9 chefs meet 9 artists 

Experience 'The Gathering' in New Delhi, a unique culinary event blending food, architecture, and storytelling for an immersive experience.

A bamboo structure rises skyward, inspired by the various headgears of Arunachal Pradesh’s tribal communities. Discarded fishing nets repurposed into walls enclose a space that echoes the raw charm of Kerala’s toddy shops. Elsewhere, a visual feast of Himalayan foraged ingredients comes to life on hand-painted tableware. Walking through ‘The Gathering’ is like stepping into a living artwork, where food, architecture and storytelling merge into an immersive experience.

We are in New Delh’s Travancore Palace where nine of India’s most celebrated chefs have come together this weekend for ‘The Gathering’, a food experience unlike any other. This one isn’t a pop-up about showcasing signature dishes but about crafting entirely new menus and concept tables, built from the ground up, in collaboration with artists and designers across disciplines. 

“As a chef, you often talk about provenance, seasonality and history, but this is about creating something new,” explains Prasad Ramamurthy, writer and co-curator of ‘The Gathering’. He adds that this brainchild of Sushmita Sarmah’s, co-founder of event planning company CAB Experiences and festival director of ‘The Gathering’, is about trying something crazy, about “challenging chefs, to push them beyond their comfort zones and give them a platform where they could express something they’d never attempted before”.

Set outdoors, the event features nine individually designed pop-up ‘restaurants’, each 50x20 sq.ft., and reimagined by artists. For instance, chef Viraf Patel’s menu, titled ‘The Last Harvest’, imagines a future where rising sea levels have swallowed much of the land, forcing humanity to rethink sustenance.

Patel has teamed up with sculptor Alex Davis, whose large-scale water-inspired installations set the stage for a thought-provoking dining space. At this booth, 20 diners per sitting get to taste dishes such as Solu Kumbhu and White Bean Hummus paired with stinging nettle crackers, and for the second course, Savoury Choux and Ocean Fish Mousse, featuring deep sea mackerel floss and and brine-preserved kelp dust.

Chef Auroni Mookerjee celebrates the paddy field in his ‘Terra Firma’ where all ingredients for his third course, including shellfish and wild fungi, are from a village pond or around it. Meanwhile, architect Vinu Daniel, famous for transforming plastic bottles and waste into award-winning structures, has constructed chef Regi Mathew’s Kerala-inspired ‘The Modern Day Toddy Shop’. An immersive setting for Mathew’s popular hyper-local menu, featuring staples such as Kappa Kodampuli Fish Curry.

Chef Prateek Sadhu, known for his deep connection to the Himalayas, partners with artist Aradhana Seth to recreate the essence of his culinary philosophy. His pop-up, ‘A Table in the Mountains’, takes inspiration from the rugged terrain and foraging traditions. Guests are served dishes such as Askalu, a delicate balance of kinu marmalade and smoked cheese, and Himachali trout, cooked with turmeric, coconut, and radish.