dining in India takes on a new avatar with curated menus, renowned chefs and intimate settings

Fine dining turned adventurous during the pandemic, as chefs used every ingredient to bring people back to the table, either at their homes or at exotic locales

“Oh, come all ye faithful”, a trio tomato rasam made with lentils, will be one of the dishes at a 10-course sit down festival menu, curated by Chef Johnson Ebenezer, at Farmlore in Bengaluru this Christmas. The festive menu is part a concept of immersive dining experiences that he started in mid-2019 when he co-founded Lore, an outfit that tells stories with food. He was unaware then that he would be doing mainly sit-down dining and silver service the next couple of years, once the pandemic altered dinner parties and gatherings through 2020 and 2021.

Last year when travel came to a standstill and people missed the experience, Lore offered a communal dining based on the theme, “Around the world in 80 days”. Menus were printed as boarding passes of each aerodrome. The format limits itself to a range of 16 to 24 diners, says Johnson, who along with his business partners Chef Mythrayie Iyer and Chef Avinash Vishaal. “The sit-down layout gives people ample time and closeness to have long and slow conversations,” says Johnson.