Most chefs will agree, food today is more than just sustenance—it’s storytelling, history, and art rolled into one—and you get to experience it with the burgeoning trend of adventurous dining in India. Restaurateurs are now focussed on bringing their regional, ingredient-led menus to more relaxed, unique environments for their diners.
In their quest to uncover the potential of local produce and craft meals that are as much about the journey as the destination, pedigreed chefs are turning to untouched corners of the country to redefine dining out today. Take Prateek Sadhu’s NAAR in Kasauli, where his menu evolves with the seasons. Or Avinash Martins’s farm-to-fork space, Table in the Hills in Velim, Goa, that overlooks a paddy field. Then there’s Mharo Khet near Jodhpur, an immersive farm-to-table experience featuring a thoughtfully crafted nine-course plant-forward menu, with 90 per cent of the ingredients freshly harvested from its own fields. And adding to this roster is Palaash at Tipai, a fine-dining concept, which quietly opened last year, and merges nature, tradition, and innovation to create something truly rooted in culture.
Nestled in the heart of Tipeshwar Forest near Nagpur, Tipai by Wildlife Luxuries sprawls across 34 acres, and is dotted with 11 screen-free private suites and four pool residences. Founded by Keyur Joshi, co-founder of MakeMyTrip, Tipai’s eco-conscious design and collaboration with local artisans creates an immersive retreat that honours the region’s heritage while practising responsible hospitality. But the standout feature here, even for those visiting fleetingly, is Palaash, led by celebrated chef Amninder Sandhu.
As I walk into Palaash, I’m struck by how effortlessly the space seems to belong to its surroundings. Designed by Ariane Thakore Ginwala, the architecture features fallen teak trunks and handwoven wicker to craft a setting that feels both rustic and refined, mirroring the forest it inhabits. Every element speaks to the land—whether it’s the fact that local women make up 80 per cent of the workforce or the fresh produce handpicked from the kitchen gardens and nearby farms.
Chef Sandhu works with the wives of local cotton farmers who come from two prominent tribes of Vidarbha—Gondh, known for its lineage tied to tribal chiefs, and Pardhan, storytellers and caretakers of the region’s cultural traditions. This culinary collaboration not only helped the chef learn about their culinary heritage but in turn helped the women learn a thing or two about working in a fine-dining restaurant, be it in the kitchen or in service.
I arrive at an open-to-sky restaurant, the air thick with the scent of palaash (flame of the forest) flowers, as Pusha, Vaishali, Sunita, and Vandana, the women who run the restaurant, greet me with a smile and present a handwoven scarf made using local Giccha fabric. The meal begins with an amuse-bouche inspired by Nagpur’s famed oranges—a delicate iced globe that bursts with tangy sweetness, evoking childhood memories of orange chuskis.
