What elevates the mundane, almost ritualistic, implicitly human act of eating? Is it the flavour of what populates the platter or the remarkable experimentation of it? Is it the conversations that embellish the intermissions between morsels or the people you share your table with? What turns the simple act—usually fuelled by sheer necessity—of consuming calculated concoctions of ingredients into an experience from which one can draw comfort, joy, companionship and connections?

From February 21 – 23, 2025, New Delhi’s Travancore Palace became home to The Gathering, a three-day immersive food festival aiming to subvert or redefine traditional dining experiences. Founded by Sushmita Sarmah, who is also the festival director, and co-curated by Prasad Ramamurthy, the festival collated nine of India’s leading culinary voices and paired them with nine innovative artists, yielding nine exclusive pop-up restaurants. Each singular restaurant design offered the visitors a sedulously curated five-course meal in an ambience that responded to the menu; in each sitting, 20 guests indulged in an intimate sensory experience with food, music, stories, art and more—and certainly a lingering aftertaste (and afterthought).

THE EXPLORERS: Global expressions of regional cooking

Table 1: Terra Firma: Auroni Mookerjee X Sonal Sawant

Chef Auroni Mookerjee and artist Sonal Sawant invited visitors to delve into the regional diversity of Bengal through Pukur, a culinary concept inspired by the ecological and cultural significance of ponds in Bengali life. The collaborators interwove traditional practices and ingredients associated with ponds with modern cooking techniques; the unique restaurant experience unfolded within a simple transparent shell conquered by nature, where the biodiversity of pond ecosystems, rituals, stories and heritage were honoured. “I hope the diners had an immersive experience of the Pukur and the plantation around like the date palm, fish in the pond, cued the ingredients that were used in the various courses. The kantha artwork on the wall is a very traditional craft of West Bengal,” Sawant tells STIR.

Table 2: A Table in the Mountains: Prateek Sadhu X Aradhana Seth

The pop-up restaurant by chef Prateek Sadhu and artist Aradhana Seth celebrated mountain living. Within a transparent shell, Sadhu’s distinctive culinary art style and Seth’s knack for storytelling through mundane materials collided. As the visual directory of painterly and photographic responses dialogued with the curated meal, the visitors were transported to A Table in the Mountains. “I thought it would be interesting to introduce the diners to the ingredients of the mountain regions, combining that with close-ups of food that the chef has created,” Seth tells STIR. “The idea is to feel texturally and enjoy each detail, and since I am a filmmaker and think in frames per second, I decided to frame each thing,” she adds.

Table 3: The Modern Day Toddy Shop: Regi Mathew X Vinu Daniel

Chef Regi Mathew and architect Vinu Daniel’s vivid intervention at The Gathering reinterpreted toddy shops, popular beacons of culture in Kerala. With time, these spaces have evolved to feature hyper-local and seasonal dishes that embody regional abundance. Daniel’s fluid composition of vibrant fishnets harboured humble furnishings—small tables and stools welcoming hearty conversations. “Here food and toddy are supplementary to people gathering for social engagement. Our table replicates the vibe of the local’s favourite haunt but elevated for a contemporary Indian audience,” the concept note mentions.

THE INNOVATORS: Pushing culinary boundaries

Table 1: The Last Harvest: Viraf Patel X Alex Davis

The Last Harvest was a table dedicated to human ingenuity and surviving life in the next century. Chef Viraf Patel and artist Alex Davis conceptualised a world in 2125 when Earth is no longer the same—what we eat and how we think about food has changed forever. “Chef Viraf's concept looks at the impact of climate change on the way we will eat in 100 years. My work Splash, too, captures a moment in time—a moment of great disturbance,” Davis tells STIR. “What you can expect then at our table is an immersive dining experience that will give you cause to examine the choices we make and where they may lead us one day," he adds.

Table 2: The Darbar of Perception: Adwait Anantwar X Devika Narain

Chef Adwait Anantwar and artist Devika Narain unveiled an enchanting darbar, where the flavours of ancient India and innovation melt into each other in one platter. Hidden treasures, visual delights and subtle twists of perception reaffirmed the concept throughout the immersive experience. “Join us as we take a walk down memory lane to reinvent what we know about traditional Indian food. Our darbar of surprises summons you to witness the theatre of culinary transformation,” reads the concept note.

Table 3: Contrasts & Dualities: Gresham Fernandes X Elsewhere In India

Contrasts and dualities, tech-forward aesthetic, audiovisual focus and a modern approach defined the restaurant by Gresham Fernandes and Elsewhere In India. The menu harnessed food as a narrative; themes of cheap and expensive, restraint and expression, heritage and futures, nature and industrialisation, and sustainability were explored. Each course was accompanied by visual cues displayed on screens placed in front of each diner and on the walls of the darkroom; music responding to the specific themes completed the ensemble. "We hoped diners would leave questioning their relationship to food, its origins, and the systems that shape its journey to their plate," Avinash Kumar, founder of Elsewhere In India, tells STIR. "These elements, combined with the almost unsettling aesthetic of the black box room—reminiscent of a retro-futuristic UN assembly or a planetary command centre—are designed to unearth a deeper sombre. Is this the reality? Or is it just a dream to think there is a way for us?" he adds.

THE CONSERVATORS: Conserving culinary traditions of the past for the future

Table 1: Forbidden. Stolen. Feral.: Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar X Archana Hande

A collaboration between Chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar of Edible Archives and Archana Hande, Forbidden. Stolen. Feral. explored the various layers of ingredients from the Eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats. The menu and the setting dissected complex histories of exploration, trade, conquest, colonisation, caste and class supremacy and more. With each nuance, another ingredient and another story takes over the table. “Along with our adventure stories, ingredients, material, flavour, and the atmosphere we created is a very minimal approach to a very rough journey—taking a leaf from the far eastern zen landscape,” Hande notes, in a conversation with STIR.

Table 2: Past Continuous: Vanika Choudhary X Punit Jasuja

This table at The Gathering celebrated food from the mountainous terrain and harsh climates of the Himalayas. Chef Vanika Choudhary and artist Punit Jasuja’s vision ushered diners into an environment reminiscent of foraging and fermenting, almost as if they belonged there. “It was really important for me to make a space that complimented the food and did not overtake it because the food is the star,” Jasuja tells STIR. “My vision for the space was a cabin in the wilderness in the Himalayan region. All materials are recycled to depict the resilience of the Indigenous communities and how their lifestyle and sustainability go hand in hand,” says Choudhary in a conversation with STIR.

Table 3: Around The Campfire: Amninder Sandhu X Ekarth Studio

Chef Amninder Sandhu and Ekarth Studio took the visitors on an outdoor picnic: a campfire sprinkled with flavours of Arunachal Pradesh, nostalgia, memories and warmth. At this table, the sights, sounds, and aromas of a rustic campfire came alive in a captivating bamboo structure. “The first idea was to use traditional forms, materials and symbolism that would evoke a space in the hills; it was given that we have to work with bamboo and other natural materials the way tribes from the North East work,” the designer tells STIR. Sandhu adds, “This is a recreation of a childhood picnic memory, and I hold this very close to my heart. Through the menu, I wanted to champion the lesson of North Eastern ingredients.”