An immersive event by an ex-Noma chef in Pune promises to indulge all your senses by pairing fine dining with fine Indian art
Raja Ravi Varma’s Stolen Interview and MF Husain’s 8 horses
Have you ever looked at a painting and wondered what food it reminds you of? This weekend, chef Rahul Kanojia promises to take you on an exploratory journey into the world of art and food with his creative initiative, Project Synaesthesia. At this multi-course, multi-sensory dining experience, with a limited capacity of 20 seats, guests will get the opportunity to appreciate popular artworks by a few eminent Indian artists, understand the artist and their thought process, along with various emotional aspects of their work, before a dish corresponding to the painting is served at the table.
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“Europe has a very vibrant art scene that I experienced during my time there. In India, I felt that people didn’t really talk about art or discuss it unless they were part of the community. When I returned to India, I visited multiple galleries and museums. I read a lot, because to understand any art form, including cooking, one has to understand the history of its origins, and why and how this collective thinking has developed in these contemporary times. I was particularly intrigued about how these artists created their identities,” says Kanojia, who has earlier worked with chef René Redzepi’s three-Michelin starred restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, Denmark. Kanojia’s impressive resume includes stints at Gaa (1 Michelin Star) in Thailand and JW Marriott in Mumbai.
“I’ve travelled for nearly 10 years, and some of these trips took me to India’s remote corners where I explored habits and cultures about local food that I curated as part of my experiential journeys. The food cooked by certain tribes in the North East, for example, is similar to South East Asian cooking that is devoid of any spices. I wanted to put my discoveries together and explore my interest in art, culture, and food to find my own expression,” he elaborates. Around this time, Kanojia began to read about the concept of synaesthesia, and how senses get intermingled, how a person associates a particular flavour with another person, number or even musical notes. That’s when he decided to develop an immersive and interactive concept to celebrate the idea.
Amrita Sher-Gil’s painting Three Girls
At the event, participants will spend some time in silence as they observe the painting; the narrator will then share about the artist and the painting. The idea is to experience the intermingling of the senses, take a bite of the food and be mindful of it, and how it connects with the painting and the narrative.
Two Cats Holding A Large Prawn by Jamini Roy. Pics Courtesy/Rahul Kanojia
“This doesn’t mean that the colours of the ingredients will match those in the painting. The emotion of the painting is what should ideally reflect in the food. For example, in the Amrita Sher-Gil painting of three women who are casually seated, we consider the fact that her father was Indian and her mother, Hungarian. She learned about different art forms in Europe but returned to India where she created her very own identity where she used Western techniques to paint Indian subjects. Her paintings of women were special. In those days, there was a lot of male gaze seen in paintings of women. For example, while Raja Ravi Varma was exceptionally talented, his paintings presented a sensationalised version of women, focusing on exaggerated beauty instead of what was going on in their mind. Sher-Gil’s paintings, on the other hand, depict women in their typical settings, and in contemplative moods. It’s a humanistic and not a patronising approach. These are the ideas I convey in my dish. At dinner, I’ll cook fresh cherry tomatoes using the techniques I learned at Noma. I’ll dehydrate them, and not add too many ingredients. The menu has been designed to highlight the ideas of purity, simplicity, and some learnings from the West,” he reveals. “Jamini’ Roy’s paintings are about rejecting Western ideas and returning to India’s folk traditions. It takes inspiration from traditional Indian art to create modern Indian art. Just like that, each painting has an idea that I have tried to express in the food,” summarises Kanojia.
On: September 25 and 26, 7.30 pm onwards
At: The Hedonist, K801, Marvel Diva, Magarpatta Road, Pune.
Log on to: thehedonist.in or DM on Instagram @thehedonistofficial
Cost: Rs 5,000 per person
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