TRENDS that ruled DINING this year

Diners fell in love with clarified cocktails and Latin American cuisine, while chefs turned to hyperregional ingredients 

- Jahnabee Borah

It was a year of comebacks, optimism and courage. A sentiment of resilient hope was needed to bounce back from the pandemic that had battered the restaurant industry, and this was distilled in pop-ups, tasting menus and new openings throughout 2023.

Some of the most exciting launches included Indian Accent Mumbai; Naar, a 16-seater experimental restaurant near Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, led by Prateek Sadhu; and the Little Bit Sober bar in Kolkata. They elevated the dining scene in India, and turned the focus on hyper-regional ingredients with inventive menus.

"Premium experiences through highquality ingredients for nostalgia-inducing food was a big trend this year," says Pravesh Pandey, founder of Handcrafted Restaurants Pvt. Ltd, the parent company of the year-old craft house Roxie in Bengaluru. As 2023 comes to an end, it's time to take stock of the trends that defined the year and will spill over into the next.

KOLKATA'S MAKEOVER

For decades, Kolkata went through a lull with the most exciting dining spaces being 6 Ballygunge Place, Kasturi and Flurys. 2023 was a transformative year for the city, bringing new bars and restaurants to its residents. Craft cocktails picked up with the opening of Little Bit Sober, Sorano and the massive brewery-cum-bar Olterra.