Truffle makers, keto counters & gin bars: Super-rich spare no expense on food options during big, fat Indian weddings

Luxury weddings are feeling the bite of the slump - but there’s no cutting corners when it comes to food. Leading wedding planners, hotels and caterers to the rich and famous say that while the economic slowdown has hit spending on marriages - even those of the super wealthy - the great Indian wedding spread remains well and truly insulated.

From hiring Swiss truffle makers, noodle pullers from Xian and pizza acrobats from Naples, to keto counters and exotic health food, new highs of innovation and extravagance are being scaled on the food front, even in these times of cutbacks.

Vinit Mody, partner at Chetak Caterers, which serves the wealthiest Marwari and Gujarati families, said that while some clients are paring guest numbers or even reducing the number of functions, spending on food continues to go up.

Top wedding planner Vandana Mohan agreed. “Weddings are not insulated from the slowdown,” said the founder of Wedding Design Co., the go-to planner for celebrities and top business families, including the Jindals and the Mittals. “A wedding will happen but the scale at which it happens will differ. Spends will be on food and drinks as Indians love to feed their guests. The slowdown will be on gifting, the décor etc.”

Guests at a recent wedding in Hyderabad were treated to macarons and ice creams made by chefs from the 157-year-old Parisian luxury bakers and sweets maker Ladurée, said Varun Tuli, managing director of gourmet caterers FoodInc by Yum Yum Tree.

“The drive is to stand out and give an experience that cannot be gotten anywhere,” Tuli said. At another wedding by FoodInc, molecular gastronomy chefs from the Spanish Basque Culinary Institute treated guests to edible balloons, which are served only at the Michelin-starred restaurant Alinea in Chicago. Pizza acrobats from Naples were roped in for an entrepreneur’s wedding in Delhi.

“International chefs are flown down in business or first class--they have as many demands as any star,” said Mody.

At a recent high-end wedding in Rajasthan, the host had a team flown in from Confiserie Sprüngli in Switzerland at a cost of nearly Rs 50-60 lakh just so that the guests could experience live truffle making firsthand.

Well-travelled clients are making informed choices and demanding authentic food, Mohan said. Think burrata makers from a small village in Italy, local chefs from Kolkata for hilsa and ragi dosa makers from the south. “We’ve brought chefs from Surat for Surti locho, from Surendranagar to make fafras and jalebis, from Indore to make garadu chaat and bhutte ka kees,” Mody said. For one wedding, Amritsari food was made with water from the city because chefs said it made a big difference to the taste.

What about the cost? “Rs 10,000 per head an evening is nothing--it can go up to Rs 20,000-25,000. Basically, the sky’s the limit,” said Anjan Chatterjee, chief executive of Speciality Restaurants, which operates Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta.

The idea is to have intimate functions with smaller guest lists, but spend on maximising the experience, said Tina Tharwani, cofounder, Shaadi Squad, which organised the Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli nuptials.

The economic slowdown has had an effect, said Arjun Chadha, an ex-Taj chef who now runs Culinary Affaire, a catering service. “Lots of people are preferring destination weddings even as close to Agra amd Jaipur so that the number of people reduce and budget remains same,” he said.

Also popular are multiple mini-restaurants. During the wedding of a Bangkokbased Indian entrepreneur this year, guests could sit down at mini-versions of celebrated Japanese, Korean, Thai and French restaurants, said Bhraman Rattan, founder, Wedabout.com, a wedding planning website.

At the spirit counters, gin bars with a variety of gins and gin-infused cocktails are a hit, said Tharwani. Mehak Shahani, cofounder of WedMeGood, said that one client even asked for gummy bears drenched in alcohol.

Health food is also trending. A bride from a Chennai business family asked for a keto counter during her wedding, said Tharwani. At another, uberhealthy poke bowls, a Hawaiian dish made of raw marinated fish, rice and vegetables, were served. Mohan said “boost counters” are also popular, serving mixes of fruits and vegetables.

Source:- https://retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/food-entertainment/food-services/truffle-makers-keto-counters-gin-bars-super-rich-spare-no-expense-on-food-options-during-big-fat-indian-weddings/71231589