The Gathering of community, cuisine and creative collaboration

The stately Travancore Palace in New Delhi is where you will find nine of India’s most celebrated chefs this weekend. And no, they aren’t pegged against each other. 

Instead, the air is filled with the palpable excitement of collaboration. Each chef pairs up with an artist or a designer to bring the themes of ‘conservation’, ‘exploration’ or innovation’ to life, through never-seen-before concept tables—where culinary experiments and storytelling take centre-stage. 

This is ‘The Gathering’—a unique food experience put together by event planning company CAB experiences, which promises to go beyond the definition of ‘pop-ups’. 

While chef Auroni Mookerjee (formerly at Kolkata’s Sienna Store and Cafe) finds inspiration in the terroir of the village pond or pukur for his menu, Prateek Sadhu wants diners to experience his ‘Table in the Mountains’. 

‘Contrasts and Dualities’, the pop-up space conceived by Chef Gresham Fernandes and hybrid digital-physical initiative Elsewhere in India, will take you through strikingly contrasting places, visually, sonically and gastronomically. 

“This festival has been many years in the making but I guess it was during Covid that we had the time to work on it. There are many layers as to why we thought of ‘The Gathering’. The name stems from the idea of people—friends and family, and sometimes strangers—sitting together at a table and eating, drinking and talking to each other,” says Sushmita Sarmah, Founder and Festival Director, The Gathering. 

Through this experience, Sarmah, along with co-curator Prasad Ramamurthy, wanted to capture the sense of discovery in food, in other people’s kitchens from different parts of India. 

“From a business point of view, food is in a great space now, but you don’t have eyes on how people are evolving. It’s happening too fast. People are innovating and reclaiming flavours from their childhood. You tend to see this in bits and pieces when you are in different cities,” says Sarmah. “Bringing it all together was something we were very keen on.”

A confluence of different worlds 

While chefs and designers have come together to offer immersive experiences, Sarmah admits the thought was chef-centred. It was clear that ‘The Gathering’ would bring together not trailblazers but younger people who have an appetite for experimentation and pushing the boundaries. 

The idea to rope in designers to “complete the story” felt natural. “We also wanted some visual storytelling for diners to appreciate what is going into bringing that to a plate for you,” says Sarmah. 

Each ‘makeshift’ restaurant at the venue acquaints diners with a different world. 

Regi Mathew and Vinu Daniel’s ‘The Modern Day Toddy Shop’ recreates the experience of traditional kallu shops of Kerala. The use of discarded fishing nets brings you closer to the real experience. 

Adwait Anantwar of INJA fame joins hands with celebrity designer Devika Narain (known for her elaborate grazing tables) for ‘The Darbar of Perception’. While we couldn’t get a sneak peek into this space, the presence of royal guards outside transported us to the times of yore. 

Amninder Sandhu’s campfire-themed space, created with Ekarth Studio, is inspired by the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh with designs that include traditional motifs and patterns. 

Alex Davis’s installation ‘Splash’ takes centre-stage in ‘The Last Harvest’ led by chef Viraf Patel. The otherwise simplistic space, dominated with ‘ghost chairs’, gives diners cause to examine the choices they make and where it may lead us one day. 

“Our aim was to create that sense of wonderment without distracting from the food on the table. Hence, while Splash will dominate the room, diners won’t feel overwhelmed by it and instead find themselves sitting at the edge of a placid waterbody,” shares Davis. 

Culinary creations 

There’s no way food can take a backseat at The Gathering. Each chef has stepped out of their comfort zone to offer a five-course meal for 20 diners that goes beyond the traditional dining experience. 

Chef Vanika Choudhary, known for playing around with her arsenal of fermented foods, has teamed up with Punit Jasuja for ‘Past Continuous’. Some of the dishes on her menu include Ancient Futures (black buckwheat tartlet, beets and goat cheese, black Himalayan garlic, Himalayan garlic salt) and Taste the Ocean (barramundi, galgal–Timru salt, dragonfruit, jambhiri (rough lemon), praan (wild onion or shallot)). 

‘Forbidden. Stolen. Feral’ by chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar, in collaboration with designer Archana Hande, attempts to bring back stories that history tried to erase. Her dishes like Floral Phantasms (lotus stem and fresh pea crystal dim sum, roselle broth) and Congee Caper (pineapple, sweetwater fish, blended rice) shine the spotlight on ingredients that are seldom discussed. 

Chef Patel’s concept, The Last Harvest, looks at the impact of climate change on the way we will eat in 100 years. 

“It’s a glimpse into the possible future of food. It is about looking at dining in 2125 and how we might have to fight to preserve our foods. It’s a challenge and opportunity to explore the ingredients that could define the culinary landscape in a world completely changed by climate change,” says Patel. “It’s a story of adaptation, sustainability and the relationship between nature and human ingenuity.”

Being seated at Patel’s table felt just that. While it may sound dystopian, every bite of what was served—from the Solu Kombhu and White Bean Hummus to Savoury Choux and Ocean Fish Mousse, and the Last Cocoa Chocolate Mousse—was a reminder of what we once had and what we could lose, and what we must strive to sustain. 

What’s next on the cards?

Every year, The Gathering will have a different concept and crew, which, Sarmah claims, no other food event is doing in the country. 

“The original plan was to be in three cities simultaneously (Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru) but we started in Delhi. It is our first year, it is proof of concept, and hopefully we should be able to take it to more centres in the second and third editions,” says Sarmah. 

The Gathering food festival is being held on February 22 and 23 at Travancore Palace, New Delhi.

(The copy was updated to correct a photo caption.)