|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Signature dining - It is not about spectacle, it is substance
|
|
Saturday, 19 July, 2025, 16 : 00 PM [IST]
|
|
Kunal Shanker
|
For a long time, restaurants in hotels played a supporting role. They offered comfort and convenience, but rarely drove attention or loyalty. Today, that’s no longer the case. In fact, in many hotels, the dining experience is the main draw. It’s what people talk about, post about, and return for.
Dining has quietly moved from the sidelines to the centre. A signature restaurant today can define a hotel's personality far more than its architecture or location. And the most successful hotels are recognising that it’s not just about good food anymore. It’s about creating something that feels complete. The atmosphere, the service, the storytelling, the conversation it invites, and yes, the food itself.
The Experience Matters as Much as the Taste
Guests are not just looking to be served. They’re looking to feel something. That could be nostalgia, curiosity, comfort, or even surprise. The way the room is lit, the music playing softly in the background, the confidence and warmth in the way a dish is described at the table. All of it matters. It builds a sense of place.
Of course, the food still has to be excellent. That is the baseline. But when you bring together great food with intention, clarity, and emotion, it stays with people. That’s what brings them back, or what spreads word of mouth.
The challenge, though, is to keep that feeling real as the scale grows. A big room or a bigger brand cannot afford to lose the detail. Which is why training becomes so critical. Not just technical training, but teaching the team how to host. How to welcome someone, not serve them. How to make a guest feel remembered, not managed.
Global Curiosity Meets Local Comfort
One of the most interesting shifts in recent years is how much more open people have become. There’s a genuine interest in trying new things - flavours, textures, formats. But equally, there is a longing for comfort and connection. This is where good restaurants strike a balance. They introduce something new without losing what feels familiar.
Indian guests are more curious now than ever before. But they also expect warmth, thoughtfulness, and a level of care that is deeply cultural. A perfectly seared duck breast is impressive, but it is the dal made the way your grandmother made it, with clarity, not complication, that often brings silence at the table.
And it is not just the food. People want to know where the ingredients are from. They want to know why a certain dish was created. There’s an interest in story, in meaning. When that is missing, even the most elaborate tasting menu can fall flat.
The Risk of Chasing Trends
There is a tendency in the industry to run after what’s in vogue, such as immersive dining, molecular gastronomy, food theatrics. While these can work in the right setting, they are not a replacement for what guests really come for. If the food and drink don’t deliver, no amount of drama can fix that.
Restaurants need to be clear about who they are and what they are good at. Then, if it makes sense, build experiences around that. Not the other way around. The core has to be strong. Everything else is a layer, not the foundation.
Dining as a Business Strategy
A well-run restaurant is not just good PR. It’s good business. Globally, the food service industry continues to grow steadily. It is no longer unusual for hotel restaurants to have their own entrance, their own following, sometimes even their own identity separate from the property they sit inside.
People now travel for restaurants. They plan evenings around them. And when the restaurant is memorable, the hotel becomes memorable by association. That’s how a signature dining experience becomes a serious differentiator.
The numbers support this shift. From curated menus and wine pairings to chef-led evenings and seasonal concepts, dining has become a central part of how hospitality brands build value. It is also where a lot of the innovation is happening. In how food is sourced, how it is presented, and how people engage with it.
Tech Is an Enabler, Not the Experience
It is impossible to ignore the role of technology in all of this. Better systems have made operations sharper. Digital menus, reservation apps, mobile payments. All of these make things more efficient. But they are not what guests will remember.
The warmth of a conversation at the table, the smile of a bartender who knows your drink, or the quiet suggestion of a dish that’s not on the menu. These are the things that stay. Tech can support the experience. It cannot replace it.
What restaurants are doing well now is using insights. What people are ordering, what they are avoiding, when they are visiting, and applying it smartly. It’s not about overwhelming people with choices. It’s about offering just enough, with the kind of confidence that comes from knowing your guests.
Health, Sustainability, and the Return of Simplicity
There’s a lot more thought going into what people eat. Diners, especially younger ones, are far more aware. They are reading labels, asking questions, and taking a genuine interest in what goes into their food. This has pushed restaurants to move towards cleaner menus, local sourcing, and more transparency.
Millets, for instance, have made a visible comeback. Not because of a trend, but because people now understand what they bring to the table, nutritionally and culturally. They’re better for the gut, better for the land, and offer chefs new textures to work with.
Sustainability is no longer a talking point, but a basic expectation from customers. From how waste is managed to how water is used; restaurants are being looked at more closely, and the ones that lead here are the ones that quietly get it right, without needing to talk about it all the time.
Food as a Way of Understanding Place
For travellers, the restaurant is often their first real taste of a region. Done well, it can be the most authentic. And this is where Indian hotels have a unique advantage. Our culinary heritage is layered, deep, and still largely unexplored. A thoughtfully put together regional menu can reveal more about a place than any room brochure ever will.
This is what makes food tourism so interesting. People are no longer content with just seeing a place. They want to taste it. And if the hotel can offer that - not just with flair, but with respect - it sets the tone for the entire trip.
A good restaurant inside a hotel is no longer just a convenience. It is the conversation starter. It is where the mood is set, where the brand comes alive, where trust is built. It is also what gives a hotel a personality of its own.
And in a business where the product is memory, not just service, that matters more than ever.
Signature dining is not about spectacle. It is about substance. It is what stays after the lights are dimmed, the dishes are cleared, and the guest has gone home. It is what they will remember, and come back for.
(The author is general manager at Novotel Mumbai Juhu Beach)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|