ASIAN HAWKERS MARKET

23^rd to 25^th October, 2015; Select Citywalk, New Delhi

A hawkers’ market for the gourmet in you.

Take an amazing culinary journey from Tokyo to Bali via Sichuan and Yangon without stepping out of Delhi.

New Delhi, 23^rd September 2015: AS MANY AS 18 leading Delhi-NCR restaurants and one solo operator have signed up for the Asian Hawkers Market, a first-of-its-kind celebration of Asian cuisine from the Far East and South-East Asia, being organised on October 23-25, 2015, at the city’s busiest food and retail destination, Select CITYWALK, Saket. With a month to go, the organisers expect at least 10 more participating restaurants or food retailers to come on board.

Right after the Dussehra festivities when Delhi’s weather is expected to turn mellow, these five-star and standalone restaurants will come together at one location to present the cuisines of China, Korea, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia (there will be Chinjabi on the menu too!). They will be operating out of picture-pretty stalls and colourfully festooned food carts.

The participating restaurants include the multi-award-winning Neung Roi (Radisson Blu Plaza, NH8), Royal China, Mamagoto, Guppy by ai and Pan Asian (Sheraton New Delhi) as well as the ever-popular Jade (The Claridges), dimsumbros, Asia 7 and En, the reinvented Sampan, and newcomers such as Yum Yum Cha (the offshoot of the trend-setting Yum Yum Tree), Chi Ni (Dusit Devarana), The Fatty Bao, Wow Momo and Chi: The Asian Cookhouse. Also on the Asiagn Hawker Market’s crowded platter are the successful home delivery service Asian Haus; the instant hit, Social at Hauz Khas Village; and start-up entrepreneur Aftab Sidhu’s The Pho Kart, which will dish out finger food from Vietnam prepared by a cook who has just returned from the south-east Asian country.

Together, the participants will present the hawker experience, which is the backbone of the Asian food tradition, with gourmet touches to make it special. The portions will be small, so that visitors can sample different cuisines without feeling uncomfortably full, and the prices will range from Rs 100 to Rs 500.

The Asian Hawkers Market is the initiative of four well-known food impresarios — Siddharth ‘Sid’ Mathur, Director & Head of Food of the phenomenally successful Social and Food Consultant for My Square, Select Citywalk’s food court; Atul Sikand, creator and curator of Facebook’s busiest Indian recipe-sharing group, Sikandalous Cuisine; Tanveer Kwatra, Executive Chef, Le Meridien Gurgaon; and acclaimed restaurant critic and food blogger Sourish Bhattacharyya.

On offer at the event conceived and curated by them is an eclectic mix teeming with sweet and savoury options to inveigle Delhi-NCR’s food aficionados to make the Asian Hawkers Market their destination on all three days. And although food is dominant theme, it is not the only defining feature of the Asian Hawkers Market. Explains Sid Mathur: “We have taken time to research design, music and entertainment concepts, and shops selling general merchandise — all with an Asian element or influence. We are certain there will be something for everyone.”

The event’s co-presenter and venue partner is Select CITYWALK, which is Delhi-NCR’s busiest food and shopping destination, attracting 30,000-plus footfalls on a regular day, and more than 50,000 to 70,000 on weekends. Commenting on the alliance, Select CITYWALK’s Executive Director Yogeshwar Sharma says: “It is an absolute delight to collaborate with Siddharth, Sourish, Tanveer and Atul, who have carved a niche for themselves in the F&B industry as food connoisseurs. We at Select CITYWALK always try to bring something new, exciting and unique for our shoppers, hence this time we are bringing a whole new food experience. Not only do we want the city to try the flavours of authentic Asian food, but also we want to provide a platform where top restaurants serving Pan Asian food can come together, interact, explore and discover new ventures.”

Atul Sikand summarises the philosophy driving the Asian Hawkers Market: “After Indian, we love the cuisines of the Far East and South-East Asia. Delhi especially is in love with the colours, textures and aromas of these cuisines. Our endeavour is to celebrate this romance and help Delhi-NCR’s Asian restaurants get their place in the sun.”

Take an amazing culinary journey from Tokyo to Bali via Sichuan and Yangon without stepping out of Delhi. Welcome to the Asian Hawkers Market!

INTRODUCING THE ASIAN HAWKERS MARKET ORGANISERS

Atul Sikand is the founder-moderator of Facebook’s most populous (more than 25,000, and counting!) and busiest Indian recipe-sharing group, Sikandalous Cuisine. He’s also the co-founder of the Delhi Gourmet Club, where he has successfully piloted initiatives such as the Gourmet Passport, Top Chef Awards, Delhicious Week and The Gourmet Studio.

Siddharth ‘Sid’ Mathur gave up the comforts of a private banker’s job in London to pursue his real passion — to power concept-driven standalone restaurants and food courts brands — and he already has three of them on his busy plate: Social and Smoke House Deli in partnership with restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani’s Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality banner, and My Square at Select CITYWALK.

After having worked with culinary greats such as Michael Bannerman, April Bloomfield, Fergus Henderson, Philip Moucheil and Andreas Gober in gourmet city Melbourne, Tanveer Kwatra is the Executive Chef of Le Meridien Gurgaon and a man of cutting-edge ideas, a taste of which we got when he was running La Riviera, which is now shut for a makeover. After driving the super successful launches of Latest Recipe, the hotel’s 24×7 restaurant, and the nightclub, iKandy, Tanveer has taken outdoor banqueting to a different level of novelty that the city hadn’t experienced before.

Op-ed food columnist and restaurant critic of India Today Group’s daily newspaper Mail Today, Sourish Bhattacharyya is a freelance writer, editorial consultant and blogger (www.indianrestaurantspy.com). He is also EazyDiner’s Lead Critic for Delhi-NCR, Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier and co-founder of the Delhi Gourmet Club.

LIST OF PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS AND FOOD BUSINESS OPERATORS

Asia 7; Asian Haus / Sushi Haus; Bercos; Chaayos; Chi Asian Cookhouse; Chi Ni; dimsumbros; En; Fatty Bao; Guppy by ai; Jade; Latest Recipe; Mamagoto; Neung Roi; Pan Asia; Rred Hot Café; Piccolicko; Royal China; SelectED; Social; The Artful Baker; The Pho Kart; Wai Wai; Wow Momos; Yum Yum Cha

[PS: You will probably see me covering this on October 24. Let me know if you are also planning to come taste some good food. ]