Glocal plates and food miles

Imagine a restaurant with an international footprint, one with a set cuisine, which made it popular in first place, and if they try to adapt themselves to local sensibilities.
Mumbai's Hakkasan restaurant
Mumbai's Hakkasan restaurant

The term ‘carbon footprint’ has been much spoken about in the last few years, and yet so little has been done about it. A country’s more powerful point their fingers at the developing nations and urge them to stop doing exactly what they did a few decades earlier to get them to where they are today. The latter, for their part, don’t wish to take the higher ground approach and are happy to barter natural beauty for industrial advancement.

And one component of the carbon footprint conversation is food miles, the distance a particular fruit or vegetable (or any ingredient, for that matter) travels before it is finally consumed. So when you eat an out-of-season mango, or some exotic fruit, the food miles are much higher than, say, eating something that a local farmer grew. And with each day, as provenance becomes important, chefs are trying to be more local with their sourcing, for not only does it feel good to not accumulate food miles, the fresh local stuff in-season can taste better.

A lot of chef-centric restaurants thrive on this concept of seasonality: changing menus with each season provides variety and infuses innovation into the menu, allowing the chef to showcase his skills. It keeps things animated and interesting even for the frequent patrons.

Recently, a laudable effort in this direction was flagged off by the international eatery Hakkasan, which launched their ‘Only At’ campaign. The idea was that each Hakkasan would create menus which reflect local flavours and tastes. This was not just about seasonality but about regionality.

So while the Mumbai outpost was serving mango desserts, it was apples in, well, The Big Apple. Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai flaunted their spices and saffron (also dates), while London prided itself on their prime Rhug lamb dishes. Locally, Mumbai too has a small yet enticing menu with specialities along a similar line. Even some cocktails showcase this sentiment, using lychees and kaffir limes as part of the mix.

Local eateries can do this all year round and make brisk business of it. We all know where to find the best chole bhature in Delhi or who does the best pav bhaji in Mumbai. But imagine a restaurant with an international footprint, one with a set cuisine, which made it popular in first place. Now imagine if they try to adapt themselves to local sensibilities without losing sight of their roots.

The concept isn’t entirely new—think spicy McChicken at McD’s and rice bowls at KFC—but it is not everyday that a fine dining outlet carries out such experiments. To stay true to their core brand DNA and yet innovate with local influences incorporated, can be a tricky exercise to successfully execute. So if you happen to be passing through Mumbai, there is only one surefire way to find out. Reservations are advised.

The writer is a sommelier
mail@magandeepsingh.com

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