ITV

Tag: Living foodz

  • Adhishree Murdia promoted to VP-SVOD marketing at Zee5

    Adhishree Murdia promoted to VP-SVOD marketing at Zee5

    MUMBAI: She began as a marketing executive at Zee Entertainment Enterprises working on Zee MGM, Zee English and ZCafe shows in 2004 after completing her MBA in marketing from Welingkar Institute of Management in Mumbai.  20 years later Adhishree Murdia sits atop as vice-president SVoD marketing- India & global at Zee’s prized streaming product Zee5.

    It has been some growth for Murdia. But along the way she had to put in the hard yards. She worked in different marketing roles at  Turner International, BCCL, UTV Bindass before heading back to Zee in 2012 as assistant vice-president, after which she was handed the responsibility of handling marketing and the brand Living Foodz and an independent digital channel LFOriginals.

    Her success over there saw her getting to handle the brands as vice-president marketing under the Zee Marathi movie cluster of channels – Zee Talkies, Zee Yuva and Zee Chitramandir  -woking directly with the business head.

    Her nine year continuous stint and knowledge of digital at Zee resulted in her getting moved to Zee5 Global in 2022 as vice-president brand & content marketing, a post she held before being promoted this month to oversee the international domestic marketing of Zee5’s  subscription product.

    She has confessed in the past that she is a life-long learner. “Looking forward to this new opportunity,” she said on linkedin. “Embracing it with gratitude.”

    With that kind of  positive attitude, there is only direction that Zee5’s subscription revenue can head: northwards and upwards.

  • LF launches new show ‘Dakshin Diaries’

    LF launches new show ‘Dakshin Diaries’

    MUMBAI: Lifestyle channel LF has launched a new show Dakshin Diaries which includes avenues that are familiar but when explored reveals a curated mix of culture, cuisine, travel, music, and faith. The show is hosted by chef Rakesh Raghunathan, starting 21 March, airing every Thursday and Friday at 8.30 pm.

    The entire series revolves around the one thing that makes it relevant – the people. Be it the people making the temple ‘prasadam’ and adding their extra faith to it, the people rapping about current issues and trying to make a difference or even the housewives and grandmothers who, for centuries, have cooked with their own recipes with just a pinch of salt or just a hint of turmeric while making the best cooked dishes in the world. Dakshin Diaries, as the name suggests, is a record of experiences that revolve around garnering a sense of familiarity to the unknown. Each episode starts with a spiritual passage in a new city, a new temple and a new ‘Madapally’ (royal temple kitchen). Here the heritage of the city is explored whilst speaking about traditions that uphold the beliefs with which the locals live together.

    Living Foodz business head Amit Nair said, “South has been a relatively less explored place for the rest of India. On films and Tv and whenever it finds a mention its mostly in cliches. What we have therefore tried to do thru this show is to un-streotype the south which also is our key communication peg. The people, culture and tastes combined with distinct traditions make it a unique part of the country and the show manages to capture south in all its glory. I’m very confident that combining great quality of human stories and the unique milieu, the show will be a success and will look forward to more seasons.”

    Dakshin Diaries’ tagline rightly says ‘Dakshin dekho desh samjho!’ A conversation on the sports culture of Chennai at the Madras Cricket club – Chepauk with a senior journalist and active member of the club R Mohan reveals a time when India lost a match but the entire stadium did a standing ovation for the Pakistan team’s victory lap. From touching the ‘Golden Lizard’, searching for Saurashtrian weavers in Kanchipuram, trying to get tickets for a Rajnikanth movie, learning the recipe for the bestselling halwa by a North Indian in Kumbakonam, cooking from recipe books left by Serfoji the Maratha ruler, Dakshin Diaries has it all, and more.

    Raghunathan said, “As someone who has looked at food culturally, historically and enjoyed the journey where I have travelled the length and breadth of the South  of India, I have been able to meet interesting people, document recipes, culinary practices, cooking techniques and local legends. I am thrilled about the association with the LF channel, for they continue to set new standards in showcasing food the way it must be shown. I strongly believe that this show will give viewers a nuanced understanding of South India culturally, historically and gastronomically. I am already looking forward to season 2 of Dakshin Diaries.

    Each episode then seamlessly transitions into speaking about musicians, art, culture and more. Chef Rakesh meets people from various walks of life each offering something exceptional. An auto-driver who has given a talk at TEDx and provides free Wi-Fi to all his customers since he realizes the importance it may have especially for his expat riders. A Mylapore Mystical Magical Food Walk with the budding generation to break certain stereotypes. Meeting Dabba Chetty the owner of a traditional medicinal store over a century old selling various herbs, ingredients and medicines some of which one may have never heard of. A visit to ‘SoFar’ which is an underground music concert community that welcomes music collaborations between the locals and expats and also where Chef Rakesh joins in for a session.

  • Living Foodz sees 25% growth in advertiser response

    Living Foodz sees 25% growth in advertiser response

    MUMBAI: After Aparna Bhosle’s elevation in the Zee Entertainment Enterprise Ltd (Zeel) from the premium English cluster head to now being the business head of Zee TV’s Hindi GEC channel, Shaurya Mehta along with handling the lifestyle genre, Living Foodz (LF), is also given the additional responsibility of donning the hat of the premium English cluster– Zee Cafe, &flix and &prive.

    Talking about the lifestyle channel that launched in 2015, LF COO Shaurya Mehta said that since the start, the channel’s only focus was to offer original content to the Indian audiences and being true to its factor, it has been the cornerstone to its success.

    Despite the disruptive elements that the lifestyle genre witnessed in the form of demonetisation and GST, it didn’t affect LF which took two years to break even. “We broke even a while back. It took less than two years to break even,” he said. According to him, the genre within these 2-3 years has grown 10-15 per cent y-o-y and the channel claims to have grown in excess to the growth of the overall space.

    Not only this, as far as advertisers’ response on the channel is concerned, it claims to have witnessed a healthy growth rate in excess of 25 per cent y-o-y. Also, whether or not the ad rates of the genre increased, Mehta said that the channel has already increased its ad rates. “The ad rates have already increased and over these past three years, we have consistently seen our ERs growing. LF is more on the premium side now from a viewer and advertisers perspective and we enjoy a much healthy ERs than our competition.”

    When it comes to adex that declined in FY18, according to the KPMG report 2018, the lifestyle genre observed 1.3 per cent adex in FY17 and 1.2 per cent in FY18. “We at LF have seen great growth within these 2-3 years. The genre stayed a little stagnant from the ad sales perspective and going forward this would improve and there will be relatively steadier phase over the coming years.”

    Considering the BARC data, LF has been ruling the charts. Mehta said that the channel continues to lead the market share in terms of viewership with a healthy margin in a genre which is already cluttered. “With the channels that have been around for almost a decade especially some leaders in the market like Discovery and others and to go up against them and draw us a span of viewership shares is quite a big thing.”

    The network has plans to launch 6-8 shows this month and many more in the coming month with a mix of both original and acquired shows. The channel garners most of the viewership during the daytime, between 1-7 pm depending on the shows that could vary. Several shows were launched on 3 October, slotted for the typical prime time of 9 pm.   

    LF provides just local content for the viewers buy other players offer a mix of syndicated and local content. Mehta said, “We have seen much of our competitors also adopting our strategy where instead of airing syndicated content, they are also airing a mix of original shows. So as the overall content strategy, competition will have a mix of both syndicated and original content and in case of LF, original shows remain our main pillar.”

    He added that as per the consumers’ choices, there is an appetite for syndicated content as well. There is a room for both local and syndicated content where there are people in the market who want to consume the content from all around the world.

    Mehta said that considering the infotainment and lifestyle genres together, lifestyle has seen growth from the perspective of the accretion value of the viewers that is known in India. According to him the outlook remains positive and the viewership base will continue to grow. “We have seen digital as a medium growing tremendously in this genre and competing with TV viewership. So from that perspective as well, LF has a strong strategy for our digital footprint also playing an important role for growth in the group and LF as a brand. We have been investing our digital platform as well since last year and we continue to do so. We bring the shows that are available on TV and we also do some originals to publish on our livingfoodz.com. We do realise that in order to build the story over the next 5 years, our digital footprint will also play an important role,” he said.

    A Tamil feed was also to be added this year for which he said, “The Tamil feed is still in progress. We want to ensure when we are completely ready to announce. We are looking at all the possibilities.”

  • Aparna Bhosle appointed Zee TV business head, Shaurya Mehta to lead premium cluster

    Aparna Bhosle appointed Zee TV business head, Shaurya Mehta to lead premium cluster

    MUMBAI: Aparna Bhosle will lead Zee Entertainment’s flagship channel ZEE TV as its business head. Bhosle will continue to lead the FTA GECs and will report to ZEEL domestic broadcast business CEO Punit Misra.

    The Premium Cluster will now be led by Shaurya Mehta, in addition to his current role as the chief operating officer, Living Entertainment. He too will also to Misra.

    Bhosle has been with ZEEL for more than six years. She joined the company in 2012 as the business head of ZeeQ and Zee Anmol. In 2017, she was elevated as business cluster head of premium & FTA GECs.

    Before joining ZEEL, Bhosle worked with Astro Malaysia as Food Food head – programming, production and broadcast operations for more than two years.

    She also had a stint with The Walt Disney Company as director – programming, production and broadcast operations of Hungama TV/Disney Channel/Disney XD. Bhosle has also worked with companies like UTV, Wisden India, Diageo and Reckitt & Colman.

    Shaurya Mehta started his career in 2003 as systems associate at GE healthcare. After serving the company for about two years, he joined Deloitte Consulting as the senior consultant. In 2012, he was the co-founder and COO of Ekstop.com and after three years, in 2015, he was the head of Ecommerce at Godrej. Last year, Mehta was appointed as the Essel Group’s lifestyle channel-Living Foodz COO and now, in addition to his current role, he will also look after the premium cluster that Bhosle used to head.

  • ‘Maggi Kitchen Journey’ to premiere on Zee TV, Living Foodz

    ‘Maggi Kitchen Journey’ to premiere on Zee TV, Living Foodz

    MUMBAI: Nestle and Zee pay an ode to women who have emerged from bread makers to bread earners, leveraging their passion for food on the show Maggi Kitchen Journeys. The show will be soon premiere this July on Zee TV at 6:30 pm on Saturday, 14 July and on Living Foodz at 1:30 PM on Monday, 16 July.

    Maggi Kitchen journey brings up 12 motivating and history of women who have established their own unique identity, empowered themselves using cooking as a medium. Guests of the shows  will be sharing their success stories with show host actress Renuka Shahane. Maggi Kitchen Journeys aims to to fuel the ambition of women across the country and motivate them to carve an identity for themselves in society. 

    Zee Unimedia Ltd chief operating officer Ashish Sehgal said, “ZEE shares great thought synergies with Nestle, who has been a cherished client over the years. Our brand philosophies intersect beautifully when it comes to igniting a spark among the Indian masses to achieve the extraordinary. Through this collaboration, we as broadcasters, are happy to help amplify this message across and ensure that it reaches the largest denominator in the form of engaging television content.”

    ZEEL chief marketing officer Prathyusha Agarwal says, “We are very excited to bring alive Nestle’s brand vision through a show that salutes women who have combined their culinary expertise with gumption and industriousness to re-write their destinies and emerge as successful entrepreneurs. The content fits beautifully with the two channels we plan to showcase it on Zee TV, where our brand philosophy Aaj Likhenge Kal is all about inspiring the masses to draw from their inner strength, seize the right opportunities and reach out to an extraordinary future and Living Foodz, our lifestyle channel, which elevates food from just something cooked within the confines of a kitchen to an emotion that bonds people together and paves a way of life”.

    Commenting on the same, Nestlé India General Manager Foods, Maarten Geraets says “At Maggi, we believe that home-cooking deserves its rightful due. Home-cooking provides us everyday meals and has a huge impact on oneself, the family and consequently on the society. We are extremely excited about our partnership with ZEE TV and Living Foodz in taking our message of ‘Kuch Acha Pak Raha Hai’ forward.”

  • Relive memories that take you back to mom’s food

    Relive memories that take you back to mom’s food

    MUMBAI: Celebrating culinary skills that let you relive memories with mom’s food, Living Foodz announces new show Amma Superstar with Chef Pallavi. Starting July 10th, this show marks Chef Pallavi’s debut on television. The show will leave the viewers craving for some good home cooked food by their very own Amma Superstars

    This 26-episode series brings stories from different walks of life. Amma Superstar highlights different relationship bonds that showcase the mother like love and comfort through food. Amma Superstar has individuals participating in pairs like friends, caretakers, roommates in the hostel and neighbors apart from only mothers and children. Following a fun and interactive format, the participants in the show are seen participating in games such as food quizzes, rapid fires, picking the odd one out and true or false. The participants will be seen recreating their Amma’s special recipe and sharing memories and anecdotes around food. Chef Pallavi creates recipes that remind her of similar memories as those featured in the episode.

    The show will witness celebrity participants such as celebrated Chef Saransh Goila,actress  Amrita Prakash from the show Shakti – Astitva Ke Ehsaas Ki and popular television and theatre actor Rytasha Rathod best known for her role as Badho in the show Badho Bahu. Chef Saransh Goila will be seen alongside his mom on television for the very first time. Interacting with Chef Pallavi sharing how the famous Goila Butter Chicken was created and the special twist that makes it what it is.

    Sharing her experience as the host of the show, Chef Pallavi Nigam says, “Amma Superstar captures stories that will rekindle memories with our favorite maa-ke-haath-ka-khana. This show brings different relationships and bonds that remind us of our mom’s love and the connect with food. I have stayed away from home as I studied in Italy, I used to miss my mom’s home cooked food and thus relate to stories where people have connected through food that has the homely warmth and comfort. The viewers will relive their memories with their mom’s special food. I am excited for my debut on television with Living Foodz and look forward to the launch of the show.”

    Living Foodz, Business Head, Mr. Amit Nair says, “We are excited to bring Chef Pallavi Nigam on board with the launch of ‘Amma Superstar’.Through this show we bring back memories shared around food that is just like mom’s.The show will resonate with our viewers as the participants share stories that they have with people who with culinary skills have  taken them back to their mom’s food and her memories.”

    Tune in to Living Foodz every Tuesday and Wednesday at 2:30PM, starting July 10, 2018. Repeat telecast of the episodes will air on Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:00PM and 8:00PM. The show is sponsored by Freshwrap, Wonderchef, Tata Sampann and Preet Lite.

  • Take a walk down memory lane with Chef Gautam Mehrishi this Summer

    Take a walk down memory lane with Chef Gautam Mehrishi this Summer

    MUMBAI: As summer is set to sizzle this year, get ready to chill out and beat the heat with Chef Gautam Mehrishi’s upcoming show ‘Hello Summer’ on Living Foodz. Starting April 16, the show reignites the nostalgia of summer vacations when exams would end and everyone would gear up for a two-month summer break.

    Summer holidays were quintessentially the best time of the year and the memory still puts a smile on our faces! ‘Hello Summer’ is interspersed with Chef Gautam’s anecdotes and childhood memories. He recreates some closely-guarded family recipes, which he relished during his summer holidays.

    The 13 episode series will explore varied themes such as birthdays, kitty parties, family picnics, pool parties, travel and summer weddings, etc. in each episode. Chef Gautam will showcase a range of refreshing snacks and drinks such as Mango and Chia pudding, Sugarcane smoked tofu, Banana Bread French Toast, Green Chai Latte, Jackfruit Mousse and Daab Malai Khichdi . Each episode features a segment dedicated to children, which will include recipes that can be enjoyed during holidays such as popsicles, ice cream jello, rose veggie tart, etc. Viewers can also learn how to whip-up dishes using the ultimate summer fruit- mangoes!

    Sharing his experience as a host, Chef Gautam Mehrishi says, “‘Hello Summer’ captures the beautiful nostalgia of summer vacations and those magical childhood days! The show allows viewers to experiment with a variety of recipes ranging from quick-fix snacks for kids, dishes for a leisurely Sunday brunch and energizing summer coolers. I am excited to collaborate with Living Foodz after the success of 100% Veg Season 2 and look forward to the launch of the show.”

    Living Foodz, Business Head, Mr. Amit Nair says, “Hello Summer’ will resonate with our viewers as it rekindles memories from childhood summer breaks- a time everyone looked forward to while growing up. Chef Gautam gives a unique twist to the classic summer recipes and shares simple, yet efficient tips that come in handy during this season. He has a wide following and his shows have received great appreciation from our viewers. We look forward to the launch.”

    Tune in to Living Foodz every Monday and Tuesday at 1:30 PM, starting April 16th, 2018. Repeat telecast of the episodes will air every Monday and Tuesday at 3:30PM and 6:30PM . The show is Co-powered  by Airtel and Lotus herbal .

  • Living Foodz raises a Toast to India’s finest restaurants, night

    Living Foodz raises a Toast to India’s finest restaurants, night

    MUMBAI: India’s premium lifestyle channel, Living Foodz organized the second edition of Epicurean Guild Awards at an evening which saluted the game changers in India’s fine-dining, nightlife and lifestyle entertainment space. Held on March 22 at Sahara Star, Mumbai, the event was curated by Chef Manu Chandra. Living Foodz Epicurean Guild Awards paid ode to the country’s best fine-dining restaurants and lounges across 8 cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Goa.

    Attended by India’s finest food mavens, influencers and eminent personalities such as Kunal Kapur, Maria Goretti, Amrita Raichand, Thomas Zacharias, Brinda Miller, Zeba Kohli, Kunal Vijayakar, Devita Saraf, Kelvin Cheung, Adarsh Munjal, Michael Swamy and Prahlad Kakar. The evening was a celebration of India’s evolving fine-dining and nightlife culture. Comedians Kunal Rao and Azeem Banatwalla had the audience in splits throughout the night.

    The winners of this year’s Epicurean Guild Awards were:

    JURY CHOICE AWARDS:

    BEST CHINESE RESTAURANT: Yauatcha, Mumbai

    BEST JAPANESE RESTAURANT: MEGU -The Leela Palace, Delhi

    BEST MULTI ASIAN RESTAURANT: Gung the Palace, Delhi

    BEST ITALIAN RESTAURANT: Artusi Ristorante E-Bar, Delhi

    BEST EUROPEAN RESTAURANT: Masque, Mumbai

    BEST INDIAN RESTAURANT: Dum Pukht – ITC Maurya, Delhi

    BEST NEW INDIAN RESTAURANT: Royal Vega – ITC Grand Chola, Chennai

    BEST FREESTYLE RESTAURANT: The Bombay Canteen, Mumbai

    BEST NEW RESTAURANT: POH, Mumbai

    BEST NIGHTLIFE EXPERIENCE: KOKO Asian Gastropub, Mumbai

    BEST INDIAN WINERY: KRSMA Estates

    ICONIC RESTAURANT: Bukhara – ITC Maurya, Delhi

    LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Madhur Jaffrey

    NON-JURY AWARDS:

    BEST FOOD ENTERTAINER: Kunal Kapur

    BEST FOOD INSTAGRAMMER: Shivesh Bhatia

    As the curator of the Epicurean Guild Awards Chef Manu Chandra said “The Epicurean Guild Awards are an attempt to redefine the narrative of fine-dining in India, which has undergone a significant transformation over the last few years. The awards champion India’s emerging stars who have put the country on the global culinary map. I have always rooted for the emergence of talent in this space and I am delighted to be a part of this unique property.”

    While speaking about the evening Amit Nair said “At Living Foodz, we have always stood for creating new formats and intellectual properties.

    The Epicurean Guild Awards in its second year have been a resounding success due to the meticulous approach and range of the jury involved. The award categories and winners reflect the diversity of India’s culinary landscape and I congratulate each one of them for setting the bar high. We are thrilled at the response from the consumer votes for the Best Food entertainer and Best Instagrammer of the year. The whopping 10k plus votes was a testament to the burgeoning interest in food related content both on TV and Digital, where we have maintained a sustained leadership.”

    The awards were curated by Chef Manu Chandra along with an esteemed jury panel that consisted of an electric mix of the best chefs, influencers, and personalities from the food industry.  It comprised of Chef Ranveer Brar, AD Singh, Karen Anand, Magandeep Singh, Bhaichand Patel, Ajay Chopra, Chef Rakhee Vaswani, Clinton Cerejo, Anoothi Vishal, Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal, Kalyan Karmakar, Mohit Anand, Nicole Madon, Nikhil Agarwal, Antoine Lewis, Anirban Blah, Osama Jalali, Ruma Singh, Gauri Devidayal, Ruth Dsouza Prabhu, Purva Mehra and Hemamalini Maiya.  EY are the Process Advisors for the second edition of Living Foodz Epicurean Guild Awards 2018. The nomination process started by reviewing restaurants across the 8 cities, a dine out session followed by 2 jury deliberation rounds.

    India Gate Brown Rice was the ‘Co-Powered By’ Sponsor and Volkswagen was the ‘Driven By’ Sponsor for the Epicurean Guild Awards 2018. Some of the strategic partnerships for the property included Radio One: Radio partner, Facebook- Social Media partner, Jean Claude Biguine – styling partner, The Hindu- Print Partner, FBAI- Blogging Partner, TGI.Co – Tea partner and Sahara Star- Hospitality partner.

  • Living Foodz to add Tamil feed in FY 18-19

    Living Foodz to add Tamil feed in FY 18-19

    MUMBAI: The flavours of regional India have not failed to touch food channels. In a bid to tap this market, Living Foodz plans to launch a Tamil feed in financial year 2018-19.

    Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Living Foodz COO Shaurya Mehta said that the network, Living Network, was exploring feeds in southern languages. “There is strong potential for having a feed in Tamil. It will be around the coming financial year.”

    The channel was launched in September 2015 and garnered great traction in its opening week, topping the charts in the food and lifestyle space according to Broadcast Audience Research Council data. Even in the latest week 9 of 2018, Living Foodz has maintained its leadership with 1206 (000) impressions.

    When asked whether lifestyle channels should market themselves more in order to create a buzz around their programming, Mehta said that the question was about effectiveness. Speaking in relation to the network, he pointed out that the network undertook adequate representation. “What we do is adequate representation in terms of new content created and the show that is being launched. We do market the shows a lot. By and large, we have seen a great response in term of marketing efforts,” he added.

    Mehta said that GST and demonetisation did not heavily impact the network’s operations, adding that the channel was just growing. “We may have been affected but we didn’t really deviate from our plans,” he clarified.

    Talking about the upcoming shows, Mehta said that Femme Foodies season 2 was round the corner. Quarter is another show lined up for May 2019 with a unique concept of exploring the station master’s tiffin. The show will be hosted by chef Ranveer Brar and will explore a variety of food on a train journey.

    Living Foodz will be launched on UK’s Sky platform and a date will be announced soon. It is expected to be added to the Sky line-up towards the end of March or beginning of April. The broadcaster has already firmed up its programming output and is expected to add a number of local shows to localise the feed of the channel. Living Foodz has also finalised its electronic programme guide (EPG) slot.

    Also Read :

    GST fails to spoil Food Food’s party

    Food content dominates viewership on lifestyle channels

  • Living Foodz to celebrate the Game-Changers in India’s Fine- Dining, Nightlife and Lifestyle entertainment landscape

    Living Foodz to celebrate the Game-Changers in India’s Fine- Dining, Nightlife and Lifestyle entertainment landscape

    MUMBAI: India’s premium lifestyle channel, Living Foodz is set to recognize India’s best authentic fine-dining restaurants and lounges at Epicurean Guild Awards 2018 this March. The second edition of the prestigious awards will take place at a glittering ceremony on March 22, with the most prominent names in the hospitality industry in attendance. The awards are co-curated by restaurateur and celebrity Chef Manu Chandra, Chef / Partner Olive Bar and Kitchen Pvt Ltd.

    Commenting on the upcoming awards, Living Foodz, Business Head, Mr. Amit Nair said, “Epicurean Guild Awards will pay an ode to the gamechangers of the culinary industry in India. As a lifestyle brand, we have always encouraged and celebrated excellence in the ecosystem through our initiatives. We are delighted to have created an IP that raises the bar with a nuanced and meticulous process that truly awards the best. Looking forward to the second season of LFEGA and curating this experience with Chef Manu Chandra.”

    The jury is an eclectic mix of the finest chefs, influencers and eminent personalities who have defined the new paradigm shift in India’s gourmet culture. It comprises Chef Ranveer Brar, AD Singh, Karen Anand, Magandeep Singh, Bhaichand Patel, Ajay Chopra, Chef Rakhee Vaswani,Clinton Cerejo, Anoothi Vishal, Rushina Munshaw-Ghildyal, Kalyan Karmakar, Mohit Anand, Nicole Madon, Nikhil Agarwal, Antoine Lewis, Anirban Blah, Mohit Anand, Osama Jalali, Ruma Singh, Gauri Devidayal, Ruth Dsouza Prabhu, Purva Mehra and Hemamalini Maiya.

    Commenting on the awards, Chef Manu Chandra said, ”“My experience curating the Living Foodz Epicurean Guild Awards has been extremely inspiring. The awards are an attempt to rationalise any one sided narrative that may exist around the perception of fine dining in India. The categorically systematic, transparent and scientific method that this has been done with, goes to show the seriousness with which the LFEGA will stand out in the numerous awards today.”

    Living Foodz curated an extensive shortlist of fine-dining restaurants and lounges across Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Goa. Thereafter, the grand jury voted to determine the top 3 restaurants in each category. The jurors dined at these destinations and awarded ‘flames’ based on their experience. The process was audited by EY.

    The awards will applaud restaurants and lounges who offer memorable culinary experiences and have innovated as per the evolving consumers’ tastes. Picked by a panel of India’s finest Chefs, writers, bloggers and tastemakers, each of the nominees have made a mark in the culinary world.

    “The global as well as national trend around the very idea of “fine dining” has seen a correction in the last decade. The customers preference towards something serious about their offering, without being pretentious has trumped all others. Therefore, a shift has been witnessed across the board, where young chef driven restaurants have boldly experimented with a clear vision . The new back to basics approach- a focus on ingredients, championing of one’s own biodiversity and skill – all are becoming synonymous with fine dining – not only the rare and exotic. This is definitely here to stay!”, adds Manu.