‘EVERY RESTAURANT IS A PROJECT AND FOOD IS THE HERO’

FROM A FATHER'S TEARS TO THREE MICHELIN STARS—BHUPENDRA NATH'S JOURNEY FROM PATNA TO GLOBAL ACCLAIM IS NOTHING SHORT OF A DREAM COME TRUE. IN AN EXCLUSIVE CONVERSATION WITH NUSRA FROM ENTREPRENEUR RESTAURATEUR, HE REFLECTS ON HIS LOVE FOR FOOD AND THE FUTURE OF DINING

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Bhupendra Nath was just six or seven when he first saw his father cry. His father had run a boutique hotel and restaurant—Palace Hotel—in Patna, right across from the historic Gandhi Maidan. But when his partnership in the business failed, it shook their middle-class family. That moment stayed with him. “I made a silent promise to myself: one day, I’ll open a restaurant for him,” remembers Nath, as he now proudly runs Trèsind Studio, Dubai—the first-ever Indian restaurant in the world to receive three Michelin stars.

How it all began?

In 2014, I found the right moment and the right partner. Himanshu Saini, a chef then in New York, wanted to return to India. Instead, I asked him to join me in Dubai. We both shared the same vision: to take Indian cuisine beyond clichés—beyond butter chicken and biryani. We wanted to reimagine Indian food for a global, evolved palate: lighter, elevated, yet rooted.

We launched Tresind, and later Tresind Studio, with the goal of delivering not just a meal, but a meaningful experience. Dining, to us, is about celebration—whether it’s a salary raise, a birthday, or simply a reason to feel alive. Restaurants should nourish the soul as much as the stomach.

In 2018, Studio was born—not as a chainable concept, but as a singular, soulful experience. We promised ourselves it would never expand beyond Dubai. Today, guests from around the world plan their travel around a table at Studio. Some even delay their return flights just to dine with us—and that, to me, is success.