In a city obsessed with new restaurants and fancy cafés, it is doubtful that people pause to consider what actually goes into building a good restaurant or truly ‘making it’ in the hospitality industry. To mark the 10th anniversary of The Bombay Canteen, Yash Bhanage, founder and COO of Hunger Inc. Hospitality, is expanding the long-running Canteen Class into Canteen Open House. What initially began in 2017 as an intimate, classroom-style session gradually evolved into a day-long takeover of the restaurant, transforming the space for dialogue and interactive sessions. “I hail from a hospitality school background myself, and I often felt that while school teaches you technique, it does not always prepare you for the realities of the industry — the pressure, the pace, the failures, and reinventions. Those lessons are harder to find in textbooks,” Bhanage emphasises.

With the second edition, titled The Chef’s Edit, the ambition is sharper. “At its core, I hope the Canteen Open House creates momentum. Not just excitement for a day, but a shift in perspective that lasts,” he adds.

Yash Bhanage, Dina Weber, Hussain Shahzad and Prateek Sadhu

The Chef’s Edit brings together multiple chefs under one roof. The line-up includes Thai-Indian chef and restaurateur Chalee Kader in conversation with chef Hussain Shahzad, followed by Himanshu Saini on building context-driven businesses and American pastry chef, Will Goldfarb on redefining failure. Baker Dina Weber and Singapore-based chef Prateek Sadhu discuss turning distance into demand in their fields, while chef Rishi Naleendra examines consistency in leadership. The day will conclude with chefs Saylee Padwal and Shruti Purandare in dialogue with Shahzad, reflecting on the journey of young chefs and their philosophy regarding the ‘never give up’ attitude needed in the cut-throat industry.

ON Today; 9.30 am to 6.30 pm
AT The Bombay Canteen, Unit-1, Kamala Mills, Lower Parel. 
LOG ON TO @thebombaycanteen 
CALL 8880802424
ENTRY Free