Eating With Friends

A group of four food enthusiasts captures Delhi's enduring dining legacy, from exclusive clubs to gentrified eateries

- By PUSHPESH PANT

Authors Sunil Kant Munjal, Nitan Kapoor and Ajay Shriram at Bukhara restaurant at Delhi's ITC Maurya hotel

Four distinguished friends, representing fabulously wealthy families of industrialists, hoteliers, and patrons of the arts and culture—Deepak Nirula, Nitan Kapoor, Ajay Shriram, and Sunil Kant Munjal—had been to the Doon School together as adolescents.

They later formed an intimate group in Delhi to relive happy memories. What starts as a lark soon takes on a life of its own, becoming an exploration of 16 years of Delhi's dining legacy, captured in the book Table For Four.

However, the niggling questions persist. Why should anyone else, the proverbial general reader, be interested in what they ate and made small talk over? Is the rating system useful for our use or just a pretentious garnish? Presenting 27 restaurant reviews, 10 signature recipes, culinary anecdotes, and reflective essays, the book is full of pleasant surprises. It has been conceived as a product with a long shelf life. The core comprises lighthearted yet serious reviews of restaurants where the 'old boys', still young at heart, met at regular intervals.