Where to eat this July… in Chennai, Pune, Kolkata and other cities

This month’s openings and special menus hop around the map. Here’s what we mean: A popular Phuket cocktail bar is coming to Jaipur, and Pune will soon feature mountain cuisine from Uttarakhand. In Kolkata, you can join a dim sum masterclass, while Chandigarh is bringing back classic sundaes. New spots also include a fine-dining restaurant in Pune that changes its menu with the seasons, a gelato bar in Vadodara, a stylish mithai boutique at ITC Grand Chola in Chennai, and a new location for a beloved south Indian restaurant in Karjat. Here are the places and dishes we’d scope out if we were you.

New Openings

Ritvah at ITC Grand Chola, Chennai

ITC Grand Chola has launched Ritvah, a takeaway mithai boutique that gives Indian sweets a modern twist while keeping their familiar flavours. Located next to Peshawri, the shop pairs traditional mithai with contemporary spins. Expect playful creations like a rabri taco, gulab jamun cheese indulgence, and a besan laddoo phirni tart alongside classics like badushah, boondi kalakand roll, and malai khaja. The nut-focused selection includes a pista paan delicacy, almond pistachio praline sandwich, and kaju cranberry sheer. At the same time, those looking for something savoury can pick up Madras mixture, kalimirch nimki, spiced seed trail, and peri peri cashews. The idea is that at Ritvah guests can shop for a festival, a host gift, or simply satisfy a sweet or salty tooth.

Nuèe, Pune

Kalyani Nagar welcomed a new fine-dining restaurant in June that lets the seasons, not a fixed menu, dictate what’s on the plate. Helmed by chef Pranav Vijay Sawant, Nuèe sources produce from organic farms in Uruli Kanchan and plans to evolve its menu weekly based on availability. The menu spans pan-Asian, continental, and Indian dishes alongside dedicated live-fire and tandoor sections. Expect handmade pastas, wood-fired pizzas, contemporary Maharashtrian dishes, and live-fire cooking, all in one spot. A scan of the menu shows some interesting dishes: black sesame chicken tikka, pink perch with jamun and dragon fruit glaze, black masala lamb cutlets, and Korean fire-glazed quail. The focus on ingredients extends behind the scenes with paneer made fresh daily from A2 milk, organic tofu pressed in-house, and a bar programme that swaps pre-made mixes for seasonal fruits, herbs, and botanicals.

Aafreen at The Westin, Pune

Aafreen at The Westin Pune has reopened with a new identity and a menu that goes beyond its previous Awadhi dishes to showcase a range of regional Indian cuisines now. You’ll find Kakori kebabs, chicken vepudu, Kerala-style seabass moilee, dum pukht gosht biryani, artisanal small plates, tandoor favourites, and brioche shahi tukda. The cocktails, inspired by local botanicals and Indian spices, complete the experience.

Sugar Rush, Vadodara

Vadodara’s dessert scene has a colourful new addition. Sugar Rush is the second venture from Vadodara restaurateur and pastry-trained entrepreneur Anoushka Arora, founder of The Table at Splatter. This eight-week-old gelateria, cafe, and dessert bar focuses on small-batch artisanal gelato made fresh in-house. The menu also features croffles topped with everything from Biscoff to chocolate pistachio kunafa, thick-cut French toast served with salted butter caramel gelato or a Nutella-filled centre, and warm cookies. The drinks menu is playful, with French toast, Oreo cheesecake, and Biscoff lattes alongside iced matchas in flavours like tiramisu, lychee, and strawberry milk. Sugar Rush’s pastel interiors and branding revolve around Little Miss A, a mascot inspired by Arora’s childhood obsession with hosting imaginary cafes.

Uppu, Karjat

After finding a following in Bandra, Uppu opened a second outpost at Oleander Farms in Karjat at the end of June. The menu spans Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka. These include Kanchipuram idlis, appam with paneer sukka, Mysore masala dosas, rasam vada, mushroom ghee roast, and bisi bele bath. Meals are complemented by filter coffee and traditional desserts such as moong dal payasam. Uppu focuses on authentic regional cuisine rather than reinterpretations, offering another dining option for guests at Oleander Farms or visitors to Karjat.

Limited menus and events

Room No. 102, Jaipur

Phuket’s acclaimed The Fool Speakeasy lands at Room No. 102 for a one-night guest shift on July 26. Ranked the island’s top bar, the project by founders Pias and Pera is known for cocktails inspired by tarot, mythology and dream interpretation, built around local Thai botanicals, fruit and flowers rather than straightforward classics. Expect an evening of inventive, story-driven drinks that bring a taste of Phuket’s contemporary cocktail scene to Jaipur.

Himalayan menu at JW Marriott, Pune

The cuisines of Uttarakhand are getting a showcase in Pune at JW Marriott’s From the Himalayan Foothills 2.0. This dinner buffet, available until July 26 at Spice Kitchen and curated by chef Jaspal Singh, features the culinary traditions of Kumaon and Garhwal. Signature dishes include bhatt ki churkani, a smoky black soybean curry; chainsoo, a roasted urad dal dish; pahadi raita with roasted mustard; and bal mithai, Almora’s caramelised khoya sweet coated in sugar pearls.

Dim sum class and menu at Yauatcha, Kolkata

For anyone who’s ever wanted to learn how to pleat a dumpling properly, Yauatcha is hosting ‘Roll, Fold & Steam’, a two-hour dim sum masterclass on the evening of July 24 at its Kolkata outpost. Led by the restaurant’s chefs, the hands-on session covers four signatures: shiitake mushroom dumplings, truffle edamame dumplings, vegetable Shanghai dumplings, and crispy asparagus, pumpkin, and corn rolls, before winding down with jasmine tea and one of Yauatcha’s signature macarons. At ₹3,000 all-inclusive, it’s as much a cooking workshop as it is a meal. (Book here.) Can’t make it? The restaurant is also serving a weekday Monsoon Yum Cha featuring vegetarian and non-vegetarian dim sum platters with favourites like truffle edamame, shiitake mushroom, and vegetable Shanghai dumplings alongside har gau, spicy har gau, and chicken and prawn shui mai, all paired with its tea selection.

BB Lunch Club at Bombay Brasserie, multiple locations

Bombay Brasserie is targeting the weekday lunch crowd with the BB Lunch Club, a new set menu available this month across its restaurants in Mumbai, Gurugram, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Guwahati. Priced at ₹899, the meal begins with crisps, dips, and a salad. It then moves to small plates like Banarasi tamatar chaat and Guntur podi chicken. Mains include paneer sirka pyaaz with chur chur paratha and dum ki kali dal, or Chettiar pepper chicken with curry leaf naan. Desserts feature the Bombay ice cream sandwich and mango malai mille-feuille. A selection of lunch-friendly cocktails and zero-proof drinks is around for anyone who wants to turn a quick working lunch into something more leisurely.

Sundaes at The Oberoi Sukhvilas, New Chandigarh

Even uber-luxury hotels are getting into the gelato game. The Oberoi Sukhvilas has launched a limited-edition sundae collection that swaps predictable hotel desserts for playful, nostalgia-fuelled creations. A Cup of Childhood riffs on Bournvita with brownies and cereal; Royal Indulgence pairs paan and Rooh Afza ice creams with mukhwas and silver leaf; Golden Hour celebrates orange, honey, and honeycomb; Tropical Sunrise layers mango and coconut; and Brain-Freeze Summer brings together melon-lemon sorbet with kala khatta. Turns out, even at one of the country’s most fancy resorts, dessert can still inspire a sense of childlike glee.