Why top chefs from Gary Mehigan to Massimo Bottura are making a beeline for India

Chefs Gary Mehigan and Saransh Goila. Mehigan is back in India to offer masterclasses, as well as to shoot Indian Stories with Gary Mehigan and friends. (Image source: Instagram / Gary Mehigan)

Michelin-starred restaurant chefs - mostly marquee names from across the globe - are making their way to Indian cities like never before. From Gary Mehigan conducting masterclasses and a dinner at Hyatt Regency Chandigarh, to culinary maestro Massimo Bottura cooking for diners at The Leela Palace New Delhi, Chef Grégoire Berger coming to Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai and Italian Chef Simone Loisi's taking over Caprese at Shangri-La Bengaluru, showcasing his heirloom recipes, there is no shortage of variety.

But why the sudden influx? Are well-heeled Indian diners looking for more varied food experiences, and seeking out pop-ups by celebrity chefs - many of whom have appeared on their favourite food shows? Or are hotels and restaurants, forever in search of ways to increase footfalls, driving it? Or is it a bit of both?

Chef Massimo Bottura

Sunil Narang, general manager, Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai, says, “Diners today are experience-seekers and these pop-ups, especially when they have a short validity, create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and offer a much-valued exclusivity which extends beyond a price-tag.”

Kiran Soans, founder, World on a Plate agrees. “Consumers in India are ready to explore cuisines from around the world. A change of flavours, new cooking techniques and experiences, are what the Indian audience are willing to pay for.”

Food experiments

With Instagram bursting with enticing food images, people are at their adventurous best when it comes to food. Travel to a fancy destination may not always be an option, yet, eating a meal cooked by Chefs of some of the world’s best restaurants, in the diners' own city, can be appealing.

Diners in New Delhi recently sampled Bottura’s iconic dishes - 'Oops I Dropped the Lemon Tart', 'The Crunchy Part of the Lasagne' and 'Psychedelic Cod Not Flame Grilled', among others.

Raaj Sanghvi, CEO, Culinary Culture, says, “Part of the reason we bring some of the world's greatest chefs to India is because there is a huge appetite from Indian gourmands for new and exciting culinary experiences. This has increased post-pandemic, perhaps, as foodies weren’t able to travel abroad and many spent their time on social media watching popular food-based programing, longing to eat the food prepared by these star chefs. Many of the chefs we bring to India run almost impossible-to-book restaurants around the world. We brought the two-time world No. 1 Massimo Bottura to Mumbai last year and again, recently, to New Delhi. His restaurant in Italy with 12 tables, is booked out six months in advance, so for many Indian diners, it is virtually impossible to visit his restaurant (and this is discounting the large costs involved in flying to Italy and reaching Modena, which is a small town close to Bologna).”

Chef Massimo Bottura's cod dish

What's in it for the chefs and hotels?

While diners are treated to a unique experience, the visiting chefs, too, benefit. According to, Anupam Dasgupta, general manager, The Leela Palace New Delhi, pop-ups have been in existence for many years, but have certainly increased recently. “These provide an extended visibility to the Michelin-rated restaurant in different cities, as well as the chef and the team. It also allows them an exposure in a different market and to understand varied consumer tastes and sentiments.”

Offering guests an out-of-the-ordinary dining experience is important for hotels, but this is not all that they seek from such collaborations. Pop-ups give hotels a chance to attract diners as well as publicity: such experiences are shared extensively on social media and through word-of-mouth.

Last year, Four Seasons Hotel Mumbai organized Chef Mano Thevar’s first Indian pop-up of his eponymous 2 Michelin-starred Singapore restaurant, Thevar, for the launch of Modernist – a members-only club on the hotel's 33rd floor – using it as an opportunity for them to showcase something novel for their members.

Dasgupta says, "These are a great way to drive trial and exposure and create interest. When a restaurant or hotel collaborates for a pop-up, it brings in an opportunity for the in-house team to learn something new, executing a different experience with finesse. Working with a guest chef, and his or her team, creates an opportunity to expand your learning and provides exposure to what’s new and next from a global perspective.”

Coming at a steep price for the guest, at most times, these pop-ups also prove to be revenue grossers for the hotel.

As these high-price aspirational dinners can only be a one-off for most, hotels often aim, not to make a profit, but to create a buzz and do brand-building through these.

And sometimes these prove to be the perfect vehicle for a spirits brand to promote themselves too, as these can become an interactive experience for guests to connect with the brand.

Whatever be the reason for their soaring popularity, these pop-ups by travelling chefs are here to stay.