Restaurant Week Mumbai: A celebration of food

Food enthusiasts in Mumbai have a reason to go out exploring new restaurants. The second Restaurant Week Mumbai kicks off on Sunday, February 6, bringing with it the chance to dine at premium restaurants at a discounted price. Though the concept is popular worldwide, this is only the second time the event is taking place in Mumbai.

People can register for a meal at one of the participating restaurants through a common website www.restaurantweekindia.com and enjoy a three-course set meal at Rs1,000 per head. If you would like wine, make that Rs2,000 per head.

“With restaurant week we want to build excitement around food," said Mangal Dalal, food writer and a part of the trio behind the weeklong celebration. "For customers it’s an opportunity to go out and try new places to eat while for a restaurant it’s a chance to reach out to a diverse clientele.”

“I’ve wanted to try Vetro, Olive and Stax for a long time. Restaurant week is just an excuse to eat out,” agreed telecom professional Suchitra Laxman, who is quite excited about the event. "We would have ended up trying these places for a special occasion, but it’s nice to go there just like that, and the discounted price makes it feasible.”

Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal, a food blogger based in Mumbai, tried out a restaurant at a five-star hotel during the restaurant week in September and walked away unimpressed with the place but impressed with the concept. “It sets your expectations right and one can try different places before picking a place to splurge on eventually,” she said.

That’s exactly what Gauri Devidayal is hoping to achieve for her new restaurant, The Table, at Colaba. “Normally, a meal would cost around Rs1,500 per head at our restaurant, but people have an opportunity to enjoy the same at two-thirds the price. If they enjoy, they come back!”

Devidayal’s restaurant is part of an ensemble of five-star and established standalone premium restaurants. “Being a relatively new restaurant, we are looking forward to the exposure,” she said.

Meanwhile, Jeetesh Kaprani, F&B manager at The Oberoi, Mumbai, is excited about introducing chef Vincenzo’s creations during the event. “Vincenzo has recently come on board with us and restaurant week gives us a great opportunity to present his signature dishes," Kaprani said. "We want the guests to experience the food, the presentation, and give us their feedback."

The restaurants featured in Restaurant Week Mumbai are chosen carefully by Dalal, Azeem Zainulbhai and Nachiket Shetye. “We spoke to a lot of people," said Dalal. "But of course, we ourselves have tried these restaurants. We don’t want to compromise on quality."

While Dalal writes about food, his partner Shetye is a chef and Zainulbhai is a banker turned restaurateur. The trio evaluates the overall experience at a restaurant. "Great food, great ambience, great service and interesting cutlery are all part of the restaurant experience," explained Dalal.

All three of them have lived abroad and experienced and enjoyed restaurant weeks in New York and London and that is what inspired them to start such an event in Mumbai. After their first restaurant week in the city in September 2010, they recently wrapped up Restaurant Week Delhi.

Speaking about plans for Restaurant Week India, Dalal said, “This is purely a passion product for us right now, but we are definitely looking to expand into other Indian cities with the concept. We want to focus on premium restaurants, so we may not see a massive number of restaurants participating in the event, but the few that do will be exceptional restaurants.”

Considering that registration for the event happens exclusively through their website, Restaurant Week India seems like an internet- and social-media-savvy company. Their first event in Mumbai saw a large turnout thanks to word-of-mouth publicity from food bloggers and enthusiasts.

“Social media plays an important role in spreading the word. So we have a Facebook page, but the registration on the website was more for convenience," said Dalal. "It’s difficult for the customer to call every restaurant for a booking. People can register for the restaurant of their choice anytime, anywhere through the website.”

So far, the concept seems to have received a double thumbs up from customers and restaurants.