Beyond startups to pop-ups in Bengaluru

Akhila Srinivas may well be Bengaluru's queen of pop-ups. Akhila runs The Courtyard, her family home now transformed into a gathering space, and The Conservatory, which has hosted a number of restaurant pop-ups that are not as expensive as the five-star ones but aren't cheap either (the range is from ₹1,500 to ₹6,000 per person per meal).

- Shoba Narayan

Akhila Srinivas may well be Bengaluru's queen of pop-ups. Akhila runs The Courtyard, her family home now transformed into a gathering space, and The Conservatory, which has hosted a number of restaurant pop-ups that are not as expensive as the five-star ones but aren't cheap either (the range is from ₹1,500 to ₹6,000 per person per meal). What distinguishes her curations is that they are rooted in a specific cuisine prepared in a specific way. Consider the recent line-up: Sienna Café's Bengali food, Gingko Pune's Uzuki summer menu, the Maratha Kitchen's food and more. There are a lot of women chefs with interesting takes on their native and learned food, be it Goan or Keralite. A good indication of their popularity is that five-star chefs get on the wait-list to attend. So what's the feedback, I asked Akhila. "Visiting chefs say that Bengaluru's diners are both adventurous and attentive to food," she says. "When a chef comes to explain the concept, the diners actually listen."

At the other end of the spectrum is the recently finished culinary pop-up at The Leela Palace Bengaluru with 3 Michelin-starred Chef Massimo Bottura. Priced at ₹50,000++ per person, the sold-out event attracted visitors from Bengaluru and nearby cities who don't hesitate to spend for high-end experiences brought to their doorstep. Bengaluru a la Delhi, you might say.