T+L India & South Asia’s culinary award event returns to celebrate the best in India’s F&B scene.
From restaurants and bars in leading hotels to its stand-alone counterparts, our readers have voted for their favourite dining destinations across the country. A section dedicated to homegrown beverages and spirits recognises brands that are shaking up the country’s drinking culture.
On July 19, 2022, the best in the Indian culinary scene gathered at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity for the third edition of Delicious Dining Awards by Travel + Leisure India and South Asia. This year, DDA felicitated restaurants, bars, beverages, and spirits across 38 categories. The new avatar had a special spirits category nominated by jury members Ashish Kapur, Karina Aggarwal, and Yangdup Lama. The winners were chosen by the readers through online voting. There were also eight special award categories—the T+L Tastemakers, which felicitated individuals who have made a difference in the F&B space. The star-studded guest list included fashion luminaries like Rahul Mishra, Rana Gill, Suket Dhir, Urvashi Kaur, Ujjawal Dubey and Leena Singh. Vineet Mishra, Cluster General Manager of Pullman New Delhi Aerocity, Mahanaaryaman Scindia, the scion of the Gwalior Royal Family, art connoisseur Shalini Passi, restaurateurs AD Singh and Priyank Sukhija, culinary legends Vicky Ratnani and Manish Mehrotra, His Excellency Roger Gopaul, the ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago were also amongst the guests at the event.
The setting at the Peacock Ballroom at Pullman New Delhi Aerocity.
Editor-in-chief of T+L India & SA, Aindrila Mitra.
Hosts for the evening, Swara Bhasker and Ankush Bahuguna.
Sukhmani from Hari and Sukhmani, who set the stage on fire with a scintillating performance.
Team Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity—Parinita Samanta, director, marketing & communication, chef Neeraj, culinary director and Gautam Khanna, director F&B.
Team Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre & Hyderabad International Convention Centre—Kailash Gundupalli, culinary director, Amarjeet Singh, marketing director and Anand Prakash Ravi, F&B director receive the award for the Best Sunday Brunch.
(L-R) Prateek Sadhu, Suvir Saran, and Anahita Dhondy launch chef Vicky Ratnani’s book.
(L-R) Chef Suvir Saran and designer Leena Singh with Shubham Dayal, chef Rajiv Sinha and Manish Sherawat of Pullman and Novotel New Delhi Aerocity.
Ujjawal Dubey and Mahanaaryaman Scindia with chef Akshay Bhardwaj, head chef and Pushp Chauhan, director, restaurant operations at Andaz Delhi receive the award for AnnaMaya Andaz, the Winner in Best Farm-to-Table category.
Shalini Passi and Sushmita Gupta with Swastika Ghosal, PR and marketing head and her colleague from The Leela Palace Bengaluru.
Dr Priyanka Singh, deputy commissioner of income tax with Rohit Dar, regional director of operations, Hilton India.
HE Dr Roger Gopaul, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago with Silki Sehgal, VP corporate communications, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.
Anuj Soin, director operations, chef Sreenivasan, culinary director, Simmi Sood, director PR & marketing, Radisson Blu Plaza, New Delhi receive the award for Neung Roi, the winner of Best Pan Asian Cuisine.
All the winners in one frame: Team of Omo Café, Shivesh Bhatia, Pooja Dhingra, Anahita Dhondy, Manish Mehrotra, Aneesh Bhasin, Gauri Devidayal and AD Singh.
HE Dr Roger Gopaul with Peeya Dhaul, assistant manager, corporate communications, ITC Hotels.
T+L Tastemakers Shivesh Bhatia, Anahita Dhondy and Pooja Dhingra strike a pose with their trophies.
Bhavana Shah, director, marketing and communications, Riyaz Ahmed Qureshi, master chef-Indian cuisine, JW Marriott Benguluru Prestige Golfshire Resort & Spa with HE Dr Roger Gopaul.
Aindrila Mitra with Rajan Sethi, owner of OMO Café, Gurugram.
HE Dr Roger Gopaul with Ms Benita Sharma, General Manager, ITC Maurya New Delhi with team Bukhara, the winner of Best Indian Cuisine.
Ujjawal Dubey and Mahanaaryaman Scindia with Ranjith Kumar, executive pastry chef, The Leela Palace Chennai.
T+L Tastemaker Prateek Sadhu with Aindrila Mitra.
T+L Tastemaker Priyank Sukhija with Aindrila Mitra.
ITC Hotels bags the award for Best Service.
L-R: Rahul Mishra, T+L Tastemaker Shivesh Bhatia, Divya Mishra.
Grand Market Pavilion at ITC Royal Bengal in Kolkata wins the award for the Best Family Dining restaurant in a hotel.
Karina Agarwal with the winner for the Best White Wine—Sula Chenin Blanc.
Srishti Mehra, manager PR & marketing communications, The Leela Palace, New Delhi receives the award for Megu, the winner of the Best Family Dining restaurant in a hotel.
Aneesh Bhasin from SVAMI with Aindrila Mitra.
Team Fratelli, the winners of the Most Innovative Spirits format with Aindrila Mitra.
Ujjawal Dubey and Mahanaaryaman Scindia with Bhavna Mehta, head cluster PR, IHCL Delhi-NCR and director PR & marketing, Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.
Vijay Thapliyal, executive chef, Nikhil Bhaskaran, assistant F&B manager, Prem Pal Singh, executive sous chef, The Lodhi, New Delhi, receive the award for Perbacco, the winner of Best European Cuisine.
Mahema Bhutia, head, sales & marketing, Aramness Gir National Park receives the award for Best Farm to Table.
Chef Thomas Zacharias, Karina Aggarwal, Aneesh Bhasin with a guest at the event.
Silki Sehgal, vice president, corporate communications, The Oberoi Group with Shalini Passi and Sushmita Gupta.
Aindrila Mitra with T+L Tastemaker chef Vicky Ratnani.
T+L Tastemaker Pooja Dhingra with designer Rahul Mishra and his wife Divya.
Aindrila Mitra with T+L Tastemaker Anahita Dhondy.
Shalini Passi and Sushmita Gupta with Gaurav Sinha, hotel manager, and Ananya Banerjee, marketing and communications manager, JW Marriott Hotel Bengaluru.
The Oberoi New Delhi team—Chuanxi Sun, master chef Chinese cuisine, Baoshuan, Yabez Dutt, asst manager F&B, and Arpana Pradhan, Sr communications manager.
Chef Vladimir Villarba, chef de cuisine, Ravi Kumar, restaurant manager and Nikhil Bhanot, F&B director, JW Marriott, New Delhi receive the award for ADRIFT KAYA, winner of Best New Restaurant category.
Vedagiri Rajaram, F&B director, Sheraton Grand Bengaluru Whitefield Hotel & Convention Center with the award for Best All-Day Dining restaurant in a hotel.
Jiggi Verma, assistant director, communication; chef Gagandeep Singh Sawhney, executive chef and Perminder Puri, sales director, Shangri-La Eros, New Delhi with the award for the Best European Cuisine.
Bala Sarda, owner of Vahdam Tea with Aindrila Mitra.
Team Mist from the Park New Delhi receives the award for Best All-Day Dining.
Team Bira91 White receives the award in Best Beer category.
Team Le Meridian—Vineet Wadhera, F&B director, and Reema Jha, marketing & communications executive receive the award for the Best Cocktail Bar.
Restaurateur Priyank Sukhija and wife Natasha Jain, founder of Bent Chair, receive the award for Plum by Bent Chair, winner of the Most Instagrammable Cafe.
Puneet Gupta, sales manager, Conrad Pune receives the award for the Best Rooftop Bar in a hotel.
Rahul Prabhu, AGM, operations & guest experience, Asilo, JSM Corporation receives the award for the Best Rooftop Bar.
Shashank Bhatia, F&B manager, Roseate Hotels & Resort with the award for the Best Sundowner.
Team No Sleep Greater Than Gin receives an award for the Most Innovative Spirit.
KRSMA Estates, the winner in the Best Red Wine category with Karina Aggarwal.
Segredo Aldeia Rum wins in the Best Rum category.
Presenters Rana Gill and Suket Dhir with team Bo Tai, New Delhi.
Team Ivoryy Cocktail Garden—Manish Sharma, founder and Mohammed Anas Qureshi, chef & brand head, with the award for the Most Instagrammable restaurant.
Vineet Mishra, Cluster General Manager of Pullman New Delhi Aerocity with the winner Bastian, Mumbai.
HE Dr Roger Gopaul with Bhavna Mehta, head cluster PR, IHCL Delhi-NCR and director PR & marketing, Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi.
The team of Hapusa receives the award for Best Homegrown Gin from Karina Aggarwal.
Manish Mehrotra receives the award for Indian Accent, the winner in Most Innvative Menu category.
Chef Tarun Sibal receives the award for Chef Entrepreneur of the Year.
Team Maka Zai with their award for the Best Rum.
Urvashi Kaur and Vineet Mishra with the team of People of Tomorrow, New Delhi.
Ravindran V, sr. vice president sales, Amrut Distilleries with the Best Whisky award.
Team Titlie Goa bags the award for the Best Artisanal Bar.
Designer Urvashi Kaur and Vineet Mishra with Bal di Ghent from di Ghent Café.
Karina Agarwal with team No Sleep Greater Than Gin, the winner of Best Homegrown Gin.
Rana Gill and Suket Dhir with the team from Great State Dive, Pune.
Rana Gill and Suket Dhir with Mukesh Tolani, co-founder & director, Toit Brewpub Bengaluru.
Vineet Mishra with Gauri Devidayal from The Table.
Araku Coffee receives the award for Best Homegrown Coffee Brand.
Team Travel+Leisure India & South Asia after a successful evening.
Rana Gill and Suket Dhir with team Street Storyss Bengaluru—(L-R) Tarun Sibal, chef Nishant Choubey, chef Leena Sehwani, and Akshay Luthria.
Larissa D’Sa and team wins an award for Oh LaLa, Goa.
AD Singh bags the award for Best Al Fresco Bar for Olive Mumbai.
Chef Vaibhav Bhargava with Rana Gill and Suket Dhir.
Rampur Select Indian Single Malt Whisky won the award for Best Whisky.