Indian Food Consumption is World's Most Sustainable; Tirupati Laddoo in a Big Fat Mess

Joanna Lobo rounds up all the biggest news in F&B in the last two months.

Happy Diwali, folks! I trust all the sweets and dry fruits have been consumed without guilt.

The biggest controversy to rock India recently had to do with a mithai! Namely, the laddoos served as prasad at the Tirupati Temple. Andhra’s Chief Minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, alleged the previous government had used animal fat to make this sweet, igniting a huge controversy that obviously took attention away from other pressing matters.

On the subject of pressing matters, someone needs to put a curb on weird food combinations, because this Fanta omelette deserves to be banned. The Fanta and egg combination isn’t new; Surat did it first.

A World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, Living Planet Report, calls India’s food consumption patterns ‘the most sustainable among the major economies (G20 countries)’. If all nations were to adopt India’s food consumption approach, it would lead to the least climate-damaging scenario, it said.

On the other hand, a clinical trial finding published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition found that a diet rich in ultra processed and fast foods is among the leading causes of India being the world’s diabetic capital.

Northwestern-led researchers have discovered that cells of a Comamonas bacterium are good at breaking down plastic for food, opening up possibilities for developing bacteria-based engineering solutions to help deal with plastic waste in water bodies.

The Netflix cooking show, Culinary Class Wars is a great introduction to Korean food.

If you’ve living in a Netflix world, chances are you’ve seen or read the hype about Culinary Class Wars. The Korean cooking show brought 100 established chefs together to compete for the title of the best. While the translation left a lot to be desired, the show turned out to be the most delicious-looking introduction to Korean foods like dong po rou (braised pork belly), Tteokbokki (chewy rice cakes), the different jangs (fermented sauces) and Tteok-galbi (grilled beef patties). Anyone else manifesting a trip to Korea?

Food publication, Eater, has launched the Eater app, with 10,000 editor-curated maps in 100-plus cities around the globe. The app lists restaurants near you, which you can search by cuisine or dish, and even book a table.

Desi News: Culinary Travel on the Rise; Asian Food Finds Favour

November will see the annual edition of The Indian Cacao & Craft Chocolate Festival in Bangalore. The festival’s highlights include a craft chocolate tasting by Martin Christy, co-founder of the International Institute of Chocolate & Cacao Tasting (IICCT), workshops on chocolate tempering and tea pairings, and sessions dedicated to cacao genetics among others. It is also the month we bring back the Food Nerd Festival! In its second edition, the festival takes the Food Nerd Labs to Mumbai and Bengaluru, with workshops on Salt, Fat, Acid & Heat by chefs Heena Punwani of Maska Bakery, Gresham Fernandes of Bandra Born, Payal Shah of Kobo Fermentary, Gautam Krishnankutty & Bala Menon.

Assam secured 8 GI (Geographical Indication) tags for Bodo food products, including rice beers and fermented fish dishes like Bodo Napham.

Culinary tourism is finding favour in India, with 45% of Indian travellers considering food as an “integral part of their travel planning”, finds an India Holiday Survey Report by SOTC Travel. Another report, Future of Food Report 2025 for the Asia-Pacific (Apac) region, by Luxury Group, found that Asian cuisine is rising in popularity and could soon become the next big thing in the food world. It’s about time!

The fourth edition of the Indian Cacao & Craft Chocolate Festival will be held in Bangalore in November.

Chef Hussain Shahzad was crowned top chef at Culinary Culture Co’s India’s Top 30 Chefs.

Culinary Culture Co conducted the third edition of FoodSuperstars – India’s Top 30 Chefs, in October. The top 30 chefs included many familiar names with Hussain Shahzad, Johnson Ebenezer and Gresham Fernandes taking the top spots. Imtiaz Qureshi took home Legend Chef 2024; Vinesh Johny, the Pastry Chef 2024; Ralph Prazeres, Young Chef 2024; Neeraj Rawoot, Sustainable Chef 2024; and Suresh Pillai, People’s Chef 2024.

New Launches: Japanese and Asian food rules the roost; Countertop launches two new bars in Goa

The IT City has Siren Cocktail Bar serving drinks inspired by Chinese festivals; The Flavour Lab by The Good Craft Co; resto-bar Botany Brew and Kitchen; Kokoon - The Asian Nook; The Yard, an abandoned garage now offering immersive experiences and food; Crackle, a standalone Omakase-style kitchen and bar; Trayam, a vegetarian restaurant; and Dindigul Ponram, 50-year-old legacy restaurant from Dindigul serving micro-cuisines from Tamil Nadu.

There’s modern Mexican space, Mexarosa and the casual dining TERRĀI in Hyderabad; Pune has Narrative dishing out inspired Indian food, and Amaru, an all-new Nikkei restaurant.

In Delhi is Noe doing comfort fare; Japanese izakaya, Call Me Ten; Japanese restaurant Asagao - The Japanese Kitchen and Bar; restobar The Mission Bay; modern Asian Kamei; drinking spot, café and vinyl bar, Genre; and pet-friendly global cuisine space, Rose Café. PCO Delhi launched The Director’s Room, a hidden bar within the bar, offering an omakase-style cocktail experience.

Bumipura is the new cocktail bar in Mumbai.

Monkey Bar made a smashing return to Mumbai with a new space, and design and menu. The city also has India’s first Armani Caffè; the first Indian outpost of Barcelona café chain, Brunch & Cake; an Awadhi restaurant that is a collaboration between Rahul Akerkar and chef Mukhtar Qureshi, called Waarsa; the Japanese Tamari; cocktail bar, Bumipura; Nandan Coffee’s flagship store and experience centre; Middle Eastern Aqeeq; rustic pie place Phat Fillings; coastal restaurant Tat; Thai streetfood takeaway Khao Man Gai; izakaya SŌZŌ; an elevated dive bar, Bombay Daak; and EL&N London’s first outlet in store and café in India.

In Goa, Courtyard by Marriott Goa Colva has O’Centro, the grab-and-go deli; the cow-boy themed bar, Dynamo; Boilermaker where Great State Aleworks and Countertop team up to offer exciting cocktails and beer. New boutique resort, Amaraanth, has chef Ritu Dalmia consulting for the food, and a bar set up by Countertop, The Lab.

Cacaoté is a gourmet pâtisserie and chocolate brand in Ahmedabad; while Bhopal has cocktail bar, Citrus Garden Project.

Coming soon, in November, is chef Amninder Sandhu is launching Talaabwali, a new restaurant at Tipai in Maharashtra’s Tipeshwar Forest; Bandra will see the launch of Sixteen 33; and Hyderabad will see Terrāi.

High Spirits: Mexican Speakeasy is World’s Best Bar; Mahua Gets a Pricey Makeover

At the recently concluded The World’s 50 Best Bars, Mexican bar, Handshake Speakeasy, won top honours. While India did not find representation, many Asian bars made the list including Bar Leone (Hong Kong at Number 2), Jigger & Pony (Singapore, Number 5) and BKK Social Club (Number 12). Note: Handshake Speakeasy is coming to Jaipur and Mumbai (at Slink & Bardot) for a takeover later this month.

Mexico’s Handshake Speakeasy was crowned the top bar in the world by 50 Best Bars. They will be doing a pop-up at Slink & Bardot in Mumbai on November 14, 15.

Bar ranking platform 30BestBarsIndia unveiled the long list of the Top 100 bars for its 5th edition — Delhi tops the list with 18 bars, followed by Goa at 16, Mumbai at 15, Bangalore at 14, and Kolkata at 12. The second edition of bartending competition, Pistola Duels II, saw Dushyant Tanwar from The Loft, India; Wee Siong from Smoke and Mirrors, Singapore; and Natkrit Chatsakpairach from Jhol Bangkok, Thailand win an all-inclusive trip to Paris to participate in a guest shift at the Pistola Bar for the Top 500 Bar Awards ceremony in November.

Daku Rum is available in Daku Gold and Daku Silver variants.

Sula Vineyards launched Sula Merlot, as part of the ongoing celebrations for Sula’s 25th anniversary. Octaga Green launched Bom Bay Blanche English Dry Gin. The world's first luxury heritage spirit, Six Brothers Mahura by South Seas Distilleries launched two mahua/ mahura spirits — Six Brothers 1922 Resurrection (a matured spirit) and Six Brothers Small Batch (Original). The former is priced at Rs 1,02,000 with only 102 bottles available for sale.

SOM Distilleries and Breweries launched India’s first beer with a twist cap, Woodpecker. Amrut Distilleries launched Bella, a jaggery rum while Hüli is a single-origin jaggery rum from Mysuru. Bapuna Alcobrew introduced Daku Rum in Daku Gold and Daku Silver variants. The rums won a Silver Medal at the UK’s Spring Tasting Awards 2024, a Silver at Bruxelles’ Spirit Selection 2024 by CMB, Bronze at London’s International Wine and Spirits Competition (IWSC), .

Joanna Lobo is an independent journalist from Goa who enjoys writing about food, her Goan heritage, the freelance life, and other things that make her happy. She’s also an editor at Goya. Follow her on @thatdoggonelady.

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