India is Loving Fine Dine

The concept of fine dine is on the rise, in the Indian food service industry. As the liveried stewards/waiters make their way towards your table in a fine dining restaurant and present you with a menu with a flourish, you are likely to be impressed by the classy demeanour of the people serving you as well as with the ambience and décor of the place.

Then comes the menu…The menu at such a restaurant may offer the guests a wide choice of dishes which they may have had on their visit/s abroad and yearned for them for quite some time here, in India. Ashok Malkani takes a look at the growing popularity of fine dining food & beverage outlets in the Indian food service industry and finds that the experience of partaking a meal at a fine dining outlet can indeed be an experience worth savouring.

Top hoteliers now often talk of “staging an experience” and “shaping the atmosphere” at their establishments. These are becoming crucial elements in their bid to woo the Indian gastrocrat, who has been growing more and more sophisticated. Indians are travelling more than ever before and thus on an average, they have more access to the best of global dishes, than they had a decade before. Consequently, their expectations from the Indian restaurants have risen too.

Now, there is a new breed of luxury consumers in urban India – the professionals with high discretionary spending ability. Therefore nowadays fine dine or haute cuisine, in top restaurants, is no longer the preserve of the elites. With the spending power on the increase, even the middle-classes in urban India are now able to partake in the Michelin-starred meal, once in a while. And in pockets of urban India now eating out in a high-end restaurant is considered an experience worth paying for.  

Reasons for the Popularity

“Fine dining has become popular in Indian food service industry nowadays owing to the increase in the customer spending power and rising income levels. Also, people today are well travelled and enjoy sophisticated environments; therefore they look forward to a fine dining experience as opposed to a more casual set up. People who appreciate artistically plated food and are knowledgeable of exquisite and rare ingredients also enjoy fine dining restaurants,” opined Chef Himanshu Taneja, Executive Chef, JW Marriott Mumbai Juhu.