{
  "id": 4954492,
  "title": "How India’s regional cuisines are reshaping fine dining",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/how-indias-regional-cuisines-are-reshaping-fine-dining",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-09-01T22:09:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Channel News Asia",
    "slug": "channel-news-asia",
    "url": "https://www.channelnewsasia.com/experiences/india-fine-dining-regional-cuisine-6337141"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In a country blessed with a myriad of regional cuisines, fine dining has rarely been associated with Indian food. However, this perception is rapidly changing as a new generation of chefs reimagines India's rich culinary heritage through the lens of contemporary fine dining. Driven by a deep appreciation for hyper-regional ingredients and traditions, these chefs are breaking away from familiar classics to celebrate overlooked communities, forgotten techniques, and local terroir.\n\nTo illustrate this culinary renaissance, we visited three distinct restaurants that embody India's evolving fine dining scene. Each establishment offers a unique perspective while collectively showcasing the diversity, ambition, and excitement permeating the contemporary Indian dining landscape.\n\nIn the picturesque Himachal Pradesh mountains, Naar stands as a testament to the region's culinary prowess. Prateek Sadhu, the Kashmiri chef-owner, draws inspiration from the Himalayas' six seasons to create a menu that changes every two months. Utilizing traditional preservation techniques such as fermentation, smoking, drying, and pickling, Sadhu and his team forage for wild fruits, herbs, and plants in nearby pine forests and riverbeds. The result is a menu deeply rooted in the land, with dishes like Kashmiri lamb terrine and biryani that pay homage to the region's history of migration, trade, and survival.\n\nAcross Mumbai's Bandra district, Papa’s offers a low-key yet extraordinary fine dining experience. Chef Hussain Shahzad eschews the ceremony often associated with fine dining, instead focusing on an interactive and enjoyable service. The tasting menu begins with sweet, bite-sized snacks before transitioning into savory courses, where familiar Indian dishes are reimagined in innovative ways. Dishes like foie gras laddoo and lamb terrine pithivier with nihari sauce showcase the chef's technical skill while remaining unmistakably Indian.\n\nMeanwhile, Farmlore in Bengaluru presents a farm-based dining experience shaped by its 37-acre ancestral farm. Chef Johnson Ebenezer, who returned to India after a stint abroad, opened the restaurant as a solution to his trip being halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the farm dictates the dining experience, with 60% of the produce served directly from the grounds. Seasonal dishes like Indian seabass marinated in ripe mangoes and duck aged in gulkhand are prepared over wood fires fueled by farm trimmings, resulting in a constantly evolving menu that reflects the land's bounty at any given moment.",
  "summary": "At restaurants in Himachal Pradesh, Mumbai and Bengaluru, chefs are drawing on local ingredients, preservation techniques and culinary traditions to rethink what contemporary Indian food can be.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}