1. W
hat fun is a wedding if the guests are not well
attended to? Khatirdari as we refer to it in
Indian parlance has touched a new high with
luxury catering taking over the already on-
offer elaborate table spread at weddings.
“India is a poor country but Indians are rich,” laughs
acclaimed chef Manish Mehrotra of Indian Accent. King of Indian
fusion, he, under the umbrella of the Old World Hospitality-
promoted Indian Accent at Home, is taking the luxe dining
experience a notch higher. But Mehrotra is not the only one.
There are also the likes of Ritu Dalmia, Marut Sikka and several
others who are happy feeding wedding guests.
“Luxury dining is the new word for catering,” adds Ishaan
Sarkar, CEO, SelectED Events and Dining (by the Select Group
Get ready to transform your
dining room or lawn into Delhi’s finest
restaurant with master chefs preparing a
hand-crafted menu in your kitchen while
the service team ensures a memorable
evening for you and your guests. This is
what luxe catering is all about
by NAVNEET MENDIRATTA
DINING
GOES
LUXE
EXPERIENCE

2. EXPERIENCEEXPERIENCE
destination wedding for five days and that can be
quite a handful. We prefer to do segments with
other chefs,” he adds. In terms of exotic
destinations, Mehrotra shares that he has catered
to places as far as Florence and Milan. “We did a
sit-down for 90 people in Florence (St Regis). It
was very exclusive and intimate,” he shares.
PRESENTATION
“W
e go to our client for the first
time with a teaser. So the client
gets a feel of what we have to
offer,” says Sarkar.
Word-of-mouth is a great way to connect and
though people are adventurous and want
something different, there is always a segment that
wants traditional favourites. No stone is left
unturned to make the guest feel special.
Personalised menus, welcome bouquet of cupcakes
and cookies with the picture of the guest in their
room and personalised notes add to the charm of
fine-dining.
PRICE WISE
“W
e charge lumpsum, depending on
the number of functions and
counters that we are putting up.
To put it simply, we charge for the chef’s services.
The host has to provide us the kitchen, supplies
and services other than the hospitality,” Mehrotra
shares. The exception is Delhi NCR, where they
do entire events. On an average, Indian Accent at
Home does about 50-60 events in a month,
catering for numbers less than 100.
Price points for SelectED on the other hand
start from `2,800 to `3,000 (plus taxes) per
person, depending on the menu that you choose.
“The choices are plenty and if we have a menu of
40-50 items, we offer around five dishes from our
side extra. There are times when a client is not
convinced that a certain dish may work and we are
sure of the same,” he says.
of Companies) that offers luxury dining,
including elaborate sit-downs to groups with
numbers not less than 14 people. “The idea is to
offer an exotic experience in an equally exclusive
location. Now that location could be as close as
your own backyard or a distant location,”
shares Sarkar. In one of the really exclusive events,
the SelectED team set up an exclusive dining
affair for 14 Korean guests in their own garden
where they served exotic Indian dishes course-wise
in silverware.
Their food, like the Indian Accent at
Home, is also not served straight. Led by chef
Gaurav Mathur, an ex-ITC hand, the food is
anything but boring. Their twist often has the
guests wondering over a paneer tikka with jalebi or
a gulab jamun tiramisu.
THE CONCEPT
F
orty eight hours is what they need to set it
up for you, say both Sarkar and Mehrotra.
Chosen cuisine could be anything and
everything. The only difference is that Mehrotra
recreates his magical recipes from Indian Accent
while SelectED brings in the cuisine you want
from the city of its origin.
“For instance, if you want biryani from
Hyderabad, we’ll get it for you from the source,
add our touch and make it special for you,”
promises Sarkar. Mehrotra shares with us his
experience of having catered to a slot as odd as the
time between lunch and high tea, serving dishes
that would not feature in any of the other menus.
“Now that was challenging and we loved it. We
kind of set up a 24-hour coffee shop for guests
who had either missed their lunch or wanted to
try out something different and certainly not what
was to be served at high tea,” he says.
Attention is paid to the smallest detail.
SelectED even has shoe polishing machines placed
right at the entry to make sure the servers do not
walk in with dirty shoes!
EXOTIC LOCATIONS
W
hile SelectED, which came into being
last November, has been carving a
place for itself in the domestic luxury
segment, Mehrotra has quite a fan following
overseas. He was recently a part of a big wedding
in Puglia, where they catered for the entire event
for as many as five days! “Now that was one big
affair. And the one to remember,” he says. “The
entire town came to a standstill. Honestly you
need a detailed infrastructure to cover a