Wanna try a new table? Explore this unique dining festival across India this October

How many new restaurants have you dined at in the last six months Or how experimental are you with trying new dishes at an unfamiliar eatery Guilty as charged most of us prefer to return to our favourites on autopilot The familiar table the similar order the place where you know exactly what to eat Well therersquos a dining festival that wants to shake that habitRevived earlier this year after a decadelong hiatus Restaurant Week India RWI returns for its Autumn Edition from October 16 to November 1 expanding from three cities to ten including Ahmedabad Bengaluru DelhiNCR and Kolkata It brings together more than 100 restaurants to create special threecourse menus at set prices giving diners a focused way to experience a broader range of Indiarsquos dining sceneL to R Chaitanya Rele Aatish Nath Nachiket Shetye and Gauri Vij after a brainstorming session at a city restaurantThe previous edition was held in April across Mumbai DelhiNCR and Bengaluru More than 6000 diners made over 2100 bookings generating more than 1 crore in revenue for participating restaurants Nearly 1700 additional diners remained on the waitlist when bookings closed More revealing was the repeat behaviour Eightyone diners booked three or more times during the 10day festival The numbers indicated that the dining festival addressed a particular need diners were willing to try restaurants they might have otherwise overlooked provided the prices were reasonableAn old idea reworkedRestaurant Week Indiarsquos original edition launched almost a decade ago under Cellar Door Hospitality founded by Nachiket Shetye and Mangal Dalal At the time the prixfixe fixed price in French format itself was unfamiliar to many diners But it gave participating kitchens a concentrated audience Fast forward to now Indiarsquos restaurant landscape has changed dramatically There are more restaurants more ambitious chefs and a dining audience increasingly interested in regional cuisines new formats and distinctive culinary voicesFor Shetye who returns as mentor and original architect of the platform it is this evolution that has made the revival timely ldquoWhen we started Restaurant Week India over a decade ago the prixfixe menu was still a new idea for many dinersrdquo he says ldquoToday diners are more adventurous chefs are more ambitious and Indiarsquos dining culture has evolved enormouslyrdquoThe new Restaurant Week India therefore is less a resurrection than a rewrite The Dining Collective which now operates the festival is led by cofounders Aatish Nath Gauri Vij and restaurateur Chaitanya Rele with Shetye as mentor They aim to build a platform that brings restaurants and diners together around the quality and character of the food rather than simply priceExplaining why The Dining Collective decided to retain the IP Nath says ldquoA lot of people who have travelled know about it Itrsquos also something that was a very successful part of the Indian dining landscape till a decade ago and we each had fond memories of discovering some of the cityrsquos best restaurants at the time Wersquore grateful that Nachiket Shetye one of the cofounders of the previous edition can share his insights from running the event earlier and wersquore excited to make this a regular fixture on the Indian culinary calendarrdquo he addsWhat makes the cutWith Indiarsquos restaurant scene expanding at pace curation becomes the festivalrsquos most important job The selection is not based simply on fame social media visibility or the ability to fill tables The team eats at restaurants speaks to chefs and owners and considers whether the kitchen has a distinctive voiceNath explains ldquoWe look for restaurants that have a clear culinary identity are known for their craft and have a strong point of view Each participating restaurant creates a threecourse menu specifically for the festival For some chefs that becomes a creative exercise rather than a discounted version of the regular menu Some chefs develop new dishes specifically for RWI while others use the format to showcase the cooking that defines them The difficulty says Nath is saying no ldquoThere are simply too many good restaurantsrdquoBigger longer broaderWhile the Summer Edition was deliberately compact with fewer restaurants and cities the Autumn Edition is considerably larger running for 17 days The expansion is not simply about adding restaurants It also lets RWI experiment with formats outside the traditional restaurantweek formatBeyond the prixfixeIn addition to the prixfixe one can look forward to the One Service Only format where each venue will host two sittings in an evening serving a threecourse menu created exclusively for RWI A separate drinks menu will be available for purchase at the venueThe format is intentionally limited One evening two sittings a finite number of seats It also acknowledges how Indiarsquos dining culture has broadened Some of the countryrsquos most compelling food now happens in places that do not fit neatly into the traditional restaurant mould from chefled bars to increasingly ambitious pastry programmes RWI is widening its frame accordinglyAccess to experimentWith this edition the experiment is national And that may be the real evolution of Restaurant Week India not simply a festival built around fixedprice meals but a recurring platform that also documents Indiarsquos evolving culinary culture On the one hand a restaurant can attract a new audiences and encourage loyal diners to try unfamiliar dishes On the other diners can look for new favourites and be open to experimentation A winwin for allWHAT Restaurant Week India Autumn EditionWHEN October 16 to November 1TO BOOK District appPRICE Lunch Rs 1300 dinner Rs 1600ndash Rs 2200 plus applicable taxes All bookings are prepaid