Could miniature restaurants become the next big thing in India?

Yash Bhanage (Founder & COO, Hunger Inc. Hospitality), Akhil Iyer (Founder, Benne and The Artist Collective), and Kavan Kuttappa (Founder, Naru Noodle Bar).

Mumbai, 25^th September 2025 There’s no denying that the Food and Beverage space is undergoing a transformation few could have predicted, at least not on this scale. Alongside this shift, true connoisseurs of food and drink are increasingly seeking out spaces that deliver not just exceptional flavours, but also innovative, highly personalised dining experiences.

This is where the concept of miniature restaurants has found its place, intimate spaces where the food is exceptional, and the setting becomes a ground zero for experimentation and creativity.

At the India Today Conclave Mumbai 2025, during the session Tiny Tables, Big Ideas: Miniature Restaurants as Innovation Labs, Yash Bhanage (Founder & COO, Hunger Inc. Hospitality), Akhil Iyer (Founder, Benne and The Artist Collective), and Kavan Kuttappa (Founder, Naru Noodle Bar) delved into exactly this, and much more.

Take Naru, for instance. With just eight seats, it has become so coveted that it’s even found its way into dating app bios. For Kavan, however, the format was a pragmatic choice, “I was paying for it myself. So I said, why invest in a 400-seater and be in debt for life when I can do eight seats and fund it myself?”

For Akhil, Benne’s iconic bene dosa has become what he calls the “iPhone experience of Bandra” — something you queue up for, something you have to “prove you deserve.” His motivation was deeply personal, “True love. I missed it. I moved to Mumbai 12 years back, and I just couldn’t accept the dosa that was available here, genie dosa, palak paneer dosa. This was the dosa I grew up eating, and I wanted to bring it here.”

But beyond the hype and social media buzz, do miniature restaurants actually work, commercially and creatively? Kavan insists they do, “We do five turns a day in a 20-seater. That’s about 100 people a day. It’s more efficient than a large-format restaurant.” Akhil agreed, adding that starting small is not only viable but wise for first-time restaurateurs: “Perfect your product. If it does well, then go to a bigger space.”

Of course, virality remains an unavoidable part of the equation. “Going viral is like winning the lottery,” Akhil admitted. “Everybody is trying, but it doesn’t happen for everyone. For Benne, it was right place, right time, right product, and luck.”

Yash, however, drew a distinction: “At the end of the day, people go to Benne because it’s a phenomenal dosa. If the food doesn’t taste great, they’re not coming back.”

So, can miniature restaurants become the next big thing? What are your thoughts?

About India Today Conclave

The India Today Conclave is India’s first and only intelligence exchange that engages every stakeholder to build an agenda for positive change. It dissects every relevant fact, amplifies every sensible voice. It is a leadership conference where the sharpest global minds come together to analyse, debate, inspire, entertain and, of course, prescribe solutions. For over two decades, the India Today Conclave has been a global diagnostic, measuring the pulse of the world, making sense of random developments and predicting the next big thing.

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