Higher ground, Lore standard

Farmlore, a little restaurant in Bengaluru, has no PR, no famous chef, no fanfare. So, how did it make it to The World's 50 Best?

- VIR SANGHVI

Two weeks ago, somebody from The World's 50 Best Restaurants got in touch with me. Each year, 50 Best gives an award to a restaurant to watch (It is actually called “One To Watch”) at the annual 50 Best in Asia ceremony. This year, they said, the award would go to a restaurant “that will be relevant to your market”.

They were happy to tell me who the winner was on the condition that I not write about it until the official announcement was made on March 6.

I was intrigued. Who could it be? When 50 Best wrote back with the name, I was taken aback. The winner was Farmlore in Bengaluru. There was no doubt that it deserved the award. It is one of India's greatest restaurants. But it was an unusual choice because most restaurants that win international distinctions tend to be places that employ high-priced PR agencies; they cultivate 'influencers' and Instagrammers around the world; they arrange collaborations with big-name chefs; they fly in and pamper food bloggers who they think might be voters for awards.

Farmlore doesn't know how to do any of this. They barely understand how to promote their own restaurant in India.