Just short of the Delhi-Gurugram border, as you veer from the national highway, the noise of traffic recedes to the background and orderly streets, flanked by a dozen hotels, loom ahead. At noon, the many eateries that populate Aerocity are abuzz with activity. Fine-dining restaurants Akira Back, AnnaMaya and Kheer, ensconced within JW Marriott, Andaz Delhi and Roseate House, respectively, can be seen filling up with leisure and business travellers. Similarly, QSR (quick service restaurant) brands and hip casual spaces like Farzi Café, Kampai, La Roca and Plum by Bent Chair located in Worldmark—a mammoth 1.5 million sq. ft space, divided into three buildings—are teeming with shoppers and executives from companies housed within the neighbouring six-seven corporate towers in Aerocity.
The business of food, it seems, is taken very seriously in this neighbourhood. And one wonders what makes Aerocity such a dining hot spot. “For one, it is in such close proximity to the Delhi airport. So you get a lot of travellers who are staying in the hotels. Also, the presence of high-profile offices ensures a large number of potential customers," says Samir Kuckreja, founder and CEO, Tasanaya Hospitality, and trustee, National Restaurant Association of India. “It’s a nice area to walk around—safe and secure, with no traffic." If one had to find an equivalent elsewhere in the country, the Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai would come the closest. However, the ease of approach, from both south Delhi and Gurugram, and the diversity of food offerings give Aerocity a slight advantage.
Restaurateurs and hoteliers are experimenting with newer formats and concepts to cater to the well-travelled, discerning clientele. Take, for instance, the newly-opened Soul Pantry at Andaz. While the focus remains on sustainable dining and local ingredients, as seen at AnnaMaya, the hotel’s European-style food hall, it offers a more casual, pantry-style format. The menu is centred around flatbreads crafted from indigenous grains such as amaranth, buckwheat and ragi. “We want to create awareness about the fact that dough can be healthy too," says general manager Madhav Sehgal. “We are catering to those who are conscious of what they eat in today’s stress-ridden lives." On most days, one can find guests of the hotel’s 125 serviced apartments ordering novel combinations such as amaranth flatbread with avocado and hummus.
Then there is Plum by Bent Chair, which offers a unique integrated retail experience. It brings together Priyank Sukhija’s F&B brand, First Fiddle Restaurants, and Bent Chair, a furniture design label by Natasha Jain. Besides its offering of pan-Asian cuisine, everything in use and on display—right from the bar-code paintings, the crockery and the outdoor seating featuring tropical prints, to vivid floral wallpapers and foliage-inspired lighting—is available for sale. “Both Natasha and I wanted to engage with each other’s practices out of a common space. It made sense, given that real estate costs are so high," says Sukhija. Such has been the response that Sukhija is all set to launch another F&B offering—a restobar, titled Dragonfly, with pan-Asian and European fare—on 19 May.
A couple of features that tie the eateries at Aerocity together are the focus on gourmet, conscious and sustainable menus and seamless integration of design, food stories and travel memories. You are greeted with a whiff of sakura (cherry blossom) as soon as you enter Kampai, a cheery Japanese restaurant. Founded by Avantika Sinha Bahl, it is an ode to her childhood journeys through Japan.
“The design and the menu are a reflection of the many seasons of Japan. While the seating in the two private dining rooms is in traditional tatami style (mat flooring), you will also find a projection mapping of the Tokyo skyline, as filmed during the four seasons," she says. The menu features dishes such as agedashi tofu and shoyu ramen, to be washed down with cocktails like Wasabi Martini and Nippon Shoku, made with shochu and whisky flavoured with jasmine and vanilla.
Chefs and restaurateurs hope Aerocity is well on its way to becoming the face of modern Delhi to the world when it comes to hospitality.
