Food festivals, especially in Delhi are always welcomed with much fanfare. This is a one-stop solution for food enthusiasts to get a bite of regional and international cuisines. The relocation of people from different states has made the city a cultural melting pot which in turn has led to the influx of many dishes to become a part of the city’s heritage. There is, for instance, the sweetdish Rosogulla from Bengal and Bhujia from Bikaner. To let the people of the city enjoy the tastes of various Indian and international cuisines, the Grub Fest this yearhas come up with interesting Indian and international cuisines.
Grub Fest, the latest addition to the food fests is back with its third edition in Delhi. Promising the presence of over 80 restaurants and cafes, the ongoing festival is the talk of the town which is scheduled to end on 16 October. The festival location, Jawahar Lal Nehru Stadium is abuzz with action-packed line-up of performers and artists, chef demos, a grub theatre showcasing food-related movies, the homegrown grub market, a first of its kind pop up night club and an all new mini food truck festival. There is also the presence of a play area for children.
Introducing a festival within a festival, The Grub Mile —food truck festival made its debut at the upcoming edition of The Grub Fest, with over 15 food trucks including Being Truckers, Doggy Style, Burnout and more.
“Grub as a festival has always been renowned for its innovation, we are introducing three big highlights — our own food truck festival within this festival, “Grub Mile”, a life sized skateboard restaurant by Imperfecto, and India’s first three day pop up night club by RSVP.”
Chaitanya Mathur, co-director, The Grub Fest says, “The Grub Fest, in its third edition is bigger and better than ever before. We have many pop up restaurants, a stunning line up of artists including punjabi hit sensation Sukhe Muzical Doctorz, the voice of electronic music in India, Nikhil Chinappa, singer songwriters Prateek Kuhad and Dhruv Vishwanath, modern folk duo Hari and Sukhmani, and the rising EDM sensation Zaeden.
He also talks about the highlights of the festival.
“Grub as a festival has always been renowned for its innovation, we are introducing three big highlights — our own food truck festival within this festival, “Grub Mile”, a life sized skateboard restaurant by Imperfecto, and India’s first three day pop up night club by RSVP. Apart from all of this, we have the Weber Grub Theatre, where top chefs and mixologists from around the world are coming in to showcase their talent and reveal some of their secret ingredients. The Grub Fest is a family carnival and the upcoming edition takes it a notch above all of our previous events.”
Talking about the USP of the fest, he says, “Our USP has always been innovation. We focus on new elements, new ingredients and many new features. From participating brands to line up of artists, exciting elements and chef demos, we believe in making every customer feel they have got a lot more than their money’s worth.”
Food enthusiasts will have an opportunity to learn recipes and cooking techniques from prominent chefs like Hanisha Singh from My Little Food Company, award-winning chef Jamsheed Bhote, chef Rohan D’souza among others as they recreate their favourite dishes at Weber Grub Theatre. Furthermore, they can also attend mixology sessions with mixologists from Auro Bar & Kitchen and Niche.
The owner of {Niche} Cafe & Bar,who is participating in the fest, tells Guardian 20 how the entire arrangement is helpful for the restaurants. He says, “The Grub Fest is a great platform for the new as well as the existing restaurants, wanting to engage in marketing activities. This is unlike the digital media marketing wherein people get to know about a restaurant through online reviews, blogs or articles featured on social media sites. Grub Fest lends three days for the new restaurant brands to find exposure and the established ones to engage with the new customers or test the market for yet to be launched products. As the biggest and one of the most popular food festival of the country, it gives the restaurants an opportunity to showcase their best offerings to tickle the imagination and palates of a huge set of visitors, consisting of nearly 50 thousand food lovers, which is incredible.”
Sukhdeep Singh who is popular as Sukh-E or Sukh-E Muzical Doctorz thinks that food festivals are a good stage for musicians as they help them connect with public. He says, “This will be my first performance at The Grub Fest and I am excited to perform in front of a crowd while enjoying delicacies from various places in Delhi/NCR. Of course food events are an important platform to showcase talents, especially the new emerging musicians. India has become home to several food festivals and the fact that hundreds of thousands of people attend The Grub Fest, it serves as a huge platform for artists like us to reach out to music lovers.”
Along with the food events, visitors can enjoy performances by Prateek Kuhad, Udit Sehgal,Aneesh Chengappa amongst others on 16 October.
Venue: JLN Stadium, New Delhi: Entry from Gate No. 14
Time: 12 Noon to 10 PM
Price per Ticket: Rs 250/- on online booking on cleartrip.com, Rs 300/- on purchasing on-ground