Will a move towards minimum yet speciality dishes at a restaurant stand the test of time? Sakshi Sharma talks to chefs on both sides of this divide to understand the trend better

Browse through a menu and one can see that it runs into pages with categories divided into sub categories, sometimes with one page devoted to each. Till, now. Simpler food habits and trends seem to be gradually making their way into the food industry. People, too, tend to prefer restaurants which offer trimmed down dishes as compared to multi-cuisine ones as they are less confusing and focus on quality.

Does this signal that we are heading towards minimalist food trends? A Delhi based food outlet, Teen Pateela, which provides just three dishes — Dal Ferozepuri, Punjabi Aloo and Tomato Paneer would have us believe so. Its owner Shekhar Malhotra always wanted to run an Indian restaurant and is inspired by the popular street food market and dhabas. “There’s a guy in Lajpat Nagar who sells chana-bhatura and he’s famous throughout North India for that. People travel from far to eat that. There’s a guy in Karol Bagh who is famous for daal and tandoori parathas. Everyone knows Fateh Singh kachori waala and Gopala rasagulla. They are famous landmarks where people are just selling one or two things. And people stand in queue to taste their food because the cooks have maintained their quality and taste. The recipes have been passed down generations and are valued. After Fateh Singh died his son is making the kachoris now. They are my inspiration. I wanted to join their group,” says he.

So he felt the need to open a restaurant which offers such simple food but can guarantee a memory of a specific flavour profile. He tells us that the Ferozepuri dal is a classic, made in the traditional and style true to its name. Its recipe was handed to him by his grandmother.

Malhotra feels that a wide range of complex recipes might give a delicious result but one doesn’t always need many ingredients or equipment to prepare a quality dish. That is the reason so many chefs and cooks have embraced minimalism today and follow straightforward ways to satisfy the customer.

But given the multiplicity of choices, one wonders how long will this sustain in the long run? Malhotra says, “If you have heard of Bukhara dal, you would probably know that people are paying 1,500 bucks for a small bowl even though it has been served for 20 years and nobody is sick of it. I have that confidence in my food. People may not order it every day but they will do it once a week.”

He wants to keep minimum dishes and be known for them. Maybe six months down the line he says that he might reduce the dishes to two or maybe one as he wants to set a trend. Malhotra is a believer of the saying that one should find joy in the simple things of life. He recalls what someone told him a while ago, “What is lying on your plate seems wonderful until you look at the next table which might look twice as appetising as what you have.” So, along with setting a trend, this is also an attempt to teach people to find happiness in small and simple things of life.

Executive chef, Anas Qureshi at Distillery, says that experiments are good but their success depends a lot on the kind of clientele you are serving and the concept of the restaurant. “It is a smart move as it cuts down a lot of expenses and wastage. But a major chunk of the people going out to dine look for a variety of choices in the menu. And due to this, it becomes difficult for the chefs to shrink the menu,” says she.

Moreover, how much of a repeat value would such a restaurant have? Indians often tend to eat out in large groups, often spread across generations which drives multi-cuisine restaurants.

Some people also feel that minimalistic food trend is more  about sensible eating. Chef Chanchal, Sutra, says both at home and in restaurants, consumer food choice has migrated with a greater emphasis on ‘less number’ and ‘less quantity’ dishes.

There are chefs who feel that restricting themselves to a few dishes doesn’t let them explore. Vineet Manocha, senior vice president, culinary, Lite Bite Food, says that as a chef he can show his creativity when he’s not confined to two or three dishes. He feels that even the customer gets bored too soon when they don’t got options. “The older generation might stick to a standard food but the youngsters want variety. So it is difficult for the trend to sustain in the long run,” he adds.