Art of Hospitality Award 2022

Trèsind Studio

Dubai, UAE

Theatrical Indian fine dining blending intrigue with intuitive service

The interactive fun at Trèsind Studio starts the moment you walk through the door. Before being seated for dinner, guests are invited up to the pass. The three-metre counter is overflowing with edible herbs that are fresh-picked to apply finishing touches to the plates – a chef awaits on the other side of this verdant meadow to hand over the first snacks of the evening.

Introducing guests to the restaurant in this manner does more than just break the ice. Sure, it’s disarming and it allows diners to connect with a chef straight away – but, more subtly, it also provides sight lines into the immaculate kitchen, gives an optical taster of the number of elements simmering on the stove and allows each guest to receive all the information they require, without having a server talk them through each aspect of the menu as part of a soliloquy trotted out a dozen times a day.

This front-of-house playbook is drawn up by one of the best in the business, Trèsind Studio’s restaurant manager Vipin Pawar. Younger than many of his contemporaries, he has drafted a unique service structure in tandem with head chef Himanshu Saini, who is similarly junior in years, but vast in terms of experience and global outlook. They promote interaction and discussion rather than reading from a script and allow the staff to offer a service experience that feels informal, but never verges into over-familiar.

Once the core menu arrives, it does so seamlessly. The rudiments of each staff member being briefed sufficiently to describe how each dish is created come as standard, but the depth of knowledge behind the cooking process and heritage of each dish is a cut above. This is particularly important when the restaurant draws on such a breadth of influences from across the subcontinent, featuring dishes where the origin story is almost as important as the recipe itself.

Theatre continues throughout the meal but is never style without substance. For one course – without giving too many spoilers – the restaurant is plunged into complete darkness. This is appropriate to the dish and is there for good reason, but the fact that each table must be aligned at the same stage of their meal for the operation to be successful goes to show the subtle coordination at play between kitchen and dining room.

An excellent place for Indian fine dining served with panache and theatre that add to the experience, Trèsind Studio is a worthy winner of the inaugural Art of Hospitality Award for MENA’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022.

Learn more about Trèsind Studio by reading the interview with Himanshu Saini

The Art of Hospitality Award is a special recognition for excellence in restaurant service and dining experiences. It is voted for by over 200 independent restaurant industry experts and well-travelled gourmets from across the MENA region.

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