In Hyderabad, Palate by Design brings together architects and chefs
What happens when architecture plays collaborator rather than a mere backdrop to food? We are used to thinking of dining as an experience led by aroma and taste, with spaces quietly receding into the background. Yet, spaces bear the ability to shape one’s rendezvous with food.
The show villa set against the rolling landscape.
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Palate by Design
When the two disciplines meet as equals, a carefully choreographed dialogue between the built and gastronomy follows. Set within the rolling expanse of Hyderabad’s Signature Estates, a private villa community, Palate by Design — curated by Nitya Reddy of Ramky Signature One Pvt. Ltd. — offers a compelling answer.
Nitya Reddy.
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Palate by Design
A debut festival of its kind unfolded in January through a series of chef-designer pairings, in which spatial intent and culinary expression were developed in tandem.
Zafar Choudhary.
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Palate by Design
“With Palate by Design, fine dining, architecture, and lifestyle retail have surged with new energy. At the estate, instead of high-volume developments, the focus has been on luxury and rarity,” says Reddy.
Sahir Choudhary.
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Palate by Design
With a colossal 101 acres, Signature Estates offers its patrons 93 villas, designed in a creative alliance with the New Delhi and Ludhiana-based legacy firm Habitat Architects. “Rather than imposing a dense vision onto the land, the project listens to it. The show villa, specifically, is not about presentation — it’s about giving people a sense of how life unfolds across the estate,” reflects Zafar Choudhary, CEO and founding partner at Habitat Architects. The development’s clubhouse bears the DNA of new-age thinking helmed by Sahir Choudhary. “The design focuses on fluid circulation, and experiences that feel active without ever feeling crowded,” Choudhary shares. At the event, immersive pop-ups embodied the dialogue between celebrated designers and acclaimed kitchens. A look at four collaborations sheds light on this exchange.
The Signature Estate clubhouse’s conceptual render.
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Palate by Design
Rooted modernism
Farah Agarwal, Chestnut Storeys (Chennai) | Chef Manav Khanna, BANNG (Mumbai and Gurugram)
Farah Agarwal imagines BANNG’s dining venue as a familial retreat. Styling: Prateeksha K. Tholia
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Palate by Design
Farah Agarwal.
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Palate by Design
The convergence of spice, heady colour, and ambience crescendos through the crossover between Farah Agarwal, principal designer at Chennai’s Chestnut Storeys and chef Manav Khanna of Gurugram and Mumbai-based BANNG. Agarwal envisions the pop-up as an intimate dining room, a blend of quiet luxury and considered functionality. Domesticity, the designer figured, is the way to go — layered materials, textured wall finishes, warm woodwork, and plush furnishings to evoke a sense of familiarity. “The idea was to create a space that feels like a home, an intimate dining room of sorts, where guests feel at ease the moment they step in,” shares Agarwal.
Offerings from BANNG’s menu. Styling: Prateeksha K. Tholia
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Palate by Design
Manav Khanna
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Palate by Design
With years of experience in global kitchens, Khanna’s approach fits seamlessly with this direction, his team guided by curiosity as they explore authentic Thai cuisine. Khanna says, “I wanted an elegant space without being precious, and functional without losing soul. The design translated that beautifully: minimal and tasteful, with just enough warmth and texture to mirror the way we cook.”
For the contemporary curious
Apoorva Shroff, Lyth Design Studio (Mumbai) | Chef Ralph Prazeres, Praça Prazeres (Goa)
Praça Prazeres’ best picks headlined their menu. Styling: Prateeksha K. Tholia.
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Palate by Design
Apoorva Shroff.
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Palate by Design
At Lyth Design, Mumbai-based architect Apoorva Shroff views design as a trusted medium to relate to people and their built context. This time, Shroff’s design direction reaps inspiration from the Konkan region, drawing upon chef Ralph Prazeres’ sensibility for melding traditional and bold contemporary flavours. The result is a space that mirrors this nuanced balance with rich Indian colour, texture, and artisanal warmth. “A shimmering mirror-box entry opens into sculpted metal arches framing a courtyard — the restaurant’s heart. The experience then settles into a plush, carpeted lounge beneath a glowing wood canopy, where refinement echoes the spirit of the restaurant’s cuisine,” Shroff highlights.
Apoorva Shroff’s take on the space for Praça Prazeres rests steeped in Goan charm and a penchant for colour. Styling: Prateeksha K. Tholia.
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Palate by Design
Ralph Prazeres.
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Palate by Design
“Shroff understood what we stood for at Praça — the warmth of Goan hospitality — and created a setting that translated those feelings into a space where we felt we belonged,” Prazeres recalls. In Panjim’s heart, Praça Prazeres has done the essential for its diners: brought fading simplicity back to the table, where European fare is prepared with precision, celebrating memory and craft on a plate.
Familiar echoes
Gowri Adappa, A Design Co. (Chennai) | Gauri Devidayal, The Table (Mumbai)
Gowri Adappa’s spatial design for The Table draws upon nostalgia and rooted modernism. Styling: Prateeksha K. Tholia
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Palate by Design
Gowri Adappa.
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Palate by Design
Time moves more slowly, with leisure permeating its very being within the space Gowri Adappa created for The Table. Partner and co-founder at Chennai-based A Design Co., Adappa’s practice is synonymous with creating spatial experiences that champion local craft and indigenous materiality. Her collaboration with restaurateur Gauri Devidayal of Mumbai’s The Table paints a nostalgic portrait of ingrained warmth. “We introduced furniture, art, and décor that are worldly yet grounded. We worked extensively with traditional and local materials and crafts, reinterpreting them in a modern vocabulary that felt both rooted and current,” reminisces Adappa.
Vignettes of delicacies by The Table.
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Palate by Design
Gauri Devidayal.
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Palate by Design
“The space Adappa created for us perfectly complements the food philosophy: It’s relaxed yet thoughtfully curated,” Devidayal says. Devidayal’s culinary destinations are celebrated for their elevated comfort, with ingredient-forward menus. Much like food, good design also thrives on balance, she expresses, “When every element — from materiality to light — is considered, it quietly shapes how a dish is received, deepening the experience without distracting from it.”
Reign of restraint
Abin Chaudhuri, Abin Design Studio (Kolkata) | Chef Nooresha Kably, Izumi (Mumbai and Assagao, Goa)
Restraint and an immersive milieu underpin Abin Chaudhuri’s approach for Izumi’s venue. Styling: Prateeksha K. Tholia.
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Palate by Design
Abin Chaudhuri.
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Palate by Design
Anyone familiar with Abin Chaudhuri’s Kolkata-based practice, Abin Design Studio, and its colossal body of work knows the architect’s devotion to context. The studio’s reliance on collaboration, craft, and public engagement takes a tactile form, creating a venue for Izumi. “This space is an expression of our design philosophy, informed by Japanese minimalism and a belief in restraint as a form of luxury,” notes Chaudhuri. “Chef Nooresha Kably’s culinary philosophy was translated into a spatial language of quiet materiality, controlled detailing, and calibrated proportions. Simplicity here is not an absence, but a carefully curated presence.”
Izumi’s menu showcases its standout plates.
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Palate by Design
Chef Nooresha Kably.
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Palate by Design
Headed by Chef Nooresh Kably, with their home in Mumbai and Assagao, Izumi’s culinary philosophy celebrates all that Japan embodies. At Izumi, chef Kably channels the rigour of her training sought in Japan, from sushi to ramen, into a menu that balances accessibility with authenticity. Kably further explains, “It was a slow reveal, a multi-layered experience for the diners and the design was perfect for it! It was defined and definite in its central stone table and yet, experientially layered in the screens with glimpses of foliage behind them.”
The writer is a trained architect and design specialist working across architecture, interiors, and the built environment.
