10 food moments that made us sit up in 2025

It was an exciting year for the food and beverage industry from culinary innovations that saw matcha ladoos and caviar bumps, to AI-powered kitchen automation complete with waiter robots, a dozen more speakeasies, and Indian restaurants shining bright with Michelin stars and on 50 Best lists. These highlights are by no means exhaustive, but capture some of the things we loved, cheered, and often didn’t quite understand, and yet happily played along with the hype.

THE MATCHA ERA

Some said it tasted like grass, others just couldn’t get enough of it. Matcha is a classic example of a wellness fad that took over our lives with lattes, ice-creams and desserts, and even savoury fusion dishes (did we say matcha dosa tacos?). The demand kept soaring with dedicated matcha cafes and bars such as Blondie in Mumbai and Espressos AnyDay in Gurugram, including the launch of Bollywood actor Sanya Malhotra’s matcha brand. The craze dried up global supplies in July.

SPOTLIGHT ON SOUTH INDIA

The queues outside Benne Bombay got so much longer that the Mumbai-based founders announced in October that they would be setting up shop in Delhi’s GK-II. The obsession for South Indian food peaked owing to a newfound interest in the diversity and curiosity for the cuisines from the region. Some experimented, others stuck to the recipe book. Vellam in Gurugram introduced dosa tacos, Uppu in Mumbai did home-style vegetarian fare, and musician Shankar Mahadevan launched Malgudi in Mumbai with a filter coffee barista station. Bisi Bele Bibimbap, anyone?

SANDO CRAZE

Japan’s most viral sando trend saw chefs in India experiment with sandwiches—think of an onasadya sandwich packed with thoran, pachadi and injipuli. A slew of standalone sando shops opened across cities—Knots & Crosses and Sando Club in Bengaluru, Kona in Delhi, and cafes like Subculture in Pune. The trend was partly fuelled by the introduction of specialty breads from all over the world. From the pita-like Egyptian baladi, Vietnamese banh mi and sourdough poees to Japanese shokupan and high-hydration ciabattas, sandwiches found fresh expressions, including Sienna Calcutta’s mangsho pastrami, a take on the New York-style reuben with a Bengali twist.

FOOD AUTOMATION AND AI

Kitchens continued to become smarter, with many appliances that were working just fine getting the ‘smart’ touch, including air fryers and ovens that incorporated features like app-controlled settings and AI that can convert scanned recipes into cooking programmes. In India, tech-heavy cooking companions like Upliance and the Rotimatic NEXT brought automation to the home kitchen—we hope to see the Posha robotic chef launch here in 2026.

BIG WINS FOR TASTEMAKERS

It was a year of awards and accolades. Kolkata-born chef Gaggan Anand’s eponymous restaurant in Bangkok topped the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Chef Himanshu Saini made history as Tresind Studio in Dubai became the first-ever Indian restaurant to win three Michelin stars. The high point was when everyone got talking about Tamil Nadu-born chef Vijay Kumar’s nathai pirattal, a snail curry that he serves at the Michelin-starred restaurant Semma in New York, thanks to his James Beard Award win for the Best Chef. There were awards aplenty for bars as Lair (New Delhi), Soka, ZLB23 and Bar Spirit Forward (Bengaluru) and Boilermaker (Goa) made it to the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list.

RISE OF AGAVE SPIRITS

This was the year of the Picante. The cocktail became an opportunity for bartenders to showcase their skills and gave a boost to agave-based spirits. Brands like Maya Pistola became more visible, while new brands like El Goonda and Loca Loka made their debuts. We also saw the rise of bars focused on agave spirits and Latin American cuisines, from Goa’s Quinta Cantina to Bengaluru’s Una Hacienda.

SPOTLIGHT ON LUCKNOW

In October, Lucknow was recognised as a Creative City of Gastronomy by Unesco for its rich culinary history distinguished by the centuries-old Awadhi cuisine. The inclusion is part of 58 additions this year to the United Nations’ Creative Cities Network (UCCN). Lucknow is known for its vibrant street food culture from kebabs, kachoris and chaat to food from the opulent royal kitchens such as fragrant biryanis and dum cooking. The recognition was for every home cook, chef and street-side vendor who has kept the storied culinary culture of the city alive.

STORYTELLING MAX

Menus as thick as novels. Having to listen to a long tale about every dish even as it goes cold, along with the detailed backstory of each ingredient in a cocktail. This year, storytelling around food and drinks became so elaborate that it started to get tedious. Not every dish, restaurant, meal and drink needs to be narrativised, so maybe it’s time to let them shine on their own. As for nostalgia, it’s great as an ingredient if you sprinkle it here and there instead of building entire menus around it. We hope to see more actual innovation in food next year than an over-reliance on storytelling.

INTERNATIONAL CHEFS IN INDIA

2025 brought acclaimed chefs from across the globe to India for pop-ups and take-overs. Cambodian chef Ros Rotanak was in Bengaluru, Julien Royer from Singapore’s Odette cooked in Mumbai, Sameer Taneja of London’s Benares spent time in Delhi, Dom Fernando of Paradise, London did a pop-up in Mumbai, and Bangkok’s Chudaree Debhakam served guests in Mumbai. Paradiso Barcelona (#4 on World’s 50 Best Bars 2025) did a bar takeover at Late Checkout in Mumbai. Did we say diners paid ₹30,000 to ₹60,000 for a meal?

PROTEIN WARS

The search for “protein chips” and “protein bar” saw a massive spike in numbers around June-August, according to Google Trends data. What started as a health supplement, became an obsession largely driven by reports that flagged India’s growing protein deficiency. FMCG brands found the perfect footing to launch protein kulfi and protein atta, including a dedicated protein category by food delivery apps. Snacking opened up a whole new universe as Gen Z and health conscious millennials moved to protein-fortified foods.

With inputs from Shrabonti Bagchi