Bite into the plot: How movies are stirring up the menus

Hindustan Times

10-06-2025

Once confined to screens, cinematic storytelling has now spilled over into our plates and glasses. Across India and beyond, restaurants and cafés are embracing the trend of OTT-inspired dining — crafting immersive menus that blur the lines between food and film. Whether it's a glitter-dusted mocktail echoing Disney's Encanto (2021 )or a tasting menu that channels the spirit of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), this isn't just about themed meals — it's about eating emotions, tasting plotlines and sipping cinematic nostalgia.
The phenomenon gained traction earlier this year when Netflix launched Netflix Bites at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas (USA). On the menu? Squid Game-style snacks and Bridgerton-inspired brunches. It wasn't long before restaurants around the world followed suit. Viewers didn't just want to binge-watch anymore but also binge-eat their favourite shows. As Josh Simon, Vice President of Consumer Products at Netflix, puts it: 'Fans don't just want merch anymore. They want experiences.'
This genre of dining goes beyond clever names. A dish isn't just tasty — it's dramatic, poetic, even bittersweet. Menus read like screenplays; a salad might serve as the emotional reset of Act Two. The goal? To evoke the narrative through taste.
At EnCanto, a Gurugram café named after the 2021 Disney film, food becomes pure sensory magic. 'OTT shows are no longer something we just binge,' says director Tusheeta Khanna, adding, 'They're part of our emotional vocabulary.' Their star drink, the Casita Cooler — a shimmering mocktail of coconut water, pineapple, and passionfruit — is designed to feel like stepping inside the film's enchanted house of the same name.
In Bengaluru, ParTTwo channels the essence of Endless Summer (1966), a surf documentary that celebrates eternal sunshine and travel. Chef Karan Upmanyu crafts dishes like the Wai-Wai Salad, a grown-up spin on the beloved Nepali snack. With cold shrimp, pomelo, crispy noodles, and cabbage, it captures both nostalgia and freshness. 'Summer is about joy, boldness, and friendships,' he says. 'That's what we've tried to plate.'
Seasonal ingredients like mango and pumpkin get unexpected, playful treatments — culinary nods to carefree memories and sun-drenched wanderlust.
Taking the idea even further, Sunset Cinema Club and The Piano Man group in Delhi teamed up to create a night where films and food come together in a full-blown sensory celebration. Arjun Sagar Gupta from The Piano Man says, 'This initiative lets us take storytelling to a new level with curated menus and drinks.' Their first pick, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, feels just right.
With its vibrant Spanish setting and emotionally charged travel narrative, the film offered plenty to work with. Chef Manoj designed a Spanish-inspired tasting menu with cocktails named after the film's characters to match its mood and key scenes. 'All the dishes are linked to specific moments in the film,' explains Sahil. 'The menu features churros con patatas, bruschettas, hearty stews, and tapas-style bites, along with table snacks like truffle popcorn. Each one is designed to echo a scene or emotion from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.'
At Taste Cinemas — with locations across India — the cinematic dining experience is literal. Their recent Twilight-inspired event featured a nine-course menu, from blood-red shots to edible baseballs, recreating the film's love story bite by bite.