RESTAURANT EXPERIENCE AT HOME

OT SO LONG AGO, we were spoilt for culinary choice, vacillating between gastropubs and wine bars, fast food and molecular gastronomy, wellness cuisine and 12-course gluttony. All of a sudden, dining out has become a distant dream, sharing drinks with strangers in a bar an unthinkable sin, and home cooking the norm. While we wait for the new normal of communal dining etiquette to emerge, the gastronomy gods have been cooking up new and interesting ways to satiate your appetite for fine food.

NYour next dinner date or family brunch could feature all of your favourite restaurant’s gastronomic goodness within your home’s safe cocoon. The dine-at-home format is one of many innovations planned by Zorawar Kalra, the man behind Massive Restaurants (massiverestaurants. com), the company that parents brands like

Farzi Café, PA PA YA, and Masala Library. “All of our brands are considered experiential; we’ll try recreating the same experiences for guests at homes,” elucidates Kalra. The restaurateur might have put his outlet expansion plans on hold, but he clearly hasn’t stopped expanding guest experiences. Another planned venture of his leans towards deliveries. “There will be a segue in our company towards deliveries and cloud kitchens. A lot of delivery-related and delivery-only brands will be created.”

Theobroma (theobroma.in) is another brand that has been earning brownie points for its delivery and takeaway services during the lockdown. And that seems to be their strategy going forward. “We have forged tie-ups with online groceries and milk delivery companies such as Supr Daily (suprdaily. com) and BigBasket (bigbasket.com) to allow guests to pre-order and subscribe to our range of breads, tea-cakes, cookies, and daily snacking items. We are also trying to make our products available in large housing complexes through tie-ups with dedicated grocery stores,” says Theobroma’s founder, Kainaz Messman.

Catering businesses, such as Chef Shilarna Vaze’s Gaia Gourmet (gaiagourmet.com), are also looking to modify their approach and focus on pop-ups at home. Unlike the preCOVID-19 times of catering for brand events, weddings, and celebrity parties, Vaze is now