"Barbeque Nation Elevates Dining with Daawat-e-Lucknow Food Festival, Showcasing Authentic Flavors and Cultural Heritage"

Barbeque Nation has burgeoned into an industry leader, boasting a presence in over 84 cities with 192 outlets both domestically and internationally. The current CEO, Rahul Agrawal, and MD, Kayum Dhanani, have steered the company towards remarkable growth and success. Throughout this transformative journey, their commitment to innovation has remained unwavering. Barbeque Nation offers a diverse selection of flavors including Toscano, Salt, Atmosphere, and Fiesta. These innovations not only reflect their dedication to culinary excellence but also our relentless pursuit of elevating the dining experience for our cherished patrons.

Barbeque Nation’s aim is to take our guests on a culinary journey that traverses the length and breadth of India, allowing them to savor the unique flavors and traditions of each region. At Barbeque Nation firmly believes in constantly innovating to provide our patrons with new and exciting dining experiences. The Lucknow Food Festival is a prime example of our commitment tooffering diverse culinary adventures to our guests.

As part of our ongoing efforts to delight our patrons, we are thrilled to introduce the Daawat-e-Lucknow food festival. Barbeque Nation’s aim is to take our guests on a culinary journey that traverses the length and breadth of India, allowing them to savor the unique flavors and traditions of each region. During the Food Festival, we hope to immerse our guests in the culinary heritage of Lucknow region and savour the flavours from the streets of Lucknow.

Through these curated festivals, we aspire to not only delight taste buds but also to celebrate the cultural diversity and culinary excellence of India. Going forward, our guests can look forward to discovering something new and exciting on their plates regularly

Here are some insights by N.D Sharma, Culinary Head, Barbeque Nation

What inspired the creation of this special Lucknow food menu?

Guests in Barbeque Nation love the grills and kebabs that we have on offer. Lucknow cuisine offers the most authentic and traditional flavours of kebabs and some of the other dishes. The Daawat-e-Lucknow is our tribute to the rich cuisine of Lucknow. By bringing these dishes to our guests across the country, we are sure they will be able to appreciate the diversity that Indian cuisine has to offer.

Can you tell us about any traditional ingredients or unique cooking techniques that are crucial to authentic Lucknow cuisine?

Every part of the country has its unique preparation and presentation style, which has been passed on from one generation to the other. Lucknow food is well known for its aroma, so we especially got the Tunday masala and Ittar from lucknow to all our outlets. This is being used in our starters and Biryani’s.

Could you describe which is that one dish you enjoy preparing the most?

Tunday kebab is our favourite, for two reasons. One, because it requires more patience and craft of hand to get the authentic taste, by breaking the mutton molecules in a way that its soft, tender and juicy. Secondly, the heritage of this dish is so iconic, that it’s a delight for every chef to attempt to prepare and share with his guests.

How have you incorporated local flavours or ingredients into the menu?

Ittar and Tunday masala from Lucknow, as mentioned above.

How does Barbeque Nation balance traditional authenticity with modern dining trends in this menu?

While our mainstay is grills and kebabs, we have incorporated noodles, pastas, Phirne/Brownie, Gulab jamun/Pastries in our menu too. Also we offer a wide variety of marinations like oriental and Tandoori to appeal to every palate.

How do you plan to attract and engage more foodies in the year ahead?

We continue to refresh and upgrade our menu and recipes from time to time to give guests reasons to visit us again and again.

What is the next special menu citizens should look forward to, from Barbeque Nation?

As it’s the season of mangoes- the king of fruits across India, we would be doing a Mango fest in June.

How are you leveraging social media or digital marketing to enhance visibility for Barbeque Nation?

We reach out to existing and prospective guests regularly through our social media pages to keep them updated about our new offerings. Besides, we run awareness/ performance led marketing campaigns on facebook, Instagram, youtube and other digital platforms from time to time.

What feedback mechanisms are in place to gather customer reactions and suggestions on the new menu?

We take feedback from our guests on a daily basis post their dining experience to take feedback and make corrections. GSI- Guest Satisfaction Index helps us to identify gaps and make corrections quickly.

What makes your Lucknow menu stand out from similar menu offerings from other brands ?

We have tried to source authentic traditional masalas in Daawa-e-Lucknow, which no one else uses. We are sure this will bring out the aroma and flavours of the cuisine in its traditional form.

What are the different marketing channels that has allowed one to increase awareness about this uniqueness to your potential customers?

While we use digital channels as shared above, we also use the traditional channels like radio, newspapers and hoardings in select markets to build visibility and awareness.

How important is the physical ambience in creating an authentic Lucknow dining experience?

Its an extremely important aspect of the overall experience for the guest. Over the last 2 years, we have launched a completely new look and feel in our restaurants, which offers guests an inviting ambience for them to dine with us.

What are the biggest challenges you face in maintaining the authenticity of Lucknow cuisine while running a profitable business?

While we try and cater to the popular Lucknowi cuisine, there are variations of the cuisines which have come up over time. Hence, our biggest challenge is to offer every guest a flavour of Lucknow in one way or the other, while at the same time appealing to the broader taste buds.

Have you noticed any changing trends in customer preferences?

Due to the advent of fast foods, guests liking for MSG and Maggi masala in their palate has increased. They need everything chatpatta, whereas cuisines Shahi, Awadhi, Punjabi and many more traditional foods don’t have notes of the same. Besides this, guests are more experimental now and willing to try out new cuisines compared to the past where they were happy with the tried and tested offerings.

Please specify- How do these trends impact your menu planning and business strategy?

We prepare recipes which appeal to broader taste palate of the country

Locally, we keep on making some tweaks in the recipes which will appeal to the local taste buds.

Besides this, we try and regularly introduce food festivals in our menu which will offer guests something new every time they visit.

Are there any broader economic trends that are influencing the food industry?

Broad term economic growth story of the Indian market continues to be intact, and we are very bullish. Temporary phases of slowdown in consumption doesn’t impact the broader economic trend.

Are there any sustainability practices you have implemented in your restaurant, particularly in relation to food waste and sourcing? How do these practices resonate with your customers and overall business ethos?

Yes, to ensure the quality and consistency we have national tie-ups with many brands for sourcing the best quality and efficiency. Regarding food wastage, everyone in a country like India has to be serious on same. We have an advantage of being in this business over the last 18 years. The insights and data available to us have helped us to improve our consumption throughout the value chain. Through stronger sourcing, storage, forecasting, and close tracking, we are able to minimise our food wastage. We are also working with the packaging industry to continuously minimise the use of plastic in our delivery business.