?Renaissance Lucknow hosts International Street Food Festival

With the opening of its brand-new location in Bangalore, Street Storyss, the legendary destination for gourmet vegetarian street cuisine, is celebrating five years of culinary innovation and success.

Street Storyss, which was founded by Chef Tarun Sibal and Food Entrepreneur Akshay Luthria, has transformed the vegetarian dining in Bangalore with its inventive take on traditional street food from around the world.

The new location perfectly captures the essence of Street Storyss, which is a celebration of street food from all around the world. The bistro-inspired design skillfully combines gorgeous lighting, artistic décor, and a warm atmosphere to provide the ideal atmosphere to be associated with the Street Storyss brand.

Chef Tarun Sibal has created the new menu. The cuisine is seasonal and features meals that showcase the best of local ingredients while delivering creative international flavors.

Reflecting on the journey of Street Storyss, Chef Tarun Sibal stated, “This menu is a tribute to our origins and the immense love we’ve received from our guests over the past five years. As we scale up, we’ve taken bold steps to refine what Street Storyss stands for—every dish is uniquely crafted to showcase our creative take on global vegetarian street food.”

Signature dishes like the Jammu Rajma Poke Bowl, which expertly combines the soothing flavors of North Indian Rajma Chawal with Asian flair, and the Ghee Bhaji Sando, a redesigned Pav Bhaji served with an elegant touch, are sure to delight guests. The dessert menu features equally inventive dishes, such as the Salted Pistachio Caramel and much more.

Mumbai is a modernization that defines a multicultural region where different people from different cultures coexist, and the flavours of Mumbai are as diverse as these cultures.

For the love of various cultures that are prevalent in Mumbai, Bambai has been launched to serve everyone multi-cultural foods.

The founders, Chef Ritesh Tulsian and Chef Anees Khan are also the menu curators, each with distinct culinary expertise.

The restaurant is built in Mumbai's most popular neighbourhood, Juhu, with the goal of not only serving the famous Mumbai chaats, but also introducing a variety of dishes from across the Mumbai region that are consumed by residents from other parts of the country.

Chef Ritesh and Chef Anees have deep roots in Maharashtra and have experimented with various cuisines and flavours. This prompted both the chefs to create an establishment capable of bringing specially curated flavours under one roof. Chef Ritesh, who is also a consultant chef, created a variety of Iranian dishes that highlight the classic flavours of Iranian cuisine that are still prevalent in southern Mumbai. Chef Anees, a seasoned pâtissier, has curated some of his best confectioneries for the restaurant, in addition to curating various dishes with Chef Ritesh.

“We have been in Mumbai for several decades and have witnessed the changes in the region when it comes to food; the street food here has had a great influence on us, and with the study, knowledge, and experience of course, we have curated something that will definitely evoke the love for the forgotten food,” shared Chef Ritesh.

According to Chef Anees, "Chef Ritesh and I have professionally witnessed changes in the city over time, and as the days pass, new trends and experiments emerge, but what we wanted to do was bring back disappeared foods and give them a twist that people now seek, and that is how we introduced Bambai.”

Some of the best dishes at Bambai include the lasun chana fry, which is a flavorful combination of chickpeas with spices and garlic lobes. The Naanizaas are something to try, with vegetarian options like simple cheese, mushroom keema, or tandoori paneer, and non-vegetarian options like bhatti da murg, kurla key kebab pav, mutton keema samosa, and more to try.

The restaurant not only focuses on multicultural cuisine, but it also has a quiet, literal interior that depicts Mumbai's local life.

Crowne Plaza Gurugram is offering a brand new customer experience, commensurate with the pandemic realities. 

Miles & Meals is an initiative by the hotel to help customers sample gourmet dishes from the hotel's signature restaurants from the comfort of their homes. 

The hotel is also going all out to ensure safety and minimize contact. As such, the frequency of essential practices such as handwashing, cleaning of high-touch surfaces and temperature checks of staff members has been increased.

“Food is an emotion that creates a world to share our love, grief, dreams, and experiences. Being cognizant of this and rapidly evolving Covid-19 times, Miles & Meals is an initiative to encourage our guests to stay home and still not miss out on their favourite food. The tagline, ‘Love will now be home delivered,' says it all. Miles &Meals food delivery promises to serve guests with signature recipes and dishes from our award-winning restaurants to their dining room for an unparalleled gourmet experience,” shared Norton Pereira, Area General Manager at IHG and General Manager, Crowne Plaza, Gurugram.

The delivery team has also been trained to minimize human-to-human contact while preparing, packaging and handling food items. 

The new street food menu focuses on some of the most famous items of Delhi's nook and corner that we have grown up eating. They cover a wide range of cuisines — from Chinese Hakka to Punjabi, from Mughlai to Tibetan. They embrace the authentic flavours of these cuisine types but are prepared and presented safely and hygienically. The best part is that you can now order them online and get them delivered right to your doorstep.

Food delivery major Zomato on Friday signed an agreement with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to onboard 300 food street vendors on its platform.

According to the Gurgaon-based company it will onboard 300 street vendors across six cities in the first phase including; Bhopal, Raipur, Patna, Vadodara, Nagpur and Ludhiana.

Also Read: Zomato loss grew to 160%, revenue increased at 84% in FY20

"With this, these street vendors will not just be able to serve their loyal customers within the safety of their own homes but will also reach a much larger customer base using Zomato's technology and last-mile delivery services," said the statement.

Considering the popularity of street food in these cities, there is an immense growth potential for these vendors in the online food delivery sphere, added the statement.

The food delivery company is looking to create a more sustainable and abreast ecosystem for food street vendors and facilitate greater earning opportunities for them.

The street vendors will be helped with PAN and FSSAI registration, training on technology/partner app usage, menu digitisation and pricing, hygiene and packaging best practices. Upon successful completion of the pilot, MoHUA and Zomato plan to expand the initiative across the country in phases.

May Interest: Swiggy partners with PM SVANidhi Scheme, to onboard 30,000 street food vendors

MoHUA had entered into a similar arrangement with Swiggy in October last year. The initiative with Swiggy covered Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Indore and Varanasi.

Food delivery brand Swiggy has announced its expansion plans of taking it Street Food Vendors programme to 125 cities under the Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) Scheme.

According to the release, the Bengaluru-based platform will list over 36,000 street food vendors across cities including Indore, Varanasi, Gwalior, Vadodara, Visakhapatnam, Udaipur, Lucknow, and Bhilai on its platform.

Also Read: Govt partners with Swiggy to take street food vendors online

The food delivery platform has successful pilot launched the programme in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs in the cities of Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Chennai, Delhi and Indore, where 300 street vendors were on-boarded.

“Street vendors are integral to the food culture in India and we thank the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for giving Swiggy the opportunity to do our bit to help them adapt to the ‘new normal’ and embrace and thrive in the digital economy,” shared Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy.

Swiggy has created a special feature on the app where consumers can discover their favourite street food vendors. All vendors are registered with FSSAI. Swiggy facilitates a Food Safety Training and Certification (FOSTAC) in partnership with FSSAI and their empanelled partners.

May Interest: How street food is targeting Indian market?

All PM SVANidhi Scheme street food vendors undergo a three-stage training programme before being onboarded. After the training and registration, all vendors are required to do a self-audit and demonstrate the standards they abide by. These standards are modelled on the lines of FSSAI’s guidelines to ensure that essential hygienic practices are observed.

The urban affairs ministry has signed an MoU with food delivery platform Swiggy to enable street food vendors to tap a bigger market using the company's e-commerce platform for more business.

To begin with, a pilot will be carried out involving 250 vendors across five cities - Ahmedabad, Chennai, Delhi, Indore and Varanasi, expanding to other cities.

Also Read: How street food is targeting Indian market?

The ministry said street vendors will be helped with PAN and FSSAI registration, training on technology and partner app usage, menu digitisation and pricing, hygiene and packaging best practices.

According to the statement, the agreement was signed with Swiggy on Monday as a part of Prime Minister Street Vendor's Atmanibhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) scheme under which urban street vendors are getting loans of up to Rs 10,000 at subsidised interest rate to help them resume their livelihoods which was adversely affected due to Covid-19 lockdown.

May Interest: Swiggy launches Health Hub in Bengaluru, to make healthy eating convenient

This partnership is seen as yet another move by the MoHUA to empower street vendors with digital technology and facilitate greater income-earning opportunities by being present on a popular online food delivery platform like Swiggy, added the statement.

Nukkadwala, a prominent street food cafe chain from NCR, has entered into an exclusive tie-up with Swiggy's brand factory for two new brands offering a luscious range of Biryani and Burgers from its multiple outlets in Gurgaon, bridging big vacuum and demand in this substantial corporate city with great taste, quality and affordability.

The Biryani brand "Dum-Nukk Biryani," which represents exquisite dum biryani from Nukkads of Hyderabad, has already been launched at 2 of its outlets in stealth mode. The addition of these two new brands will help treble the delivery sales of all its outlets.

Rajat Shail Kumar, Board Member & Serial Entrepreneur, Nukkadwala, said, “With the advent of new technologies like online delivery platforms and changing consumer habits with a large millennial population, a structural shift has happened in the way food and beverages are ordered and consumed now. For Nukkadwala, it has become extremely important to expand its dine-in outlets in the key market/ corporate locations while complementing it with delivery-only kitchens to capture the full potential of the surrounding market in and around 5-7 km of the outlet.”

“These initiatives help in bringing balanced fixed capital investment with asset-light expansion through delivery-only kitchens. The key to success is to offer multiple brands for delivery under one outlet, thereby gaining volume, profitability, and high ROI,” he further added.

Nukkadwala represents India's newest chain of smart and stylish food-oriented cafes for the value-conscious. It derives from more than five million street vendors across India who peddle tasty morsels every day to ensure that Indians eat their way through the streets of the country, currently serving more than 4,00,000 customers every year.

Growth Plans

Currently serving with seven outlets in Gurgaon, Nukkadwala plans to expand with a larger focus on asset-light expansion. The first leg of expansion involves strengthening the group's presence in its home turf of Gurgaon by adding four more dark kitchens in the region to ensure full serviceability across all nooks and corners of Gurgaon.

In addition, Nukkadwala plans to enter Delhi by opening six new outlets in Delhi's prime locations with 3-4 dark kitchens supporting each outlet. First of its Delhi outlets have been signed up to be opened at a prominent high street retail market of South Delhi, serving its three brands of Indian Street Food, Biryani, and Burgers under this umbrella. 

Ravi Gupta, CEO of Nukkadwala, stated, “With this plan, Nukkadwala is well placed to grow 5x in the next 18-24 months with 35-40 numbers of outlets including delivery only dark kitchens. Currently serving around 2,40,000 orders annually, with our current capacity of base kitchen and the expansion plan in NCR, we plan to reach around 12,00,000 annual orders in the next 18-24 months with an estimated annual turnover of Rs. 36-40 cr. The next step for expansion will trigger where Nukkadwala will go pan India and to NRI dominant international markets, making it a true Indian multinational Cafe chain.”

Kolkata's street food is available on online food delivery platforms. From bhelpuri, soda shikanjiand papri chaatto rose khass, phuchka and even paan -everything can be ordered online and delivered at doorstop.

The online menu of Sandip Soda Shikanji at Vivekananda Park now lists everything from rose milkshake and kachha aam milkshake to kala khatta and khass. Mouthwatering pictures of khatta meetha churmur, dahi pakora chaat and dahi phuchka are all available on line as are paans from Ashok Paan shop on Bondel Road.

Rahul Kumar Chaurasia from Ashok Paan Shop said, "It's been three months since we started offering this service to keep pace with the digital world."

Most of his clients opt for gundi paan, which costs Rs 8 each, but there are also many takers for the special singara paan that costs Rs 50.

Delivery boy Bapi Roy says he delivers street food worth Rs 300-400 each day.

Roy said, "There is one client on Mayfair Road who has ordered lachha paan worth Rs 150 at least 25 times in a month!."

Piku Pandit, owner of Durga Pandit Ka Phuchka Stall, said, "Clients who can't physically come down are happy to be served this way. On some days, I even get as many as 15 online orders."

Sandip Das, who runs Sandip Soda Shikanji stall, said, "This shop was set up by my grandfather. Elderly people might not understand apps, but I need to be savvy to survive. There are days when I get 50 orders through the app."