In Praise of Fuss-Free Dining

DINING out has quietly become a slightly anxious affair.

- VERNIKA AWAL

What was once about loosening your shoulders, ordering something indulgent, and getting on with some friendly banter with the people you love is now often a performance. Every dish arrives with a backstory, a philosophy, a provenance trail, and sometimes a gentle expectation that you listen closely before you eat. I love a good story as much as the next food writer, but there are days when all you want is to sit back, be left alone, and eat something delicious without feeling like you have signed up for a lecture.

Towards the end of last year, as food writers collectively took stock on Instagram, one fatigue echoed louder than most. We are tired of excessive storytelling. We are craving easy, breezy dining again. Places that let food do the talking and diners do the unwinding.

A few weeks ago, I found myself at Trouble Trouble in Greater Kailash 2, the newest chapter from chef Radhika Khandelwal. Her decade-old Fig and Maple was once among the city’s earliest ingredient-forward restaurants — thoughtful, research-led, and influential. Trouble Trouble feels like a conscious shedding of skin.