This April, the team from Avartana, ITC Hotels is popping up in France at two of the most exclusive venues in the world.
The tour begins in Champagne, at Domaine du Chalet owned by Champagne Palmer where a range of incredible artisanal bubbly features alongside Avartana’s award winning cuisine. The team then moves to the legendary wine region of Bordeaux, at the historical and iconic, Chateau Haut Brion, coinciding with one of the world’s most famous wine events, the En Premieur. En Premieur interestingly is an event where negociants, retailers, and wine enthusiasts come together to taste Bordeaux’s latest vintage before it’s bottled. It’s a festival and celebration of history, that will fit in beautifully with Avartana’s reimagined renditions of Southern Indian Flavours.
At ITC Hotels, Food and Beverage forms a big part of our culture and with this in mind we have been elevating our wine paired experiences at Avartana. To give you an example, our outpost in Chennai has over 140 labels of wine covering various styles and labels. After being crowned as India’s No.1 Restaurant by the Conde Nast Traveller in 2024, finding a place on Tatler Asia’s Best Restaurants in 2024 and twice featuring on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2023 and 2024, we began ideating on how we could take Avartana on foreign soil for an exclusive pop up or culinary tour. Sonary’s, one of our prominent partners for premium wine, came on board and with the help of Sanjay Menon’s team, we co-created the entire concept for the one of a kind tour.
What we have now is a 7-course experience by Avartana, ITC Hotels, paired with some of the world’s most exclusive wines, served in a setting, that is both exquisite and historical.
Behind the culinary show are two chefs – Nikhil Nagpal & Satheeshwaran, and the menu will feature dishes like the Lamb Congee, Asparagus & Coconut Stew, Spiced Pork Belly, Fennel Pannacotta and more. The wines are a secret best told to the invited guests and will feature some of the rarest and most revered wines from the region. Ganesh Kuppusami, Food and Beverage Manager, ITC Grand Chola will oversee the service sequence along with the team at Sonary’s, ensuring that guests get a glimpse of the warmth and hospitality that is synonymous with ITC Hotels.
The wine pairing has been expertly curated by Sanjay Menon along with the wine makers and the evenings promise to be nothing short of spectacular.
Dates for the by-invite Avartana Pop Up Dinners:
1. Champagne- 10th April at Domaine du Chalet
2. Bordeaux- 15th April at Chateau Haut Brion